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6 year oldThe Kawhi Leonard saga in San Antonio is finally over. So is DeMar DeRozan’s time in Toronto.
An NBA summer blockbuster was sealed on Wednesday, with the Spurs sending Leonard to the Raptors weeks after the disgruntled 2014 NBA Finals MVP asked for a trade as part of a deal that also has DeRozan leaving Toronto for San Antonio. The Spurs also got Jakob Poeltl and a 2019 protected first-round draft pick, while the Raptors acquired Danny Green.
For Leonard and the Spurs, there’s finally closure to a relationship that was fractured beyond repair and devolved into a soap opera as the season went along. For DeRozan, who has often professed his love for Toronto, the initial reaction seemed to be one of anger and frustration.
“Ain’t no loyalty in this game,” DeRozan wrote in an Instagram story that appeared in the wee hours of Wednesday, around the time that ESPN and Yahoo Sports reported that the trade was approaching. “Sell you out quick for a little bit of nothing ... .”
DeRozan did not specifically reference the trade in that post. But his message didn’t exactly need translation.
DeRozan has led the Raptors in scoring in each of the last five seasons. He was key to Toronto winning 59 games and securing the No 1 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs last season. But after getting swept in the second round by Cleveland, the Raptors decided massive changes were necessary. First they fired of coach of the year Dwane Casey, and now they traded a superstar who once famously declared “I am Toronto.”
Leonard’s injury last season was described as right quadriceps tendinopathy, and the Spurs listed him as out on their injury reports for much of the year, citing “injury management.” During the 2016-17 season, he averaged a career-best 25.5 points and was third in the MVP voting. Both DeRozan and Leonard are scheduled to appear in Las Vegas next week at a USA Basketballtraining camp. The camp will be led by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
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