NBA News: San Antonio Spurs trade Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors
North Bound for the Klaw
Shocking news today, the Kawhi Leonard saga in San Antonio is now over. The San Antonio Spurs and the Toronto Raptors have agreed a trade, which involves franchise players Kawhi Leonard and DeMar DeRozan. Along with Leonard, the Raptors will also receive 3 point specialist Danny Green, while going the other way to the Spurs is Jakob Poeltl and a future first-round draft pick with DeRozan.
This is a risky move for the Raptors as Leonard can enter free agency next year. Leonard earlier indicated he wants to play in Los Angeles. The Raptors have one year to convince Leonard to stay in Toronto, much like what happened to Paul George in Oklahoma City. It will be a difficult task as Leonard has indicated he does not want to play for Toronto.
He will be looking forward to moving to Los Angeles via free agency in 2019. We will wait and see what becomes of this trade in the future. For me this is a win for San Antonio getting a great player in DeRozan. Losing Leonard a different caliber player will definitely hurt, but I think it was time to move on as Leonard did not want to play for the Spurs after falling out with the team due to the handling of his quad injury. As for Toronto we will wait and see if this risky move will pay off in the future.
DeRozan was the 9th pick in the 2009 NBA draft by Toronto, the franchise player for Toronto. DeRozan is a 4 time All Star, leading the Raptors to the most wins in franchise history, including the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals. Leonard meanwhile is a 2 time All Star, and led the Spurs to the 2014 NBA Championship.
Nice article, I think there is a large chance that Kawhi stays if the Raptors can convince him to.
I Feel sad, Love DeRozan, posted about it yesterday, indeed risky move for the Raptors
Yes but sadly it's business, just sucks that the Raptors told him they weren't gonna trade him before the move. I think it was a good trade for both teams.
Sad News brother...:(