The long standing drama between Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs has finally come to an end. The Spurs agreed to trade Leonard to the Toronto Raptors for DeMar DeRozan. Leonard, who won an NBA Championship with the Spurs in 2014, as well as being Finals MVP, was supposed to be the franchise player for a team that was always a playoff stalwart in a ultra competitive Western Conference, but after a quad injury derailed his 2018 season and putting the Spurs into disarray with his displeasure towards the team, it left San Antonio in a rare and uncompromising position. The Spurs did whatever they could to appease Leonard, but ultimately, Leonard demanded to be traded, much to the dismay of the Spurs organization.
Many believed that Leonard would find himself playing with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers this upcoming season, but knowing the San Antonio Spurs, they would rather send a player that they know could come back as a threat to them, in a place that is far from their view. With the trade to Toronto, the Spurs acquire not only DeRozan, but also acquiring Jakob Poeltl (pronounced Ya-kob Poe-til) and a protected 2019 draft pick. These acquisitions for the Spurs could help San Antonio try to fight for a playoff spot for next season, granted the Spurs get past the likes of such teams like Utah, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Portland, Denver, and Memphis to do so, along with Houston, L.A. Lakers and Golden State. But for DeRozan, who wanted to remain a Raptor, it feels as though that he was betrayed by the team that drafted him.
DeRozan had declared that he wanted to stay a Raptor and help the team grow even further in the Eastern Conference, but that wasn’t the case in the eyes of Raptors General Manager Masai Ujiri (pronounced Mah-sai Ooh-gee-ree), who took a huge gamble in dealing away his franchise player for another, especially when Ujiri told DeRozan that he would not be traded. DeRozan is still owed $27 million dollars off the remainder of his 5 year contract.
The Raptors meanwhile, looked to position themselves in a manner where they can try to take the top spot in the Eastern Conference, but against the likes of the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto could easily be the third seed in the East and would not have to worry about LeBron James. With the acquisition of Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green, the Raptors have potential to be a top two seed in the East, granted that the Raptors do right by Kawhi and do everything they can to accomodate him.
This massive shakeup in the free agency has caused quite a stir within the NBA, but depending on how things work out from now until next summer’s free agency market, we could see the Spurs getting back on track and the Raptors taking that next step to remain a top team in the East. If things do not go as planned for either team, we could be possibly seeing Kawhi heading westward to play for the Lakers.
The Heat Check Magazine 