Quote:
Originally Posted by rousseau
It's a bit hollow when it's "here's your championship, I never wanted to be here, I'm outta here."
He's extinguished all of that good feeling from the buildup of the exciting season to the playoff win. It's all gone.
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I don't quite look at it that way. I think it was great that he was here, it was fantastic that the Raps won the championship and that it probably would not have happened without him, for a number of reasons.
But... I'm kinda getting tired of "all Kawhi all the time" in the media. All I seem to hear is that Kawhi won Toronto the championship. During the 'negotiations', all I heard about the Raptors was about Kawhi, as if the rest of the Raptors team didn't exist. This seriously undermines the team that provided Kawhi the foundation on which to do the wonderful things he does on the court.
It was a Raptors win, not a Kawhi win. Sure they may not have won without Kawhi's efforts, but they also wouldn't have won without VanVleet's 3 pointers, or Siakam's hustle, or Gasol's basketball intelligence. It was a team effort, but nobody's talking about the team.
Kawhi moved on, good on him - he's living his life the way he wants to and didn't do anything illegal to get there. No harm, no foul. Danny Green moved on, which is fine as well, he gets to play with Lebron (not that I'd wish that on anyone... lol). It's time to let the entire Raptors team revel in their championship, and let Kawhi go home to LA and get on with his life.
The rest of the team is still around, and they now know the kind of grind and hustle it takes to win a championship. They had great promise before Kawhi, but always fizzled out in the playoffs. Now they know how to do the playoffs, and I'm sure they will be hungry for more (hearing Kyle say "we're not satisfied"...). Kawhi helped them win the championship, but he also taught them how to work for one.
I'm reading that Masai knew by the demeanor of the Leonard team that this wasn't going to go the way we wanted it to, and he knew that it wouldn't be wise to trade the future of the team to OKC for what could have been one of two more years of Kawhi... or zero years, who knows? But, Masai got the team to where it is now, and I'm sure he has a trick or two up his sleeve to ensure that the Raps will be in the hunt again, and frankly I'm excited to think about how the future looks for the Raptors.
Stay tuned! Things are looking good. And in the meantime, enjoy the championship that the Raptors won... yes THEY WON IT!!!