NBA: 5 takeaways from Kawhi Leonard-DeMar DeRozan trade

4. The Raptors are going all in on Leonard

This appears to be a head-scratcher as far as the Raptors are concerned. For starters, no one knows the extent of the quadriceps injury that contributed to Leonard appearing in just nine games for the Spurs last season.

Secondly, it has been widely reported that Leonard’s first choice pertaining to trade destinations was the Los Angeles Lakers. Additionally, there were other reports about Leonard being potentially interested in joining the Los Angeles Clippers as well.

Regardless of whether it was the Lakers or the Clippers, the bottom line is the Raptors weren’t on the list of teams that Leonard was interested in playing for. At this point in time, it is all but a foregone conclusion that Leonard will opt out of the final year of contract at the end of the next season, as he reportedly has no interest in playing in Toronto.

Perhaps the Raptors are hoping they can sell Leonard on their culture in a similar way the Oklahoma City Thunder were able to do with Paul George, who also expressed interest in playing for the Lakers prior to being dealt to OKC.

The chances of this happening are pretty slim though. In essence, the Raptors traded a star player who had been with the franchise for nine seasons for someone who has no interest in playing for the organization and will more than likely move on to a different team next season.

I’ve heard of going all in before, but this move seems to fall into the category of a high-risk move, to say the least.