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Before Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors faced off against the San Antonio Spurs, Spurs general manager R.C. Buford was seen shaking hands with Leonard's uncle before the game. They seemed to be very professional about the whole ordeal and it only lasted a few fleeting moments.
Spurs GM RC Buford just shook hands w/Dennis Robertson. Wasn't a long convo by any means…a couple seconds.
— Michael C. Wright (@mikecwright) January 4, 2019
The Spurs and the Raptors meeting on Thursday night is the matchup everyone has been waiting for since the season started.
Leonard ended up being booed by the hometown fans, which isn't totally surprising. He did leave on a very unsettling note.
After being hurt for an entire year, he choose to remove himself from team activities and isolate himself. Eventually, his relationship with head coach Gregg Popovich and the rest of management was too much to repair.
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Consequently, Spurs traded him away up north to the Raptors and received DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poetl and a protected 2019 first-round pick in return. DeRozan has been excellent this season under Popovich and seems to have found a niche as a midrange marksman.
Leonard is now an MVP-candidate for the first-placed Raptors. Though he doesn't fit perfectly within the Raptors offense, he often freelances and isolates and still is a very effective scorer. He can pull up from anywhere and has smooth touch at the rim. He's also one of the best defenders in the entire league, which is a huge upgrade from DeRozan and his struggles at the defensive end.
The Raptors are 28-11 on the season and are sitting on top of the NBA’s overall standings.
The Spurs, on the other hand, are 21-17 and currently sit in the seventh spot of the Western Conference.
