Ranking the trade value of each player on the Toronto Raptors
Kawhi Leonard
His contract is only one year, he makes more than 10X as much as Pascal Siakam, who knows if he’ll be happy wherever he’s traded. Who cares. Let’s not over think this one, Kawhi Leonard is the best trade asset on this team. He’s in his prime, he’s a fringe MVP candidate, he might be the best two-way player in the game.
After playing nine games last season, Kawhi is back to the form we saw prior to the quad injury. He’s averaging 28 points, eight rebounds, and two steals per game. Possession to possession he’s not the defender he was two years ago; when he wants to be, he’s better than ever.
Toronto is wisely keeping Kawhi on a rest program preventing him from playing back-to-backs and often giving him the night off. That’s fine. For contending teams, what you bring to the table in the playoffs is far more important than what you bring in the regular season (LeBron’s defense tells you all you need to know about regular season importance).
Next. Ranking the Raptors based on their current contracts. dark
It’s easy to get cute and say Pascal Siakam is the best asset due to contract and team control. However, when discussing the difference between a top-tier player and a fringe All-Star, the talent gap is too important. Kawhi Leonard is the most valuable trade commodity this team has.