After the major trades in the NBA have happened, reports are now revolving around Kawhi Leonard and the forward’s decision in the coming future. Kawhi was part of the trade package between the San Antonio Spurs and the Toronto Raptors that saw DeMar DeRozan getting sent to the west.
The Raptors have been undergoing a lot of changes recently as their last performance in the playoffs was atrociously embarrassing. Now, the Canadian team took the gamble of trading their franchise player for Kawhi Leonard, someone who is uncertain to sign with the Raptors when he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer, Raptors Rapture reported.
What’s more, the Raptors will also have a new coach this upcoming season as previous head coach Dwane Casey was fired following the team’s failure to stop Lebron James. All of these changes have varying weights of influence on whether or not Kawhi Leonard might sign with them and commit his skills for the long term.
The good news for the Raptors is that its new head coach, Nick Nurse, is reportedly developing quite the rapport with Kawhi Leonard. According to Nurse, he and Kawhi had a really long conversation regarding what role the forward will take with the team.
Nick Nurse even said that they “could’ve gone forever” just talking to each other because both were really engaged in the discussions they were having. Among the questions that Kawhi Leonard asked was how Nurse is going to utilize him when the season begins.
Nurse answered that to him, Kawhi can pretty much do anything. The talented forward has been hailed as the third best player in the world because of the threat he brings to the opposing team.
Kawhi Leonard is excellent on both ends of the floor, scoring seemingly at will while reducing the effectiveness of the enemy team’s best player. So is this a good sign for the Raptors?
It’s a definite yes, although this isn’t a clear indication that he will stay. Nick Nurse speaking with Kawhi Leonard for that long is considered a rarity in the league as the forward is quite reticent by nature.
One can even argue that a Spalding ball is far more talkative than Kawhi Leonard. So him opening up to his new coach for as long as he did signals that Kawhi is at least willing to put in the effort when the season begins.