It reallly doesnt matter.
This move was all about how to handle Murray.
DEJOUNTE MURRAY is the best player on the Spurs. He will be an allstar staple within 2 years tops.
I repeat without any pause: DEJOUNTE MURRAY is the best player on the Spurs that has Aldridge/Derozan.
This enables them to keep winning while continuing the development of Murray.
Win for the short term. Win for the long term of molding Murray as the next big Spurs star.
If the Spurs simply tore everything down and headed to the lottery, Murray would probably get bored and look to leave.
The worst thing that SA could do would be to fuck up the development of Murray.
Definitely. But if he wasn't going to be traded to the Lakers, this is the next best outcome. I feel a lot better about the Lakers chances of getting him as an FA than I would if he had gone to Philly or Boston.
Dejounte Murray is most certainly NOT the best player on the Spurs. He is perhaps the player with the potential to be the best player on that team but he is not the best player on the Spurs at this time.
The Spurs made a win now move. That makes sense if Pop plans to leave after the 2020 season. But this trade leaves the Spurs in a precarious position moving forward.
Raps needed a 3 and D wing in the worst way
Lost in all of this - Raps needed a 3 and D wing in the worst way. Green is such a good pickup in this trade.
I think it be ironic for DeRozan to not pass a physical. I'm not predicting it, but I would not be surprised if Leonard didn't, but for DeRozan? Now that would be comical. (Not for him to be injured, but for the trade to be nixed after all that.) DeRozan is already upset.
Yeah, I heard that NBA players typically have one of two reactions to Toronto. They either "get it" and fall in love with the place...or they hate it and want out asap. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground.
DeRozan was one of those players who "got it".
Hopefully, for the Raptors, Kawhi is like DeRozan.
Hopefully, for the Lakers, he hates it.
One positive with Toronto...he'll have free healthcare. lol
It'll come back against the shitty East defenses.He can play D still, but the 3 has vanished the last few years
That had been a big issue with Spurs fans locally, what the heck happened to Danny Green's 3 point shot.
It especially has disappeared the last few playoff runs.
He openly admits it in the everyday press conferences his lack of 3-ball confidence.
But, he is a good defender and high character fan favorite.
Danny Green is the exact opposite of Kawhi. He is an eloquent and positive team leader who gets along with everyone.
He is the most community active member of the Spurs who really embraces the local fanbase.
Danny Green hurts a lot worse than Parker or Leonard in terms of just being a good guy that the fans love.
We'll see. But with DeRozan, the Raptors were at best the 3rd best team in the East (well, maybe 2nd to Boston, not sure what Philly's going to look like). Sometimes you have to roll the dice. But I don't like the idea of GM's telling players one thing, then doing the complete opposite. I remember Riley let a player go a couple of years ago whom went to the Cavs in their first Finals run back in '15. Said player said that Riley communicated with him the whole process and the reason for letting him go and was thankful for the reasoning (ie lesser role and not as much playing time with moves being made).
Depends what you're comparing it to. Compared to Texas? Definitely. Compared to California or NY? Nope.
Since he wanted to go to LA, guessing the taxes aren't such a big deal.
/He gets paid in US$ and can spend in CDN$ too. He comes out on top there too.