The Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs completed a trade Wednesday that sent Kawhi Leonard north of the border in return for DeMar DeRozan. The deal also included Danny Green, Jakob Poeltl and a first-round pick.
At one point just a few weeks ago, it looked like the Philadelphia 76ers could be the team that would get the deal done for Leonard. But according to David Aldridge of NBA.com, one big sticking point was the 76ers not including enough in return. The Spurs wanted Markelle Fultz or Dario Saric, and Philly wouldn't include either:
San Antonio had had significant discussions with the Philadelphia 76ers — a team Leonard would have given a fair shake at convincing him to stay had it been able to make a deal with San Antonio. But the 76ers were unwilling to include guard Markelle Fultz, the former first pick overall in the 2017 Draft, or forward Dario Saric in any package proposals for Leonard.
It's unclear if Leonard would have been happy going to the Sixers, but one thing has been made clear by his camp: he isn't thrilled to be in Toronto. Canada has a much higher tax rate than Texas, which has zero income tax, and Aldridge reports that is one of the reasons he doesn't want to be a Raptor.
There is a chance that Leonard could decide to sit out the entire season, but he would be fined and take a big hit financially. If Leonard is healthy and decides to play this season, the Raptors are a contender again in a weak Eastern conference.
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