Discussing the fits for the Spurs and Raptors
What a day! I woke up at around 5 in the morning to a notification that stated that the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors were in serious discussions in a trade involving Kawhi Leonard and DeMar DeRozan. I was giddy. The next two hours were spent trying to go back to sleep before work (unsuccessfully) and thinking about the scenarios and lineups for each team. I’ll spare you any thoughts I have on the trade in itself. I’m sure you have all formulated your opinions and have read your favorite writer’s thoughts on it (Shout-out to the great Zach Lowe). Today, I intend to look at how Kawhi and DeMar fit in their new teams and what are some realistic expectations for them. Let’s get to it.
All hail Masai! What a fantastic trade for the Raptors to raise their ceiling. Okay, I did say I was talking about fit only but he might possibly be my favorite GM in the league and this was a terrific deal for the Raptors so I had to throw that out there. Now on to the point of this article.
Raptors Fit
The great thing about Kawhi is that he literally would fit on any team in the NBA (well I guess not the Spurs). He’s the best “two-way” player in the league. The best perimeter defender in the league and possibly ever. Add in efficient shot-making and developing play-making skills and BOOM: you have a top five player in the league. I think some people have forgotten just how terrific Kawhi is. In 2016–2017, he averaged 25.5 points per game, 5.8 rebounds per game, and 3.5 assists per game. He was near joining the exclusive 50/40/90 club and shot 48% from the field, 38% from three, and 88% from the line. He had a true shooting percentage of 61%. Any true-shooting percentage over 60% is amazing. In other words, the guy was AWESOME. Some people even voted him for MVP. He was that good.
As I said before, this raises the ceiling for the Raptors. At his best, DeRozan was an average defender. Now they get an all-time one. DeRozan just started truly taking threes last year and shot 31%. Now they get a guy who in his last two full years, shot 38% and 44% from three. Toronto already had a top five defense and were able to hide DeRozan well. With the addition of Kawhi, they’re going to be monstrous defensively.
Teams like Houston, Boston, and Golden State have prided themselves on switchability which has led them to be successful in today’s NBA. Toronto can now follow that blueprint as well. Guys like Kawhi, Delon Wright, OG Anunoby, and Pascal Siakam are super switchable. Kyle Lowry’s strength makes him pretty switchable. The toughness of Fred VanVleet makes him switchable in a pinch. Norman Powell is switchable. Serge Ibaka is another intriguing switchable guy. They also added Danny Green who is switchable. The key word is “switchable” as you can see. It’s super important in the modern NBA.
Because of this, Toronto can run some really great defensive lineups. Lowry-Green-Leonard-Anunoby-Ibaka. Or put in Siakam for Ibaka. Swap in Wright for Lowry. and you can go big. CJ Miles (36% from three last year) can add shooting for lineups. Lowry (40%) and VanVleet (41%) are terrific shooters. There are so many ways to go with this and I’m excited to see what new Raptors Head Coach, Nick Nurse, decides to do (Notice I didn’t mention Jonas Valančiūnas. He can soak up minutes at the center position but he doesn’t fit in this dynamic).
Ultimately, Masai is going to have do a lot of work in trying to sell Kawhi on Toronto but for at least this year, Toronto could be a real contender.
Spurs Fit
Before discussing DeRozan in San Antonio, we have to realize that Pop wasn’t signing up for any rebuilding phase. This may have been the best deal that the Spurs could get. It’s not a bad one. Jakob Poeltl should do well in San Antonio. The Spurs always maximize their players and Poeltl was already a pretty nice young player in Toronto. Last year, he shot 66% from the field and was a part of that ridiculous Raptor bench that wrecked in the regular season.
The same goes for DeRozan. He will be maximized in San Antonio. SA is ridiculously low on shooting but expect a lot of minutes from Derrick White, Davis Bertans, and Marco Belinelli to help that. Deserving or not, DeRozan was All-NBA second team last year. He was an All-Star. He’s flawed but he’s a really good player. He just came off his best season in which he averaged 23 points a game, five assists a game, and four rebounds a game. His improved play-making was terrific to see this year and will be valued in San Antonio. He takes a lot of mid rangers but SA was able to optimize LaMarcus Aldridge so I think they’ll be able to do the same with DeRozan. Look for a lot of pick and rolls, DeRozan was in the 78th percentile in P&R per NBA stats. He’s in the top 25% of guys who run pick and roll. That’s pretty damn good.
Because of the lack of spacing, a lot of people are down on the Spurs but the Spurs just don’t miss the playoffs. They have the best coach in the league and won 47 games without their All-NBA player last year. Now, they add an All-Star to the mix. I think they’ll be just fine.
Toronto should compete for first in the East this year again and have a legit chance to make the Finals. LeBron is gone and Kawhi is that good. Fans should be excited. Spurs will compete for one of the four-eight spots in the West. Ultimately, given the context of the deal, I think both teams did well. Also, I think both players will thrive in their new homes.
