While most teams considered Kawhi Leonard's mysterious quad injury as a deterrent, the Toronto Raptors saw it as an opportunity to place themselves in a position to sign an NBA champion-caliber player. This is what Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri confirmed when speaking to the press about their recent acquisition of the 27-year-old forward from the San Antonio Spurs.
In his statement, Ujiri emphasized the fact that like many other small market teams, Toronto is not considered by most NBA players as a first option. Despite the success they have garnered in the past couple of seasons, free agents tend to look towards the direction of bigger market teams such as Los Angeles and Boston.
Ujiri ironically credited Leonard's injury as a pivotal piece in their successful coup.
“Without the medical drama, you have no chance to talk to a player like this. He would still be in San Antonio,” Ujiri said per Jeff McDonald of the Express News.
Kawhi Leonard spent most of last season on the sidelines with an injury that appeared to have put a question mark on his otherwise bright future in the league. Nonetheless, this did not prevent Ujiri from pulling the trigger on a deal that would send DeMar DeRozan, the team's loyal servant, the other way.
Whether or not this was a good move for the Raptors remains to be seen. They did part ways with their cornerstone player in exchange for Leonard, who is on the last year of his five-year, $94 million deal. He could very well decide to walk away from Toronto next summer, leaving the team empty-handed.
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