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What the Kawhi/DeRozan deal means for the Spurs and Raptors

By Phillip Barnett | Last updated 7/18/18

The most fascinating part of the Kawhi Leonard for DeMar DeRozan deal isn’t about Leonard wanting out of San Antonio, it isn’t about DeRozan wanting to stay in Toronto and it sure as hell isn’t about what this means for the Lakers — it’s about this idea of workplace happiness and how neither of the stars included in this blockbuster trade will have it for the foreseeable future.

It’s been reported that Leonard has no desire to play in Toronto, and everything suggests that he still has his heart set on Los Angeles once his yearlong stint in Canada is over. DeRozan expressed through Instagram stories that he isn’t happy about the move to Texas and feels like he was lied to by the Toronto front office. With both narratives overlapping, the general public can’t decide whether the player forcing his way out or the team shipping the player away is more troubling, and searching for the right answer to such a dynamic question could be upsetting to anyone.

With two disgruntled players swapping franchises, there is going to have to be a bit of trust building during the rest of the summer, as ironic as this may sound. Even if neither player is particularly happy about the deal, we’re getting a glimpse as to what the future of each franchise may look like in the next season and beyond.

For the Spurs, the trade was necessary. With Leonard and the franchise not seeing eye-to-eye on his lingering quad injury, the star forward asked to be moved to Los Angeles or walk in free agency. Moving him to the Lakers — or any Western Conference team, for that matter — seemed unlikely, but he’s a top five player when healthy, and it simply would not be wise to allow a player of this caliber to walk away without getting something in return. However, because of these very issues, the Spurs were never going to get Leonard’s value in return.

Right now, no one knows how healthy he is, and without any word from him or his camp about potentially signing an extension with anyone but a team based in Los Angeles, the risk of trading for Leonard was awfully high for pretty much every team in the league save for the Lakers and the Clippers. This story, however, is a sequel to the Paul George drama that unfolded last summer. The Thunder swooped in, and PG re-signed with the team. Leonard and George are two different people, but for the right franchise, the rental risk is worth taking.

This is where the Raptors come in. The team hasn’t been bad by any means in recent seasons. The Raptors are coming off the best regular-season performance in franchise history, finishing first in the East with 59 wins, and DeRozan was a huge part for everything that’s gone right for the team in recent years. After Chris Bosh left the franchise in 2010 to join forces with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in Miami, DeRozan snatched the mantle and gave himself to the city. The day Bosh left, DeRozan tweeted “Don’t worry, I got us…” — and that has been pinned to the top of his page ever since.

The face you make when you also realize Zaza Pachulia got you where you are today. David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images

One day, DeRozan’s No. 10 will hang in the rafters in Scotiabank Arena, but it was time to shake things up in The Six. After getting swept once again by a James-led Cavaliers team, team president Masai Ujiri fired Dwane Casey (who went on to win Coach of the Year) and promoted Nick Nurse to head coach. With the Celtics playing in the Eastern Conference Finals without Kyrie Irving or Gordon Hayward and the 76ers making a huge jump, there was no guarantee that the Raptors would have a stranglehold on the East with LeBron gone, and considering the huge contracts the team had given both DeRozan and his running mate Kyle Lowry, the only way Toronto could shake up the roster without entering a huge rebuild was to deal one of them.

The deal, even with all of its risks, works incredibly well for the Raptors both for the upcoming season and for the summer of 2019 with a huge, talented free agency class that will probably include Leonard. The Raptors have a few options ahead of them over the next year, and each option has an ostensible light at the end of the tunnel.

They can, of course, hope everything works out with Leonard. One of the first things that Nurse talked about when taking over the head coaching position was working with DeRozan on becoming a better defender. The Raptors' inability to get stops in big moments was one of the reasons that they’ve struggled so much once the postseason begins. With Leonard, you have a generational defender who can give you as much, if not more, than what DeRozan gave the team on the offensive end of the floor. The depth, Lowry and Leonard could be enough to take Toronto on a run to the Finals, which may or may not be enough to convince Leonard to stay with the team beyond this season.

The other options don’t involve Leonard beyond this season. Toronto may very well know that Leonard has no desire to play with Toronto beyond this season and move him at the trade deadline, especially if the Lakers are struggling or if the Clippers make a move, forcing a bidding war. Toronto doesn’t give up any of its young pieces, flips DeRozan for Leonard, then flips Kawhi for even more assets (Lakers' kids plus picks?) to set the franchise up for a potential future without Lowry, too.

Or, the Raptors can simply allow Leonard to fall off the books this summer (Danny Green and his $10 million expiring contract also head to Toronto with Leonard). Between the two players they’ve just acquired, that’s more than $30 million coming off the books next summer, more than enough to bring in any one of the max-level free agents who could be looking for a new home in 2019.

For the Spurs, it’s quite the different story. This is currently a franchise that’s clinging on to the last remnants of an era of nearly perfect team building and organizational structure. Tim Duncan is gone, Tony Parker is gone, Manu Ginobili is on his very last legs and Gregg Popovich can see retirement from his seat on the bench. Leonard was supposed to be the one who would bridge the gap between the eras and continue what has been unrivaled organizational success among nearly all franchises in any sport.

The future isn’t as bright as it once was, but DeRozan does help to ease some of the pain that comes with losing a player like Leonard. DeRozan finished seventh in MVP voting last season and has made an All-NBA Team in each of the last two seasons. As mentioned above, he’s going to have to work on the defensive side of the ball playing under Popovich, and he’s going to have to continue to expand his shooting beyond the arc. Beyond that, there isn’t much DeRozan is incapable of doing for the Spurs.

The trade could leave such a bad taste in his mouth that he decides not to give his heart to San Antonio the way he gave it to Toronto, but everything on the court suggests that the Spurs will be OK and compete for a playoff spot for the 22nd consecutive season. DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge aren't a terrible duo to build a team around, while Dejounte Murray is a very nice No. 3 who does nearly everything well. Marco Belinelli is back, and Pau Gasol is still serviceable. Jakob Poeltl, a nice center who will thrive playing under Pop, is also heading to San Antonio with DeRozan.

There is no clear plan on how the Spurs can come out on the other side of this in the same way that the Raptors do, but it was a necessary business move for both clubs. Neither DeRozan or Leonard will find happiness immediately, but each begins a new journey in a new country, hoping for the best.

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