What We Know
- San Antonio Spurs will receive; DeMar Derozan, Jakob Poertl, & protected 2019 first-round draft pick.
- Toronto Raptors will receive; Kawhi Leonard & Danny Green
- The 1st round pick involved will be 1-20 protected. If it fails to land next year, it will manifest into two second round picks.
- Trade discussions between San Antonio and Toronto have been occurring for the past two weeks in plain sight, while everyone kept throwing out the Lakers, Clippers, etc.
- DeRozan's frustration with 'loyalty' stems from a reported meeting with Toronto management, at the very least giving him the impression that he wasn't going to be traded.
- Kawhi, through sources, is still making it clear that he wants to play for the Lakers next season and not much can sway him otherwise.
- Danny Green is looking forward to his new move.
What We Don't Know
- Will Kawhi 'pull a Paul George' and resign with the Raptors next season when his contract expires?
- Clearly DeRozan is on the player empowerment train right now and probably will have a hard time buying into anything a front office tells him for the foreseeable future. But can the sanctified San Antonio culture win him over if this Kawhi situation was really just an anomaly in their storied history?
- When will Kawhi make his first public comments and how much tangible information will actually come of it?
- Will Manu Ginobili retire with Kawhi, Green, and Parker gone now?
The trade of Kawhi Leonard always seemed inevitable rather than potential once it was clear how bad the rift was between him and the Spurs, but the finality of it still doesn't seem so...final. The only players that probably will exhibit no ill-will to their new situation are Poertl and Green.
We certianly havent' heard the end of the melodrama that will come from literally anything Kawhi says or does going forward, as he will soon have to make himself available to the media whether that comes in the form of a press conference with the Raptors, Team USA minicamp, or training camp in a few months. DeMar will have a similar path to be verbally deseminated , although he's a new piece to this soap opera.
On top of all of this, in 2018 we know what a vicious cycle NBA media coverage is when an NBA player is in his 'pre-agency' (one season away from free agency) stage and that means we'll have no shortage of "what are your plans after this season in Toronto" questions directed at Kawhi. Although the chapter of Kawhi and the Spurs is officially over, the next chapter of Kawhi and media drama seems to be just beginning.