Investigating the Raptors contender status with Kawhi Leonard

From my piece:

“So, now that the dust has settled regarding Kawhi Leonard’s role in the cap circumvention extravaganza with the Clippers and the penalties have been levied… where does everyone sit on the potential of going back to the table for haggling purposes?

This was an oft discussed topic on social media. Far more discussed, I reckon, than it was within Raptor or Clipper circles. Regardless, do the Raptors have a leg to stand on?

Setting the scene first, Shams Charania reported that the trade should be finalized in the coming days, and that trade would be as follows:

To Los Angeles: Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, a 2027 first-round pick swap, and two second-round picks.

To Toronto: Kawhi Leonard.

If the Raptors were somehow able to negotiate for a better deal, great, but I think they already did really well.

I was ecstatic when this trade was announced. I viewed this as an undeniable win for the Raptors, and considered the cost worth it even if Leonard were to play like 24 games this season. There are obvious upsides, you can find them here:

Leonard is coming off an unbelievable season. He was healthy, he placed 7th in MVP voting, and he made an All-NBA team. This isn’t a “distressed star” trade in the way that we saw Brandon Ingram, Trae Young, and Anthony Davis get jettisoned elsewhere. The “distressed” aspect of Leonard’s reputation has been settled by the NBA, and on his end it’s getting settled for 700K.

Speaking of Ingram, when I was surveying — in my limited means — the trade market I saw a player who would probably need things attached to him to achieve a trade out of Toronto, rather than the inverse. There’s no question that last year was a success for Ingram and the Raptors, and well done to all parties, but it also revealed how ill-fitting the two ultimately were. An All-Star season, to be sure, but that selection doesn’t carry as much meaning as it used to as far as front offices are concerned. If we look at the Julius Randle trade, it’s hard to see something much better for the Raptors. Randle doesn’t have the recent All-Star selection and the aesthetics of his game don’t lend themselves to easy fandom like Ingram, but he’s been a better player for some time.

Part of the cost to bring Leonard in is also the cost to move Ingram on. Whether you view that as the two seconds, or one first, whatever you like, I think that’s the truth of it.

The same point can be made for Gradey Dick. As someone who was high on the Kansas star coming out of the draft, I kept looking for indicators of how his career might bend in the right direction – and it hasn’t yet. That’s not to say that it can’t, or won’t, but that Dick’s inclusion in this trade serves as, in my mind, a means to even out the money and keep the Raptors from surrendering young players that they viewed as more important. Maybe the Clippers see Dick as a player on the verge of turning it around, but the Raptors still have no leverage to treat him like a highly desired player across the league. Dick is a player who probably would’ve seen a decreased role on the Raptors this season, and depending on the cap situation could’ve netted *maybe* a second round pick if the Raptors were comfortable money wise and there was a very interested team, but they more than likely would’ve wanted to move his contract off the books for a slight bit of draft capital.

From the Clippers perspective, the value they’re getting in this deal exists mostly in the draft capital. You can argue for both Ingram and Dick, but they’re not easy arguments. From the Raptors perspective the value they’re getting is two-fold in that they’re bringing on one of the best players in the NBA and moving on from roughly 50 million dollars worth of players that weren’t a long term fit.

I don’t see any reason to haggle and risk this deal.”