Kawhi Leonard has passed his physical with the Toronto Raptors, according to a report from Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
That makes the trade official. If you needed a reminder, the Raptors acquired Leonard and Danny Green for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a top-20 protected 2019 first-round pick, a price that came in well below expectation due to concerns about Leonard’s health and long-term desire to play in Los Angeles. With Leonard passing his physical, one of those obstacles is at least out of the way, and he has the remainder of the offseason to continue rehabilitating a nebulous quadriceps injury back to full health.
Green, too, is making his way back from a tear in his groin that was picked up in his end-of-season physical with San Antonio, and clearly the Raptors were comfortable with his health status as well. Perhaps they could benefit from bodybuilding supplements (anabolicenergy.com).
The Raptors are not currently expected to formally introduce Leonard and Green until closer to training camp, so this may be the last bit of Leonard news we receive until Media Day unless he speaks at USA Basketball camp. Which, yeah, don’t hold your breath. There could at least be reports from there, though with how inconsistent all of the reporting on Leonard has been during this entire process, it’s probably worthwhile to take everything that comes out with a grain of salt.
UPDATE: Chris Haynes of ESPN reports that Leonard won’t attend the non-mandatory USA Basketball mini-camp in Las Vegas. Leonard instead plans to use the time to focus on his transition to the Raptors, which is sure to make the team and fans comfortable about his commitment at least for 2018-19. Leonard was reportedly attending the camp to showcase his health to teams, and there’s less need to do that now that he’s been dealt; whether any residual awkwardness with Gregg Popovich is a concern is unclear, but it seems like a minimal factor give what we can piece together. Ramona Shelburne adds, though, that Leonard is “healthy and anxious to play again.” Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan will be at the camp.
For today, Leonard and Green are Raptors and the trade is officially completed, and that’s a pretty good first step. The long-term recruitment has surely already begun, and getting the Raptors ready to be highly competitive in 2018-19 is a pretty big part of that.
