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I’ll believe it when I see it

Heard it’s DeRozan, Siakam and a 1st round draft pick

Someone else it’s OG and futures

Nice to dream....but only a dream until it actually materializes.

What a thing if it does tho eh?

In reply to imusic

for a one year guy

In reply to imusic

You think he will stay?

In reply to imusic

They are more likely doing it to rebuild when he bolts next season and they have massive cap space.

They still going get spanked by us

Should have gone to the Lakers

In reply to imusic

The deal includes Danny Green in exchange for Jakob Poeltl.

I'm not a fan of renting a player. I think the chances of resigning Leonard is low.

In reply to problemjay

He may not have had a choice in the matter.

bad move for the Raps

In reply to defeyeant

Not surprised. Their most successful coach and now their most successful player. Masai is still dreaming......

In reply to Kay

Exactly! For what most likely turns out to be a one year rental. I could see if Kawhi was the last missing piece but no we are not that close
And you just traded the heart of your team. A guy who bled maple syrup. Its hard as it is to get player to come to Canada and then you go trade the one guy who's been unquestionably loyal tyo your franchise and has helped to bring your franchise to the point of respectability......for a rental that probably still wont get you to the finals.

In reply to defeyeant

Heart? That team had heart? Two years in a row they have been blown out by the Cavs, swept in the most one sided affair!

The Pacers and the Celtics took that team to 7 and Toronto could not sniff a game!

That team was going nowhere!

So you bring in a proven talent, see what he does and how it affects the overall response.
If the team performs better, then you try to keep him, if not you start to rebuild!

Do you lose a good player? Yes. But he was not taking you anywhere, and you need to give up good for better!

In reply to defeyeant

Toronto is trading a well-liked four time all-star for a rental that could walk away in 2019.

Will Leonard recover from the quad “injury” in Toronto that has plagued him in San Antonio?

Masai Ujiri is a bright guy, but this is a big risk he is taking.

Unbelievable to me how disjointed some people's reasoning are.

This is a team that has repeatedly performed atrociously in the Playoffs!

Everyone said with Kyrie gone from Cleveland and their first place regular season, this was the year.

While the starless Pacers and Celtics actually pushed the Cavs, the Raptors struggled to beat Washington and then got crushed by the Cavs!

This was over! That team was going nowhere! After that beat down? They would be fortunate to even 0erform in the regular season next year.

Why would you care to keep a regular season performer when you have a chance at Kawhi?

Anyone who brings up Kawhi's injury is an idiot. The reason Pop was upset was because he knew Kawhi could play and help them this season!

You short sighted wanna be GM's just don't have any foresight!

You get an mvp candidate with a finals mvp in town for a one trick pony!

Plus if Kawhi shows well you can use him as trade bait later if he says he won't sign!

In reply to defeyeant

The heart of the team lacked heart in the playoffs.

Unfortunate but true.

Hard decisions needed to be made. That’s exactly what’s being done.

In reply to Ayenmol

So its atrocious to get beat by one of the arguable top two players ever to play three years in a row?
The only one beating us the last three years was Lebron.

But if you still say changes need to be made why trade the one man who was rooting to be here when you know NBA players do not want to come to Toronto cause of the cold, the taxes and its not the USA

In reply to defeyeant

No, but when you are supposed to be the best and you perform the worst? Then there's a problem!

They struggled to defeat Washington!

And have done nothing in the Playoffs for years, Cavs or no Cavs!

The Celtics are about to become even better than the Cavs ever were. The 76ers are about to to be a legitimate force, and they performed ages better than Toronto did.

When not expected!

Dude Kawhi is twice the player of DeRozan! And he could very well stay if he can be top dog on a competitive team!

Particularly if the Lakers are a mess and Bron starts throwing teammates under the bus.

Gottlieb, a good basketball mind, just said DeRozan is not an allstar in the West!

Are you kidding me? Kawhi is a perennial allstar who is placed just below Lebron in the League and on par overall with Durant!

This is a no brainer!

Kawhi is the best player they ever had! Better than Bosh!

This is what I think of Kawhi.

If am the current Warriors and am being offered Kawhi for Green AND Thompson?

I'd pull the plug!

Only the money would give me pause.

Am pretty sure the Warriors front office would seriously consider it too.

Same people who were screaming at Boston for getting rid of Bradley, Thomas and Crowder.

Go figure! I think imusic was in that group. Apparently he's learned.

The man apparently dont even want to play in Toronto. You traded your loyal all-star who may not have been the all-time great you seek for a malcontent rental. Swinging for the fences is admirable but this will not take us over the hump. Boston or Phili in the finals next year.

In reply to Ayenmol

Me? You got that wrong mister

In reply to defeyeant

Does DeRozan make the allstar team next year?

You all been saying for 5 years that you are about to Crest the summit. How has that worked for you?

Quit being a romantic fanatic and look at things objectively for a change.

If you are dating a woman you KNOW you dont want to marry, does it matter if the next woman you date may also not be the one?

In reply to imusic

How could you like this trade? Well I wish you the best cuz if he walks next year you will be worse off than if you just stuck with Demar.

In reply to nick2020

Go read this and tell us how you can say what you just said...

They don't have the wiggle room necessary to sign a star until 2020 at the earliest, by which time DeRozan will be entering his age-31 season...

