After requesting a trade away from the San Antonio Spurs over a month ago, Kawhi Leonard has finally got his wish. In a blockbuster trade, the Spurs have agreed a deal to send the two-time All-Star to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The package will also see Danny Green head to Toronto and San Antonio receive Jakob Poeltl and a protected 2019 first-round pick. Woj reports that trade call will be made to the league office today to finalise the deal.
Negative reactions
Leonard may have got the move away from the Spurs that he wanted but he will not be heading to his preferred destination of Los Angeles.
The 27-year-old wanted to return to his hometown in California and expressed a wish to be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Although the Lakers attempted to strike a deal for him, they were ultimately unable to come to an agreement as they felt San Antonio's asking price was too high.
According to ESPN's Chris Haynes, news of the move hasn't gone down well with the two-time Defensive Player of the Year as he has no intention of playing in Toronto.
With the small forward set to hit free agency in 2019, that makes this a risky decision by the Raptors as they could lose him for nothing.
This similar gamble paid off for the Oklahoma City Thunder when they were able to convince Paul George to re-sign on a long-term deal even though he wanted to join the Lakers.
President Masai Ujiri has rolled the dice on this and will hope to sell Leonard on a long-term future in Canada.
They'll be able to offer him more than other teams as they can re-sign to a five-year, $190 million contract next summer.
If he leaves, he could sign a four-year, $141 million deal with a team with the available salary-cap space, per Woj.
End of an era
News of the trade hasn't been met with any enthusiasm by DeRozan either and he took to Instagram to post a cryptic message hitting out at the Raptors for being disloyal and misleading him.
The shooting guard has three years and $83 million remaining on his contract, which includes a player option for the 2020-21 season.
This will end his nine-year association with the franchise that drafted him in 2009.
DeRozan has been the face of the organisation for many years and will be leaving as the all-time leading scorer in the team's history.
But after Toronto suffered a second straight playoff sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers after finishing with the number one seed in the east, a major change was always likely.
They have now parted ways with head coach Dwane Casey and their best player after that disappointment.
They'll certainly hope that with LeBron James now departing the east, the addition of Leonard will boost their hopes of reaching the NBA Finals next season.
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