"Raptors blew me away with their presentation," says DeMarre Carroll

The newest member of the Toronto Raptors spoke to TSN 1050 to talk about his decision to sign with the team. After signing a four year, $60 million deal, DeMarre Caroll said the team left a great impression.

"I had 8 teams call me, and actually the Raptors were the very first team, and they gave me a great impression," said Carroll.

"They came to my house at 10 o'clock and I had four other teams: Detroit, Phoenix and New York. The Raptors were the first team to come in, and they blew me away with there presentation. They blew me away told me about the fan base, they told me about the city, they told me about how my family was going to live there and then last but not least, they told me about the team and I feel I can help this team in a lot of areas."

He touched on how the Raptors played last year, talking about what he brings to the team.

"Defense. I think defensively I got to be the anchor. It has to start with me; my energy, my grittiness, my grit and grind and everybody can jump on the bandwagon," said Carroll.

"The year before the last, the Raptors were a really good defensive team; I think last year they kind of fell off. I'm just trying to get the Raptors fans something they want and that's to get us past the first round."

He also said he always has something to prove, playing with a chip on his shoulder.

"I don't play with a chip on my shoulder, I play with a log on my shoulder," said Carroll. "I feel like I've been through a lot; I had a lot of obstacles (to overcome). I wasn't given, when first coming to the NBA, a silver platter. I was going to have to work throughout my whole career, my whole life. Once I got into the NBA, I knew I had to start from scratch and to work my way to where I am now.

A self-described 'junkyard dog', during the 2014-15 regular season, DeMarre averaged 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals, had a defensive rating of 101.9 and had a defensive rebounding percentage of 14.0 percent. During his 16 games in the playoffs with the Atlanta Hawks he averaged 6.1 rebounds and 1.1. steals while forcing opponents (including LeBron James) into shooting 54.2% on their shots at the rim. All this, and he had a bum knee at the time.

You can listen to the full interview here.

What do you think about DeMarre's remarks?