This is the type of low self esteem reasoning that plagues individuals but should have no place in business.

In reply to Ayenmol

Big man I've been cautiously optimistic about the team, I aint saying nuttin bout cresting no summit. Way I see it you aint winning nothing with Golden state and Lebron still around so might as well be competitive and enjoy that success.

And I am looking at this objectively. You traded a fiercely loyal player for a loaner. Think these other NBA players dont see whats happening and it wont make it even harder to get free agents here? I keep hearing oh we need cap room to get this and that. Nobody dont wanta come canada to this cold ass place. Free agents din looking at we when we did have Demar and CAsey and now you have Kawhi who is a rental and a rookie coach. Yea best of luck buddy

In reply to defeyeant

What they did is gave up on the woman they know will never make them happy, for woman that is envied by all eligible bachelors, that they know if they play their cards right will take them to heights unknown!

Loyalty has zero to do with this particular business. DeRozan was being paid more than Kawhi! That ain't loyalty!

In reply to Ayenmol

The Raptors have only won if Kawhi stays. Else they lost.

In reply to nick2020

No! They have the capability of trading him before the deadline because he is desirable to a number of teams who could not reach an agreement with Pops!

Even if you dont attract free agents, you can get higher picks in the draft through trades or at least have the cap space to make a splash!

Btw, what free agents did overpaid DeRozan attract?

That team needed to be blown up and was not going anywhere than a first round exit in the playoffs!

Take a shot at a star now rather than mediocrity till you end up back in the gutter of the East.

In reply to nick2020

If he walks next year, we will then have TONS of cap space to sign someone else.

At the end of the day, the DeMar / Kyle era....as much as we liked them and as much as they brought to the city both in and off the court......was a failure.

Changes had to be made and that’s what’s happening.

Masai said clearly at the end of the season....NOBODY WAS OFF LIMITS. Not coach... not player.....not mascot

For all the success we’ve had in the regular season, bar one season, the playoffs for us have been a disaster. If we truly interested in getting better, big changes had to be made.

In reply to defeyeant

Toronto not as cold in wintertime as Minnesota.

The weather thing is a myth. Is not like they playing in winnipeg or forkane Yukon.

What NBA players miss is things like ESPN, HBO, White Castle etc

In reply to imusic

Bottom line is they dont want to come to Canada. Whether its the cold, ESPN, or the metric system its a different culture to what they prefer. And we will continue to overpay to try to entice middle of the road players to sign as free agents.

In reply to defeyeant

What do we really have to lose by signing Kawhi?

Absolute worst case scenario is that he refuses to play and we don’t make the playoffs.

From this raptor fan’s perspective, as much as I like and appreciate DeMar, we weren’t EVER going to ha e a real shot at the NBA finals with him as the spearhead of the team. Simply not happening.

So do something different. The fact that DeMar has endeared himself to Raptors fans everywhere is really immaterial. I truly wish him all success in San Antonio.

But the team has to move on. Even with a rental.

Kyle next

GOOD ANLYSIS OF THE DEAL HERE

One I endorse

In reply to defeyeant

Yet here you are griping about a top 3 NBA player getting one year to possibly erase these 'myths' and give your team and community an opportunity to be better!

Kahwi and caillou will make a good combo

In reply to Ayenmol

So they bringing in this guy who it has been reported, does not want to come to the Raptors. Taking into consideration it appears he is sort of a problem, as I understand he didn’t want to be with his present team and as such the “injury” became an issue.
Brilliant move.

In reply to archangel

In order for him to be there, he had to not be over there...one mans trash, and all that.

This guy, is one of the top three players in the NBA.

The guy you lost has gotten out of the first round once! In the East!

I hope he will be fit enough to give them more than the 9 games he played last season....

The Raps took a shot at getting and got, rguably the 3rd best player in the NBA.

At worst, 5th best

DeMar, as likeable and as loyal as he is, struggles to make the top 20

Is Kahwi Leonard we talkin about. Injured or not. Wanting to come to Toronto or not. The Raps would have been remiss had they NOT gone after him.

Even if he doesn’t play a single minute and the Raps finish last in the East, they still HAD to take the shot.

The Raps as constructed as of yesterday, were not going to be able to compete with Boston and Philly. And if you can’t do that, why bother?

If they miss the playoffs next season and Kawhi leaves, then they get a high draft pick and a ton of Cap space.

The team wasn’t winning the East as is anyway. Either hope it works with kawhi or rebuild. Either way is a better option than standing pat.

In reply to imusic

It is the income tax in ON that is the problem more so than the weather.

And the team is winning the East in 2018-2019 with Kawhi? If yes then for that 1 season it was worth it.
Is Kawhi going to stay? If yes then you won. If no and you do no better than you always have done then onto the next line.
If you do no better with Kawhi and he leaves and the Raps fail to attract any of the big free agents of the 2019 class then what?

I support the small market teams. I wish there was a hard cap like NFL. But I think a harsh reality of Raps life is you will not attract top FAs and you will have to draft, develop and add pieces to get to a championship. And I do not see Kawhi as the path to get there.

Look at Utah - Drafted Hayward, developed him, and he left. Donovan Mitchell is unlikely to play 10 years there.