DeRozan finds Lakers rumors flattering: 'Damn, my hometown team want me?'

DeMar DeRozan was linked with his hometown Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent in 2016 but ultimately re-signed with the Toronto Raptors.

Now, with reports suggesting the Lakers are interested in acquiring the veteran wing from the San Antonio Spurs, DeRozan says he's flattered.

"How could you not feel some type of way? Especially me, being from L.A., it's like 'Damn, my hometown team want me?'" DeRozan told Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on the "All The Smoke" podcast. "They just came off a championship, and they want me?"

DeRozan grew up in nearby Compton and attended college at USC.

Any deal the Lakers could make for the four-time All-Star would require hurdles to be cleared. DeRozan must still decide in the next week whether to opt in to the final year of his Spurs contract. If he doesn't, he'd become an unrestricted free agent.

The Lakers are also restricted by the salary cap. A reported deal in the works for Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Dennis Schroder could limit them further.