The dust has settled on the Raptors’ blockbuster trade for unsettled star Kawhi Leonard, but now they need to sell the former Spur on the franchise.
The forward can become a free agent next summer if he declines his player option, and the race is on for Toronto to convince him of the merits of playing up north.
“I think there’s a lot to sell here: our team, our culture, our city, our ownership,” Raptors president Masai Ujiri told reporters Friday. “We have everything here except a championship, in my humble opinion.”
Uriji continued, “He [Leonard] didn’t express a lack of interest in playing in Canada to me.”
Leonard was reportedly displeased with the trade in its immediate aftermath, and he wasn’t the only one.
DeMar Derozan, who was sent the other way in the deal, sounded off on his Instagram story, saying, “…Ain’t no loyalty in this game. Sell you out quick for a little bit of nothing…”
Ujiri reportedly told DeRozan during the summer league that the team would not trade him. The Compton native is the franchise’s all-time leading scorer through nine seasons, and earned his fourth All-Star selection last season.
“With DeMar, he was unbelievably loyal to us. I’ve never seen anything like it… It’s honestly why I will not be doing this one day,” Uriji said. “Maybe I should have handled the conversation (with DeMar) better.”
The work starts now for the Raptors to convince Leonard to commit to a future in Toronto. The team is coming off a franchise-record 59 wins and has topped the 50-win threshold for three straight seasons.
While it lost its top scorer in DeRozan to acquire Leonard, it still has talented point guard Kyle Lowry and exciting young players in Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby.
LeBron James, whose Cavaliers eliminated the Raptors the past three postseasons, is now in the Western Conference making the East more open than it’s been in over a decade.
“What I can see is a basketball player, a no-nonsense basketball player that can play on both sides of the floor…,” Ujiri said of Leonard. “He seems to have a quiet demeanor. All human buildings are built differently.”
With Leonard, the Raptors have a legitimate chance to ascend to the top of the conference.