Kawhi Leonard and DeMar DeRozan headlined the blockbuster trade between the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors but there was another significant piece involved in the deal that seems to have been overlooked.
Danny Green will be joining Leonard in Toronto and it ends his eight-year association with the Spurs.
The shooting guard could've hit free agency this summer but instead, he exercised the player option on his contract and chose to continue his career in San Antonio.
But the franchise had other ideas and had to include him in the deal to finally end the long-running Kawhi saga.
End of an era
Though they may be relieved to have finally put this to bed, letting go of Green wasn't something they did easily.
Gregg Popovich described just how hard it was to part ways with the veteran.
“It was tough, because he has come such a long way,” Popovich said, per Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio-Express-News.
“You know we cut him twice, and over the years he turned into Danny Green.”
After being drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2009, the 31-year-old didn't last long there as he was waived just a year later.
He was picked up by the Spurs in 2010 and he eventually went on to forge a solid NBA career with the Texas-based franchise.
Green played a major role in their 2014 championship win as he shot lights out from three-point range throughout the playoffs.
Last season, he was the second-longest tenured player on the team's roster after Manu Ginobili.
The news initially hit him hard but he quickly came round to the idea and why the team made the decision to offload him.
“Change can be good,” Green said. “I’m not mad at all. I understand the business side of it. I understand what (the Spurs) had to do.”
Popovich explained that they had little choice but to include the swingman in the deal to make it work financially for both teams.
“In trades, money has to match to a certain degree and that limits you to certain players that have to be included,” Popovich said. “In this case, that fell upon Danny.”
But the All-Defensive guard has been sent to a team that may have a better chance of making it to the finals than the Spurs next season.
The two new additions make the Raptors serious contenders to win the east and Green is excited about what they can achieve in Canada.
“We have a chance to do something special up there,” he said.
It was hard for Popovich to let his trusted three-point marksman go but he may have given him a better opportunity to be successful north of the border.
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