Given all he has endured up to this point, the years of loss, of setbacks, of doubts, DeRozan finally feels a sense of release, an unfamiliar feeling. “Freedom,” DeRozan says. “It’s kind of like driving on a bumpy road for so long that you get used to it. To where, when you finally hit the smooth pavement, you really don’t realize how smooth it is because you’ve been riding on a bumpy road for so long.”