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The Toronto Raptors didn't just lose a franchise player in Kawhi Leonard to the Los Angeles Clippers, but also one of their key veterans in Danny Green to the Los Angeles Lakers. Green is a player the franchise will miss dearly after their trade with the San Antonio Spurs has virtually evaporated since that splashy 2018 offseason.
Marc Gasol explained just what the Raptors will miss without Green out there:
“He’s very consistent with the things that he’s going to do on the floor,” Gasol told Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. “He’s very vocal. Very positive. He doesn’t take things personal. He’s a veteran guy who has been around but has come up also through hard times and has been coached hard in his previous years (by Gregg Popovich in San Antonio) and knows what it takes to play at the highest level. And he was very good for us.”
The Raptors can have either Fred VanVleet or Norman Powell step into Green's shooting guard slot and do some of the things he did, but it's tough to replace a marksman who hit on 45.5% of his 3-point attempts last season (a career high) and can defend the best perimeter player on a nightly basis.
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VanVleet knows the shoes will be hard to fill:
“The general public doesn’t really notice what the other guys (besides Leonard) do (and) Danny’s one of those guys,” said VanVleet. “He’s not flashy, his game isn’t very sexy, but I don’t know what he shot, 45% from three? Something crazy like that, at a high clip, played 80 games, played every night, guarded the best players on the other teams and he’s just solid every night,” VanVleet said. “You know what you’re going to get … (and) just having that experience here – He didn’t do a lot of preaching and teaching, he just was here and (led) by example and we’ll miss that.”
While big men like Gasol, Serge Ibaka, and Pascal Siakam are expected to provide some shooting from other positions, there is plenty that Green provided that can't be simply replaced. His championship experience, veteran mettle, and his willingness to be a team-first player are traits nearly irreplaceable for a young team hoping to find its footing after winning its firstever title.
Green's effect goes beyond the 3-point marksmanship, the defense, and the leadership. It is also his reliability and constant presence that will be missed the most for a Raptors team that is picking up the pieces of hoping to build again with a blueprint of all-around success.
