Is The Kawhi-Derozen Trade All That Bad?

Just a short 23hours ago EPSN’s Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a tweet claiming that Kawhi Leonard was on the move… and it wasn’t to L.A.

Instant outrage came from both sides of the all-stars who were being dealt once they were told they were being traded.

While Demar Derozan does have a case of him being blindsided, perhaps this will be better for his overall career getting coached by Pop. Kawhi being traded to Toronto makes a lot more sense however.

We haven’t seen Kawhi play regularly in almost two years. That would raise some skepticism in most teams trying to get an all-star. There’s a few things Kawhi can do this upcoming season so that when he hits unrestricted free agency in 2019, teams like the Celtics and the Lakers would be more inclined to sign him.

Kawhi needs to play. Simply he needs to show teams that he is; healthy, still a top five player in the league, and is still able to play defense against any position in the league. Kawhi can still sit out an boycott this decision, but for teams to be trusting of his abilities, he needs to play at least around 40–50 games this season.

If Kawhi is able to comply and play with what some would say a better roster and better fans in Toronto, then he should be able to freely go anywhere he wants in the 2019 free agency.

On the business side of things, this helps the Lakers most of all. While they don’t get Kawhi for this upcoming season, they are able to save upwards of $50 million dollars. The Lakers, should they decide to sign Kawhi, will most likely offer him the cap of four-years $141 million which pales in comparison to the five-year $190 million he could have signed with San Antonio.

Should Kawhi have signed with the Spurs and then been traded, the Lakers would have been in some financial issues, but with him being traded away, the Lakers now get to see him play healthy for the first time in a couple years and will also get to save money on him.

Overall, while Demar Derozen is getting fed the short stick of this trade, Kawhi Leonard has been given an opportunity to prove he deserves a max deal with the Lakers.