Raptors rookie Terrence Ross is accustomed to being heavily scrutinized.

For the past week or two, teammate DeMar DeRozan has been paying particular attention to young Ross.

In Ross, DeRozan sees a second — or actually a third — chance at dunk redemption and he doesn’t want to see him come up short.

If you haven’t guessed by now, this is all about the dunk contest that will be part of NBA all-star event a week Saturday and Ross’ expected involvement.

Official word of the contestants doesn’t arrive until Thursday night, but there is a groundswell of support for Ross which includes Eastern Conference all-star captain Dwyane Wade, who has taken to Twitter to trumpet the inclusion of Ross.

“I keep telling him, I say: ‘Dog, you go out there and win it.’” DeRozan said. “‘You can win it. You can do something a lot of people have never seen.’ He’s saying: ‘I know, I know.’”

“I hope he wins it,” DeRozan says, his face lighting up at just the possibility. “I really want him to win it. It would be big.”

via Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun