San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors both enjoying their new stars
Both the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors are enjoying their new stars, after shuffling their rosters this past offseason
When Kawhi Leonard and DeMar DeRozan were traded for one another this past July, it seemed as if both fan bases were upset with the result.
San Antonio Spurs fans were forced to part ways with a Finals NBA MVP and superstar, while Toronto Raptors fans figured Leonard would be leaving Canada in the next calendar year. However, we’re more than a week into the 2018-19 NBA season and both organizations seem to be enjoying their new stars.
Both cities have been severely overlooked and not a lot of analysts have the two teams playing in the NBA Finals. For San Antonio, they are in a dominant Western Conference where it seems nobody will be able to dethrone the Golden State Warriors.
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On the other side for Toronto, the team lost a lot of depth and with the return of all-stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward in Boston, not many believe they can surpass the Celtics.
There was a lot of panic heading in, but both teams should be relieved that things have been heading the right direction so far. The Raptors are undefeated and picked up a huge win against Boston who they may very well see in May. Leonard is not only recording all the stats the fans up North expected, but he seems involved and motivated as well.
Leonard, along with Kyle Lowry, are a lethal tandem and not only can they put the ball in the basket, but they create havoc on the defensive end as well.
With the departure of Tony Parker to Charlotte and Manu Ginobili to retirement, the fans out West desperately needed a leader heading into this season. It seems as if they found just that with DeRozan. His patience on the offensive end along with his beautiful mid-range touch highlight his game and so far he’s averaged over 26 points per game on 44 percent shooting from the field.
The injury of Dejounte Murray was extremely damaging for San Antonio as he’s gotten praise all around the league for his energy and defense, but as long as Gregg Popovich is at the helm there will always be hope come playoff time.
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Both Leonard and DeRozan are relatively young at just 27 and 29 years old and they’re both in the prime of their careers. They both finish strong at the rim and can score from mid-range with ease. If management can surround them with more talent in the future look for Toronto and San Antonio to be buzzing for a very long time.