Despite an impressive opening night victory over the defending Eastern Conference champions Cleveland Cavaliers, Kawhi Leonard believes that his Toronto Raptors are still a ways away from being serious contenders for the title.

Never really known to mince words, the former San Antonio Spurs cornerstone star was brutally honest when talking about his team's chances of taking home the championship by the end of the season.

“We have a long road before we ever think about matching up with the champions like Golden State,” Leonard said, via Brian Windhorst of ESPN. “We're not Finals competitors right now.”

Leonard is just speaking his mind here, and not even Raptors fans can fault him for this. The team did put in a wonderful performance on Wednesday against the Cavs, and there were definitely flashes of brilliance throughout the contest. Nonetheless, it was evident that the Raptors — which pretty much overhauled their entire squad over the summer — were not yet 100 percent on the same page.

Regardless, there are still a number of noteworthy takeaways from the team's 116-104 win against the LeBron James-less Cavs.

For starters, Leonard looked healthy and determined in his debut. It appears that he has moved past all the drama between his former team, and is ready to reclaim his spot as one of the best players in the league.

Kawhi notched a 24-point (on 9-of-22 shooting), 13-rebound double-double, along with one three-pointer, two assists, and three turnovers on the evening.

He was absolutely right when he said that the team will still need to put a ton of work in before they can match up against the likes of the Warriors. However, Leonard and the Raptors did take the right first step towards that goal with their first win of the new campaign.