Raptors complete biggest trade since Vince’s departure – who won the deal?
By Brian Boake
If you like cliches, you’ll love this deal
“The team which gains the best player wins the deal.” This hackneyed thought is probably dominating the net.
There’s no question the Raptors got the best player of the trade. Kawhi Leonard is a two-way phenomenon. The lazy description of him is as the NBA’s quintessential 3 & D man, but he’s more than that. He’s capable of putting the ball on the floor when defenders are sick of him draining long balls, and he can defend more than just wingmen. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and now LeBron James were scoring machines who turned themselves into Defensive Player of the Year candidates. Kawhi is bidding fair to join that class.
Kawhi is long and strong. While he’s listed at 6’7″ and 230 lbs., he plays longer than that. His nicknames are “The Claw” or “The Hand”, as he’s got the biggest mitts for a swingman since Dr. J. (that’s Julius Erving, kids – what a player he was). Leonard’s career offensive rating of 118, with a defensive one of 99, leaves him with an astonishing plus_19.
Kawhi turned 27 years of age recently, meaning he should be on a positive career arc. Assuming he’s fully recovered from his lingering injury, Leonard is the most complete package ever to wear Raptors colours.
The other Spur coming north is Danny Green, a poverty-stricken man’s Kawhi. He’s a useful contributor in limited minutes. At 31 years old, we can’t look forward to further development. However, he can sting the strings from long distance. A career 39.5% shooter over 9 seasons, Danny should be an anchor for our bench mob. Having another shooter on the floor with C.J. Miles is a positive development.
Of course those guys aren’t coming free of charge. We’re surrendering DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and next year’s first-round draft pick. Clearly the departure of DeRozan, whom all of us thought would be a Raptor for life, is hurtful. Yet his offensive game didn’t translate well to today’s game, and he’s not in the same conversation as Leonard on D. Moreover, his consistently poor playoff performances can’t be overlooked or excused.
Poeltl might already be an anachronism, a defensive-minded center who hasn’t yet demonstrated much of the offensive skills his position will require in future. His ceiling is about where he already is. Jakob is a valuable rotation player because of his mobility, size and smarts. Getting any more from him is unlikely.
The draft pick is lottery-protected. I’m happy the Spurs didn’t insist on two. I’m thrilled Masai wouldn’t let OG Anunoby or Pascal Siakam be tossed in.