Kawhi Leonard’s revolutionized Toronto
In one of the biggest gambles of recent years, the Toronto Raptors just last year traded away their franchise cornerstone in DeMar DeRozan for a belittled Kawhi Leonard who played less than 10 games the year prior. The first thoughts after this trade were an utter shock at what Toronto had just done, but it appears now that their risky move may have really paid off. Kawhi Leonard is a top three player in the NBA and the best 3-and-D player in the league.
Any team would love to have him, but he would not love to be on just any team. Before he was traded Leonard made it very clear to the San Antonio Spurs that he wanted to be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers no ifs and/or buts about it. The Raptors administration knew this and yet still went along with trading away their most loyal player. Everybody thought the Raptors were doomed after this year and that Kawhi was going to book west as soon as he could.
But the success that he and Toronto have had this season might prove otherwise. Leonard has led his team to the Raptors first NBA finals appearance and has already somewhat cemented himself within the Raptors all-time greats. Kawhi has had his best season yet and now all reports are saying he is more than likely going to resign and stay with the Raptors.
Toronto needed to get to this finals in order to prove to Kawhi that they were a capable team and to prove to the world that they made the right trade. In just one year Leonard did what DeRozan could never do and that was to take his team to the NBA Finals. With LeBron James in the West with the Lakers, now it seems that Kawhi Leonard has become the new king of the East and will be for years to come. Toronto’s move seems to have paid off and is now looked at as one of the best moves by a franchise of all time.