Everything Kawhi Leonard

[Maury]

DeMar's beef with Masai is even subjective at best.

Judging from that article,
Toronto FO's correct relationship with Kawhi and his family,
a healthy positive rapport with his team mates
and team success can all contribute to Kawhi staying in Toronto.

The Raptors should never devalue Kawhi's family.
And we fans should take note as well (no more Uncle Dennis comments).

Uncle Dennis is watching you

[Truth Teller]

Good read. If you didn't know any better and only listened to the talking heads on ESPN and FS1, you would've thought uncle Dennis was Lavar Ball.

[Puffer]

Another interesting take on what happened between the Spurs and Kawhi:
http://hoopscritic.com/where-the-spurs-went-wrong/

If that link doesn't work go here first: http://hoopscritic.com and then click on the first article.



I hope DeMar's beef with Masai doesn't make Kawhi feel less inclined to trust Masai.. but it feels like "trust" is the key element here to keep Kawhi happy long term.

Finally got around to reading this article. Glad I did. Makes me feel like the Raptors have a better chance at holding onto Kawhi than I thought.

[DanH]

Off-season posting of my own articles commences now. First, an article looking at just how ridiculous the upgrade from DeMar to Kawhi really is.

https://www.raptorshq.com/2018/8/2/1...stics-analysis

[Puffer]

Off-season posting of my own articles commences now. First, an article looking at just how ridiculous the upgrade from DeMar to Kawhi really is.

https://www.raptorshq.com/2018/8/2/1...stics-analysis

Nice comparison of the impact of the two. And you didn't even compare Yak and Danny. Basketball reference puts Danny well ahead of Yak on Win Shares, and Value Above Replacement, based on his whole career. So if Danny can come close to his career averages, after rehabbing his tendon tear, the Raptors did well on that exchange as well.

[DanH]

Nice comparison of the impact of the two. And you didn't even compare Yak and Danny. Basketball reference puts Danny well ahead of Yak on Win Shares, and Value Above Replacement, based on his whole career. So if Danny can come close to his career averages, after rehabbing his tendon tear, the Raptors did well on that exchange as well.

Yeah, I intended to include some of that but the Kawhi-DeMar stuff ended up pretty long so I left it at that.

[TrueTorontoFan]

kinda crazy how in this trade Danny Green is like the forgotten dude... but hes actually a great player in this trade.


The wing rotation will be interesting because while I do think CJ miles is still useful ... it leaves out either him or norm from the rotation next year.

[Hotshot]

kinda crazy how in this trade Danny Green is like the forgotten dude... but hes actually a great player in this trade.


The wing rotation will be interesting because while I do think CJ miles is still useful ... it leaves out either him or norm from the rotation next year.

It leaves out Norm from a 10 men rotation the Raptors will still likely to employ.

CJ Miles is still a better 3 point shooters and finisher at the rim then Danny Green. But due to Green being better as a defender, he will likely see minutes as both a starter & bench while CJ Miles will likely start from the bench and be subbed out when the opponent starters get back in the game.

[TrueTorontoFan]

It leaves out Norm from a 10 men rotation the Raptors will still likely to employ.

CJ Miles is still a better 3 point shooters and finisher at the rim then Danny Green. But due to Green being better as a defender, he will likely see minutes as both a starter & bench while CJ Miles will likely start from the bench and be subbed out when the opponent starters get back in the game.

i would start and give norm 10 mintues a game to see how he does and who ever does better shift the minutes.

[Hotshot]

Just a random thought : How good is Kawhi really?! Remember how good was Carmelo in his early to mid 20's?! Well Kawhi is still better then the best Melo ever was.

For some reasons due to Kawhi not being flashy and him developing much later in his career, some people tend to over look him and what he can do on the court.

[ReubenJRD]

Just a random thought : How good is Kawhi really?! Remember how good was Carmelo in his early to mid 20's?! Well Kawhi is still better then the best Melo ever was.

For some reasons due to Kawhi not being flashy and him developing much later in his career, some people tend to over look him and what he can do on the court.

This is what's freaking insane.

Kawhi Leonard is an MVP candidate year-in/year-out when he's healthy. He's an absolute stud and has been for maybe the past few years, the best two-way player this league has. For god's sakes, he's a two-time defensive player of the year.

8th player in 36 years to win it two or more times. The only guys who've done that include Dwight Howard in his prime, Ben Wallace, Zo Mourning, Mutombo, Olajuwon, Rodman, and Moncrief.

Before the Zaza/ankle mishap, Kawhi was averaging 27.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists on 51% FG shooting, 80% from the FT line, and 46% from 3, in the playoffs. Holy. Crap.

[S.R.]

This is what's freaking insane.

Kawhi Leonard is an MVP candidate year-in/year-out when he's healthy. He's an absolute stud and has been for maybe the past few years, the best two-way player this league has. For god's sakes, he's a two-time defensive player of the year.

8th player in 36 years to win it two or more times. The only guys who've done that include Dwight Howard in his prime, Ben Wallace, Zo Mourning, Mutombo, Olajuwon, Rodman, and Moncrief.

Before the Zaza/ankle mishap, Kawhi was averaging 27.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists on 51% FG shooting, 80% from the FT line, and 46% from 3, in the playoffs. Holy. Crap.

Everyone's memory really is that short, Kawhi is a quiet enough star that a lot of casual fans don't realize how good he had become, and the TMZ angles of the trade ("Kawhi has a falling out with the Spurs!" "DeMar & Ujiri no longer BFF's!") have pushed actual basketball discussion to the sidelines.

[ReubenJRD]

Everyone's memory really is that short, Kawhi is a quiet enough star that a lot of casual fans don't realize how good he had become, and the TMZ angles of the trade ("Kawhi has a falling out with the Spurs!" "DeMar & Ujiri no longer BFF's!") have pushed actual basketball discussion to the sidelines.

To be fair, without the drama, the Raptors wouldn't have been able to acquire Leonard. Take the good with the bad.

[Hotshot]

Everyone's memory really is that short, Kawhi is a quiet enough star that a lot of casual fans don't realize how good he had become, and the TMZ angles of the trade ("Kawhi has a falling out with the Spurs!" "DeMar & Ujiri no longer BFF's!") have pushed actual basketball discussion to the sidelines.

Some Raptor fans have forgotten what is it like to have a big star on the team. The closest thing the Raptors had was Vince Carter. An MVP calibar star is the kind of player that can claw you back into the game when you are down and win you the game by dominating the opposition on a nightly basis. Essentially the star player puts the entire team on his back in critical pressure times and do stuff 99% of the league cannot. A team effort can bring you to the big games but they do need their star player/s to step up and win you the big games in the season and especially in the playoffs. Kawhi is that player.

[Hotshot]

i would start and give norm 10 mintues a game to see how he does and who ever does better shift the minutes.

But Norm is even behind Lorenzo Brown at this point...he aint getting 10 minutes.