Kawhi Leonard's time at the San Antonio Spurs was brought to an end yesterday when he was traded by the franchise, not to the Los Angeles Lakers, but to the Toronto Raptors.

Toronto wasn't considered one of the favourites to land Kawhi as there were other reported teams with more attractive pieces to exchange such as the Lakers, the Boston Celtics, and the Philadelphia 76ers.

While the Spurs reported wanted future stars like Kyle Kuzma and Jayson Tatum from the Lakers and Celtics respectively, they demanded a lot more from the Sixers, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN.

Embiid or Simmons

Lowe has reported that the Spurs made it clear that any deal with Philly for Leonard would require either Ben Simmons or Joel Embiid going in the other direction.

It's easy to see why the Sixers rejected this proposal, as they weren't willing to part ways with one of their stars for a player who could jump ship once free agency rolls around in 2019.

At this current moment of time, both Simmons and Embiid are more valuable than Leonard. In the end, it appears the Spurs still got a trade which they liked.

San Antonio sent Kawhi to the Raptors on Wednesday alongside Danny Green in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a protected 2019 first-round pick.

The first-round pick sent to San Antonio is a protected 1-20 selection, and after one year, it becomes two second-round picks. The Spurs also sent $5 million to the Raptors to cover the luxury-tax hit incurred due to the trade kicker.

With any trade for Leonard, it seems the Spurs wanted to make sure that they were going to stay competitive in the Western Conference. While they got that by trading for an All-Star with the Raptors, they weren't going to receive the same return from Philadelphia.

The best the Sixers could have offered for Kawhi likely would have been a mixture of Markelle Fultz, Dario Saric, Robert Covington, Zhaire Smith, the Miami Heat’s 2021 first-rounder and Philadelphia’s own picks.

Unsurprisingly, the Spurs probably wouldn't have been happy with this as it wouldn't have kept them in playoff contention in the Western Conference.

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