Raptors may need Norman Powell as intervenor with Kawhi Leonard
By Brian Boake
Kawhi Leonard is upset at being dealt somewhere other than a Los Angeles team. Do the Raptors have anyone with the credibility to change his mind and suit up?
Kawhi Leonard has been traded to the Toronto Raptors. While the superstar swingman wanted out of San Antonio, it doesn’t follow that he wanted to come to Canada. He is even more disgruntled as a Raptor (in theory anyway) than he was as a Spur, and is threatening not to play at all this season.
Many around the NBA view Leonard’s hissy fit as something he’ll get over. Conventional Wisdom suggests in a few days, he’ll calm down and realize he’ll lose a crazy amount of money if he refuses to join Toronto.
I’m not so sure CW will prevail. Leonard strikes me as a hard-headed man, and one who doesn’t indulge in idle words (or any other kind – the guy’s silence is spooky). The staring match with the Spurs was a protracted affair which the single-minded Leonard “won” by forcing a trade. Will he win this spat with the Raptors too, by compelling Masai Ujiri to trade him before he ever plays for our team?
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Norman Powell may be the one guy on our roster who can reach out to Leonard and be heard. Both men are southern California born and bred, Leonard in Los Angeles, Powell in San Diego. Leonard’s 2-year college career was spent at San Diego State. Powell graduated (how refreshing!) from UCLA. There are many points of intersection in their backgrounds. That said, I don’t have any idea if the two know each other more than to say hello as they pass in the corridor of a Las Vegas hotel.
Norman is happy – Kawhi, you could be too
Like DeMar DeRozan, Powell has taken a shine to living and playing in Toronto. He signed a contract extension in October of last year which should set him up for life financially. While he hasn’t yet made himself the Man About Town to the degree Amir Johnson did, Norman certainly hasn’t kept himself locked away either.
What the Raptors and our city need is a player/salesman, and the most prominent candidate is Norman (I’d be happy if Delon Wright, another SoCal man, wanted to step up as well). Norman’s television spots for a hosting service, and for his own musical creations, demonstrate articulateness and sincerity. Those are qualities much in need if Leonard is going to cease his self-imposed exile.
Someone has to reach out, and at the moment, I don’t think that someone can be Masai Ujiri. He’s in the doghouse for allegedly breaking his no-trade promise to DeMar DeRozan. Masai can, however, prevail upon Norman to make an ice-breaking effort. Dark times are ahead otherwise.