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It's been just a few days since the world was shocked with a trade that sent Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs to the Toronto Raptors and already word about Leonard's feelings about Toronto may be changing.
Most of the talk when the trade was completed was that Leonard would only spend one season with the Raptors and then he would be darting to somewhere else. According to Mark Ziegler of the San Diego Tribune who heard from a source close to Leonard the brakes might need to be pumped on Leonard already having one foot out of the door.
Here’s what someone who knows Leonard as well as anybody told me privately: “He’s going to fall in love with Toronto – it’s going to happen. He’s not going to leave, I’m telling you.”
Leonard has been reported to hate the cold, and Norman Powell's mom knows exactly how that feels. Powell is originally from California and played his college ball at UCLA and as hard as it was to get used to the cold everything else outweighs that, and he loves being north of the border.
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“The first time I went, it was freezing cold – cold like you just don’t know,” Sharon says. “But it was the best, it was amazing … Norman loves it there, he really does. He likes the city, the people, the team. The fans are so great, so supportive. They’re humble, they’re nice, they’re cordial. I haven’t seen pushy people yet.
“It’s just a fabulous place. Everybody has treated us with open arms. I’m hoping when Kawhi gets there he’ll feel the same way. I know he’ll be treated the same way.”
Who knows if Powell will be able to convince Leonard to stay or if Leonard will even like it and it's hard to tell what to think until Leonard talks.
He hasn't said anything since the trade, so no one in the public knows exactly what Leonard is thinking. Maybe just maybe more than one year in Toronto is a possibility.
