DeMar DeRozan was everything a Raptors fan could ask for, almost. He was loyal, and he was passionate. He understood, and he believed. Other stars left, or talked about leaving. DeMar DeRozan wanted to stay in Toronto until the day he hung ’em up.But stories don’t always end the way you want, and the one problem with DeRozan was both the gift and the curse of this era of the organization: Good, not great. The second-round sweep against Cleveland was a moment of truth, and it shattered management’s faith in this core. So on Wednesday the Raptors traded DeRozan and third-year centre Jakob Poeltl and a protected 2019 first-round pick for one of the very best basketball players on earth. And it is complicated.Kawhi Leonard is a monster player. You can stick the 27-year-old on LeBron James or Kevin Durant and sleep at night. He can disrupt entire offensive schemes, win back-to-back defensive player of the year awards, and average an efficient 25 points with an all-around game. He has finished second and third in MVP voting. He can do almost anything.Assuming, that is, he’s healthy. That’s the first part we don’t know, after Leonard missed most of last season with a quadriceps injury. The second part we do, or think we do. According to two league sources, Leonard has no interest in playing for the Raptors. There was even speculation within the league that he would refuse to report to Toronto, which sounds radical until you realize he forced a divorce from the stable island of the San Antonio Spurs and cost himself $30-million (U.S.) in the process. Sources indicate Leonard had already reached out to some other NBA stars and discussed the idea of teaming up in 2019, planning his future. Not necessarily in L.A., either. Brooklyn, maybe, which will have all the cap space in the world. Somewhere.Read more:Raptors trade DeMar DeRozan for Kawhi LeonardToronto to Kawhi Leonard: You’ll like it here‘I’m not a Raptors fan an ...
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