You can call him quiet, you can call him an NBA champion, but now you can also call him a Toronto Raptor.
As I was alerted by a tweet at a little before 4:30 am on Wednesday morning I couldn’t fall back asleep because the Raptors were at the time close to acquiring in my opinion a top 3 player in Kawhi Leonard. What felt like a long 4 hours later it was confirmed. The Toronto Raptors had traded for a Finals MVP in Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poetl and a protected 2019 1st round pick. At first I was shocked that the Raptors got a guy of this caliber. I can’t lie I was also a little sad that the fact our face of the franchise DeMar DeRozan would not suit up in the red and white this season. After I got past that it was clear what Masai Ujiri was doing. He was going for it, rolling the dice a gamble that I knew the Raptors had to take. However, a lot of fans don’t agree. A lot of fans believe the Raptors shot themselves in the foot for trading their franchise guy for what could be a 1-year rental. I have a different take on it. Here are 7 reasons why the Raptors won the Kawhi-DeMar trade.
- Kawhi Leonard is 10 times the player DeMar DeRozan is
As much as that hurts me to say because I love DeMar it’s also hard to argue with. In Kawhi Leonard’s last healthy season which was the 2016-17 season he averaged 25.5 points on 48.5 % shooting to go along with 5.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists. DeMar last season averaged 23 points on 45.6% shooting to go with 5.2 assists and 3.9 rebounds. Now while Kawhi’s offensive numbers are slightly better than DeMar’s it’s on the defensive end where Leonard really separates himself from DeRozan. Kawhi Leonard is a 2 time defensive player of the year. That to go along with a finals MVP proves that Leonard is a primed playoff performer. Something that DeMar DeRozan has had trouble with. Here’s a mind-boggling stat, Kawhi Leonard has 723 steals in his career which is good but put that beside the fact that he only has 706 career fouls. That stat says just about everything about Kawhi Leonard’s defensive game on Raptors team which by the way committed the 2nd most fouls per game on the defensive end last season and still finished 1st in the east so imagine what defensive help Kawhi will bring to that.
- Don’t Forget About Danny Green
One Piece of this trade that Raptor fans tend to forget about is Danny Green. At 31 years old his offensive game has taken a bit of a dip but is still very tough defensively. He’s exactly what coach Nick Nurse wants and that’s a gritty 3 and D guy. Not to mention that Danny Green has played over 100 playoff games and he was close to winning a finals MVP before the Heat came back. He can still switch very well on defense and is a career 40% three-point shooter, so it won’t be long before Matt Devlin rings up some 3-point calls from Danny Green.
- Remember The Kyle Lowry Situation
It’s been reported numerous times that Kawhi Leonard doesn’t want to play in Toronto and will split at the end of next season. I remember when a certain point guard named Kyle Lowry said that when he first got traded here. Look at him now he’s been at his happiest these last 6 seasons in Toronto. He’s said multiple times that he has fallen in love with this city and wants to win a title here. So, what’s stopping Kawhi Leonard from falling in love with Toronto. It’s big, beautiful and there is a ton to see. The fans are passionate, and you get away from the American media which can be sometimes more pesky then helpful. Masai Ujiri is known for creating interpersonal relationships with his players and all though it can sound silly don’t count out Drake, the raptors global ambassador. Kawhi likes Drake and if they can hit it off then who knows Los Angeles can be in for a rude awakening.
- Kawhi Wants To Prove He Can Still Ball
Rumors have not only circulated about Kawhi Leonard not wanting to come to Toronto but has threatened to sit out the season. And with 100% confidence I can tell you that will not happen. For one according to the CBA (collective bargaining agreement) he would not be paid his $20 million dollars and would lose his ability to be a free agent next season, so you can cross that out. The other point is Kawhi Leonard only played 9 games last season if he does that again this season you better believe that the Lakers or Clippers will not give him a max contract. Kawhi and his camp know that. Why do you think he wants to attend the USA basketball training camp this week? To talk to Coach Pop? No he wants to prove that he’s still the Klaw and that he can still be the best two way forward in the game. So if Kawhi is healthy you better believe he’s gonna suit up and play hard for Toronto.
- Money, Money, Money
We can talk about how you can’t buy happiness but lets face it money helps with it. With Kawhi being traded from San Antonio he’s already lost his chance to get a supermax deal of 5 years worth $221 million. The Raptors are the only team that can offer him 5 years on a max contract which would be worth $190 million. The other 29 teams can only give him 4 years max worth $141 million. That’s 80 million dollars left on the table going back to his time with a Spur. To me that would really be tough to pass up. Especially if you want more financial stability.
- You Kept Your Young Core
When the Raptors originally “generated a Buzz” about a trade for Kawhi Leonard there were talks of having to give up not only DeMar but Siakam, OG or Wright. Instead they only moved DeMar and Jakob and with all due respect to Poetl he was the one you didn’t mind giving up. We saw Siakam and OG breakout last season and they can be the future cornerstones, so you didn’t want to lose them. Delon at only 25 years old has improved every year and I believe will be a legitimate starting point guard in this league at some point down the line. So, to just give up Jakob Poetl out of the young guys. I’m more then okay with it. Not to mention the 1st round pick they gave up is protected picks 1-20. That means if the Raptors end up with a top 20 pick next season they keep it and San Antonio would get 2 second round picks. However, we all expect the Raptors to end up with a pick in the mid to late 20s so it will not be a high pick that we give up.
- If he Leaves, So What!!
If the rumors are true and he decides to split next season to go to L.A you can’t get mad at him. I won’t get mad at a guy who would want to go home. But for the Raptors you can officially start a rebuild. By the end of 2020 Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka and JV’s contracts will all be up. Leaving you with the full ability to rebuild this team and create it with your young core.
So as much as I appreciate DeMar DeRozan, I am very excited About this trade and what the Raptors will do with it. But DeMar, thank you for all that you’ve done for the city of Toronto we will always appreciate what you’ve done and hopefully one day your number 10 will be up in the rafters. If all goes well Number 2 might be as well. We’ll have to find out.