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Originally Posted by bhlloy
Sure, but what are the chances Toronto ever sees healthy and motivated Kawhi? And even if they do, are they good enough to take advantage of it in the one season he's around?
PG13 is an interesting comp, but I don't remember him basically coming out and saying he'd only sign in LA and there was zero chance he would resign with his new team in the hours after the deal was announced.
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Maybe. But like how the Paul George to LA rumors were always from "his camp" so far all I've seen is one tweet from Chris Haynes saying a league source says Kawhi doesn't want to be in Toronto. Considering how inscrutable Kawhi's mindset has been the past year+ I'll wait to see something more concrete before deciding there's zero chance he'll re-sign. (Also, Zach Lowe brings up the point that if the Raptors really get that feeling they can try to flip him to the Lakers or Clippers mid-season. You won't get a king's ransom, but you could add another interesting young guy or two like Kuzma, Josh Hart, Montrezl Harrell, Jerome Robinson or maybe even Lonzo or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to add to their group of frisky young players.)
In that vein, I think the Raptors were already considering moving on from the Lowry/DeRozan "core" and weren't looking forward to potentially giving 30 year old DeRozan a max contract in the summer of 2020 or an extension this upcoming one. Even for good players like Blake Griffin or John Wall those max extensions look like albatrosses.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nilodor
As a Raptors fan I'm not very happy with this move. We actually had a borderline star/perennial all-star want to stay in Toronto. Not only want to stay, but embrace the country and the team. I understand why for basketball reasons this trade was made. Your ceiling with Kawhi is higher, if he bolts, you clean up your cap earlier in a year where your young guys may be ready to step up. I get all that. But from a personal perspective this sucks. Winning championships are hard, only 1 of 30 teams will do so. This trade gives the Raptors a <5% chance at winning the finals? Maybe a 25% chance of getting there? Compared to a <1% chance of winning and maybe a 5% chance of getting there? I'd rather ride with the guy who wants to be here, committed to be here, even if we never make the finals, than take a shot at being great with a guy who doesn't seem to want to be here by giving up on one who does. Ringzzz aren't everything. It kinda feels like we broke up with our highschool sweetheart because a pretty lady smiled at us on the subway.
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I hear you on this, but on the flip side the Celtics traded a loveable All-Star in IT for the more talented but mercurial Kyrie Irving and I got over it pretty quickly, despite the media still insinuating Kyrie won't re-sign and he'll leave for the Knicks next summer (
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If Kawhi keeps pulling the same BS he has in SA for the last year fans might still hate him, but even if he doesn't commit as long as he shows up and plays hard I think it'll be easy to root for him. He's an immensely likable player on the court - if Raptors fans think OG Anunoby or Kyle Lowry are exciting on ball perimeter defenders...