FanPost

Kawhi Leonard... the idiot

Among 3 parties: The Spurs, The Raptors, and Kawhi Leonard; I think it’s becoming pretty safe to say who won the off-season of 2018.

Let’s explore:

1) The Spurs: The Spurs played this as well as they possibly could have. Kawhi had made up his mind. Had they just let him sit out another year, no way they make the playoffs again. There was also not perfectly replacing Kawhi. Leonard screwed his trade value over by making his demands public. So, they got a go-to scorer which they desperately needed. They got a quality big man. And they got a pick that can be the ultimate wild card. Sure, the Spurs were the 7th seed. But in a series against anyone except the Warriors and Rockets, they would have been fairly evenly matched. They lost in round 1 but a better start, a better road trip and maybe they have home field advantage in round 1 and it’s a different story. AND this is with losing Murray! It was a horrible situation, but they in many ways still exceeded expectations and could continue to contend for years to come.

2) The Raptors: this is the party I feel most sorry for. They bet the house on Kawhi. They can be as happy as they want with a second round game 7 win. It’s the second round! Who cares? Do you think Kawhi cares? The Spurs were pretty much the second best team in the league with Kawhi. But I digress... Toronto. Kudos to a great year. But i’m going to throw a monkey wrench into things. In 2017-2018, the Raptors won over 60 games. And yes, they lost to the Cavs and it was humiliating. But with LeBron gone, I don’t think you can definitely say the Raptors would have had a worse year. I think the path to the Eastern conference finals was still pretty clear. And they would have done it with Derozan. It would have meant more. I know Toronto loves Kawhi. But I don’t really get the sense he loves them back. I get the sense he is saying the right things, but is going to bolt in the summer. Which brings me to why Toronto is the biggest loser. Everything they traded for will probably vanish this year. Kawhi will likely leave (my guess is for LAC). Danny Green may leave. He’s certainly showing who he is in this series. I read a quote that made me laugh, it was something to the effect of being surprised that Green had shot 40% from 3 in the regular season but he’s doing much worse in the playoffs and doesn’t even look ready to shoot. Now isn’t that the Danny Green we knew and loved for years? So... with those to gone, Toronto might end up being a LOTTERY TEAM. And you know who else is rumored to leave? The architect! Uraji. Rumor has it he wants the Wizards job. It would be the right time for him to leave. He tried everything and he came up short.

3) Leonard: Not saying it’s a bad thing to want to play for a hometown crowd. My only beef with Leonard was how he left. You signed a contract. Honor it. He thought he knew better. Did he? His stats were better. Great. That seems like it fits with his natural career trajectory at best. At worst, he had to do more on a nightly basis because he had less support. Finishing second in the East is about on par with making the playoffs in the West. So you left... you didn’t get anything out of it. And now, you’re set to earn $30-$80 million less... without more endorsements than you would have had. I would have had a lot more respect for him had he played out his last year and then left for the Clippers/Lakers. The Spurs would have been worse off for it in hindsight, but oh well. Instead he proved nothing and did what he could have done anyway.

nice work.

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