You can’t even be angry, not really. You can be crushed. Kawhi Leonard delivered so much to Toronto in a year, a civic eruption of joy and community and celebratory murals splashed across the face of the city. He came here and played at astonishing levels and delivered a championship. He made Toronto come alive.And now he is leaving, and it is almost impossible to blame him. So many stars have left Toronto over the years, but Kawhi wasn’t leaving the Raptors because they weren’t good enough. They were. They were champions. But Saturday morning, in the kind of bombshell only the NBA delivers, Kawhi Leonard agreed to sign a four-year contract worth $142 million (all figures U.S.)with the Los Angeles Clippers. He went home.After a week of indecision the tipping point was a nuclear bomb: The Clippers traded for fellow Los Angeles native and six-time all-star Paul George of the Oklahoma City Thunder. They moved Canadian-born rookie guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and forward Danilo Gallinari, plus a ransom: according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, four unprotected first-round picks, another protected first-rounder acquired from the Miami Heat, and the right to swap first-round picks with the Clippers in 2023 or 2025. Read more:Doug Smith: Raptors lose Kawhi Leonard to Clippers, Danny Green to Lakers weeks after winning NBA championshipKa-bye, Kawhi: NBA community reacts to Kawhi Leonard news with mixed emotionsReports say George and Kawhi met earlier this week, and George told the Thunder he wanted out a few days ago, one year after George re-signed in Oklahoma City on a four-year, $137-million deal. Sources say Kawhi’s camp asked the Raptors earlier this week about the possibility of acquiring George or Washington’s Bradley Beal. Team president Masai Ujiri considered the request.But as the Kawhi camp also made escalating demands, the Raptors began to feel that Kawhi and his people were focused on Los Angeles. Kawhi was in Toronto from Wed ...
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