By trading away franchise cornerstone DeMar DeRozan, Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri demonstrated his belief that Toronto’s roster, as constructed pre-Kawhi Leonard, wasn’t going to get the job done against the Celtics or the rest of the Eastern Conference, reports Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports.
But now that Leonard is a Raptor, the obvious question becomes, for how long? The Lakers, like most everyone else who follows or reports on the NBA, believe they will land Leonard next summer. Yet, the brass in L.A. felt the same way last summer when they saw Paul George, who publicly voiced his desire to play in Hollywood, be traded to the Thunder only to re-sign with Oklahoma City earlier this month without so much as a second look at the Lakers.
Per Mannix, however, this feels different. The Raptors don’t have an MVP sidekick to pair with Leonard like the Thunder have in Russell Westbrook, and as Chris Haynes of ESPN blunty tweeted earlier today, Leonard has “no desire” to play in Toronto. But then again, Toronto is not an undesirable city, it plays host to one of the most rabid fan bases in all of professional sports, and Ujiri will have an entire year to sell Leonard on a future in Canada.
Ultimately Ujiri, who another front office executive tagged as “really impressive” and a “tremendous asset,” chose to roll the dice on an MVP-caliber player knowing that there were risks attached. It remains to be seen, at least until next summer, whether Ujiri’s gamble will payoff.
There’s more from The North:
- In a subsequent tweet from Haynes, the ESPN scribe mentions how players around the NBA have not failed to notice that the Raptors have yet to make a statement thanking DeRozan for his contributions over a nine-year period with the franchise.
- In another article for Yahoo Sports, Michael Lee opines that the DeRozan/Leonard trade is unique because both of the marquee players involved are furious with the deal. For his part, DeRozan is particularly hurt because he claims to have been told by the Raptors just recently that he wouldn’t be traded out of Toronto. And after former franchise stars like Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, and Chris Bosh bolted, it seems cruel for a player like DeRozan, who actually wanted to stay in Toronto, to be sent packing without his approval.
- In other Raptors‘ news, re-signed guard Fred VanVleet sat down with Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype for a wide-ranging interview detailing everything from his free agency experience this summer and last season’s breakout performance to his thoughts on former coach Dwane Casey and new head coach Nick Nurse.
As I mentioned earlier on, this is not a very classy move from Toronto, unfortunately this are becoming more common in the league, sign of the times that we are living.
Hard to blame Toronto for shaking it up given the team’s playoff failures, which DeRozen has been at the center of
No one is blaming Toronto for shaking things up, it has to do with them telling DeRozan he’s not getting traded recently then trading him. Yes this is a business but it doesn’t stop it from being a d*ck move.
I agree with that. They should have had better and more honest communication with DeRozan.
Leonard for Ball deals to eventually start up is my prediction.
Would love to see Lavars face if it becomes true haha
Credit to Ujiri’s courage, and to Pops for playing his hand his way.
Lowry should be good for a finals charge next year but at 32, but maybe not afterwards. So, making a charge for the top in 2019 makes sense.
Anyway it was probably a matter of jumping at a surprisely affordable offer from someone who had previously been requiring more.
I think there’s a really good chance Toronto flips Leonard before this offseason is over. If the packages LA and Philly we’re offering are true, the Raptors would be wise to take one of them.
San Antonio told Philly they wouldn’t make a deal unless it included Embiid or Simmons. Talk shows said today the Lakers would be wise to offer Ingram or Kuzma, Rondo or Hart, and a draft pick so they don’t lose Kawhi to the Clippers. Just remember Vegas had -5000 odds (you had to bet $500 to win $1) for LeBron to go to LA, and even odds for Kawhi to be sent to Toronto. They got it right.
Vegas didn’t post -5000 until after Lebron was actually in L.A., meeting with Magic.
Unless they want to part with both of this past year’s first round picks, the Clippers really don’t have much to offer. Tobias Harris is in a contract year.
If Toronto can get Ingram and a couple other pieces, that beats the hell out of one year of Kawhi Leonard.
Philly can make a really interesting offer without including Simmons or Embiid. It just comes down to how the Raptors feel about Markelle Fultz
Kawhi has said he’s only going to play for the Clippers or Lakers, no exceptions. Jerry West can do like the Lakers and wait until next summer and go head to head with Magic. Like the sports talk shows said today Magic will say you can have the chance at a championship (still unlikely to beat Golden State) and Jerry saying “Do you want to play 2nd fiddle to LeBron?” Kawhi right now says no. For Vegas, that’s what betting is about. In the NFL you wait until the injury reports are in to bet. Things can change overnight. You guys want to have the media make predictions 6 months in advance and be right. It doesn’t work that way. Kawhi could change his mind 20 times about what he wants to do. That’s why Vegas makes last minute wagers.
Just like the NBA trade deadline, NBA general managers know you either wait until trade deadline day or draftday to get the best deals. You guys are terrible about complaining about sports guys. If these guys could tell everybody what will happen months in advance, they’d put Vegas out of business.
Magic wasn’t talking to LeBron when he got to LA. Magic didn’t talk to LeBron until after Rich Paul had spoken with the Cavs by phone the night free agency began. Vegas had strong odds out for LeBron before he got to LA. Sometime around when LeBron left Antilla and arrived it went to -5000, that’s how Vegas has always done it.
Toronto fired Dwayne Casey, they fired the wrong guy. Toronto went out and got a player who said before hand he didn’t want to be there. So they gave San Antonio their All Star. Kawhi will be in LA, and DeRozan will still be in San Antonio. Toronto knew they were dealing with someone who doesn’t have a full deck.
Really amazing deal by Ujiri. He is currently the leader for executive of the year, and it’s not close