DeMarre Carroll Says Raptors Players 'Didn't Trust Each Other' Last Season

With his exit from the Toronto Raptors rapidly approaching, DeMarre Carroll sounded off on the atmosphere around the team over the last year. 

In an interview with the Toronto Sun's Ryan Wolstat, Carroll was critical of Toronto's offense, saying the Raptors' isolation-heavy style resulted from a lack of on-court cohesion:

"But once adversity hits and stuff starts going wrong, guys are going to go back to ISO basketball, that's how it is. You've got to trust it. It's one of those things you've got to build, you've just got to trust each other. This year, I feel like a lot of guys didn't trust each other and a lot of guys, they didn't feel like other guys could produce or (be) given the opportunity, so there was a lot of lack of trust on our team, so that's what hindered us from going (as far as they wanted to go)."

The Raptors agreed Saturday to trade Carroll to the Brooklyn Nets, according to ESPN.com's Adrian Wojnarowski. 

Carroll is right to say the Raptors relied heavily upon isolations, but the strategy proved effective both during the regular season and playoffs.

According to NBA.com, Toronto ranked sixth in isolation frequency (8.5 percent) and second in points per possession in isolations (0.98) in the regular season. In the postseason, the Raptors were 10th (8.8 percent) and first (1.13 points per possession) in the two categories, respectively.

Wolstat reported Carroll wasn't the only player unhappy with the Raptors' offensive approach, as some in the locker room were reportedly critical of how much Toronto relied upon Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.

After the Cleveland Cavaliers swept Toronto aside in the second round of the NBA playoffs, general manager Masai Ujiri said the Raptors "need a culture reset," per USA Today's AJ Neuharth-Keusch.

The Raptors will once again be a top-four contender in the Eastern Conference after Lowry confirmed he'll re-sign with the team. It bears watching whether tweaking the team's style or forging better on-court chemistry helps Toronto close the gap with the Cavs next season.