When Raptors general manager Bobby Webster first caught wind Kawhi Leonard could be available on the trade market back in June, he said his “antennae went up.”
uncertain
antennae → catch → June
Webster got excited.
asserted
Webster → get → ?
“You know, we all have good memories and good feelings from 2018-19,” Webster said.
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Webster → know → 2018
Fast forward to next week’s opening of training camp and make no mistake, championship nostalgia and the human urge to revisit the glory days account for no small part of why Leonard will be back in a Raptors uniform this coming season.
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Leonard → fast → uniform
Ever since Leonard led Toronto to its only title en route to pursuing a now-infamous aspiration in Los Angeles, the Raptors have been in search of a franchise-changing player to put them back in the title conversation.
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Raptors → lead → conversation
They’ve won one playoff series in the interim.
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They → win → interim
So you can certainly make the case that in giving the 35-year-old Leonard a two-year contract extension this week that guarantees him a lucrative payday through his age 37 season, the Raptors paid a premium for past performance.
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Raptors → make → performance
Not that the Raptors, to paraphrase Vladdy Guerrero Jr., paid Leonard exclusively for what he’s already done.
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he → paraphrase → what
But the comfort of knowing what he once did for Toronto, combined with the fact he is coming off a season in which he was voted to the all-NBA second team, was deemed worthy of what others might consider a risky outlay.
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others → know → team
“When you think to Kawhi, what he provided for us before is what you continue to see,” Webster said in a press conference Thursday.
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Webster → think → conference
“He has a really, really high-level work ethic and excellence, and I think that you can see from afar.
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you → have → ethic
Players can see when he’s working.
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he → see → ?
Players can see that pre-game, his diligence.
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Players → see → pre
People can see that post-game, for his recovery.
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People → see → recovery
I think that’s what sticks with me about what was unique about him (in 2018-19), and you don’t continue to play at the age of 35 if you’re not doing that.”
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you → think → that
You can argue whether the Raptors paid too dearly.
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Raptors → argue → ?
A more cutthroat Toronto-based negotiator might have demanded changes to the terms of a Leonard trade that was agreed upon in late June, then paused in July as the NBA’s investigation continued into the salary-cap circumvention scheme hatched by the Los Angeles Clippers to enrich Leonard.
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investigation → base → Leonard
But even if Webster might have been able to take advantage of a Clippers front office thrown into chaos by the stiffest penalties in NBA history, the Toronto GM, to his credit, said he wants to be known as a man of his word.
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he → take → word
“When you agree to the deal, you agree to the deal,” Webster said.
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Webster → agree → deal
Speaking of agreeable, Leonard waived a $7.5-million (U.S.) trade kicker to facilitate the deal and this week agreed to take $11 million less than the maximum allowable extension, a two-year term that’ll kick in after he earns a team-high $50.3 million this season.
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he → speak → million
Still, the Raptors guaranteed him $115 million for those two years, and they also did Leonard the solid of a player option for the second year.
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they → guarantee → year
But let’s be fair to the Raptors.
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’s → let → Raptors
Leonard has a documented gift for getting far more than what’s reasonable at a negotiating table.
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what → have → table
So long as this deal doesn’t trigger a franchise-destroying league investigation, the Raptors have already done better than his previous employer.
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Raptors → trigger → employer
The real measure of success, of course, will be if Leonard can do more for the Raptors than he did for the Clippers on the court.
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he → do → court
As a Clipper, after all, he played in a mere 60 per cent of available regular-season games.
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he → play → games
If that can be framed as a by-product of the load-management strategy pioneered by the Raptors when Leonard played in just 60 regular-season games in 2018-19 before playing in all 24 playoff games for Toronto, here’s what’s alarming about his recent history:
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what → frame → history
All the missed games in the regular season haven’t always kept him healthy for the post-season.
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games → miss → season
In seven seasons as a Clipper, he played in just 70 per cent of available playoff games.
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he → play → games
In three of the five times Leonard led the Clippers to the post-season, he exited the playoffs with an injury before the Clippers were eliminated.
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Clippers → lead → injury
All of which is to point out Leonard’s health is a dice roll.
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health → point → which
The Raptors feel good about their chances of keeping him healthy based on the track record of a sports performance team led by Alex McKechnie.
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Raptors → feel → McKechnie
But the truth is, they’re paying sure-thing money to a player whose availability is forever a maybe.
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availability → pay → player
If that’s true of plenty of NBA stars, it’s also a testament to the magnetic power of a seven-year-old championship memory.
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it → ’ → memory
“I think there’s going to be so many times where we’re going to be tempted to sort of compare this to ’19,” Webster said.
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Webster → think → 19
“I think probably we need to focus mainly on moving forward.”
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we → think → ?
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