Reports indicated that Kawhi Leonard was initially not on board with his trade to the Toronto Raptors. Leonard was shipped to Toronto alongside Danny Green in a deal that saw a package headlined by DeMar DeRozan go to San Antonio, and at first, there were rumblings that Leonard was so upset that he was going to consider sitting out the 2018-19 season.
Slowly but surely, though, the tenor around Leonard’s tenure in Toronto changed. Someone close to him was quoted at saying he’s going to love the city, while Raptors coach Nick Nurse sounded incredibly optimistic following his first conversation with his new star. Now, a new report says that Leonard is going to walk into his new digs with an open mind as he faces free agency next summer.
According to Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express-News, Leonard is not going to enter this upcoming season with any preconceived notions about the Raptors. In fact, Young told TSN Radio’s OverDrive that Leonard is entering this season with “an open mind.”
“They’re going to go into this thing with an open mind and give this thing every last opportunity to work,” Young said. “I think he still feels like L.A. might be the destination. At the same time, he plans on going into this thing with an open mind, giving it every single shot in the world to make it work. Let’s say the Toronto Raptors get to the Eastern Conference Finals and they win, or they get to the NBA Finals and maybe they win. If you’re Kawhi Leonard, I think you just can’t off and run. You’ve gotta give this thing every opportunity to go back and win more championships, go back and win another conference championship. I think the Raptors’ success will dictate a lot of it, but I also think that, like I said, he’s going to go into this thing with an open mind.”
This is just about the best news the Raptors could ask for with regards to Leonard. Masai Ujiri traded for Leonard knowing that he has one year to sell the All-NBA forward on returning to the team once he hits free agency on July 1, 2019, and while there’s no guarantee he’s able to do that, it’s at least reassuring knowing that Leonard will have an open mind about things.
The worst-case scenario for Toronto is, of course, that Leonard decides not to sign a long-term deal and he leaves in free agency, which causes them to kick off something of a rebuild. But the thing is everyone has known this is the worst-case scenario ever since the trade occurred — the difference now seems to be that the team has a puncher’s chance at convincing him to stick around, which seemed like a pipe dream of sorts in the immediate aftermath of Leonard switching teams.
(Via TSN Radio)
