The Toronto Raptors were believed to be the odds-on favorites to land Kawhi Leonard last week, yet no one saw how the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference could trump the likes of the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, or the Philadelphia 76ers in this process.

According to ESPN Insider Bobby Marks, the Raptors were the only team willing to put physical assets on the table that would allow the team to remain competitive after giving up Leonard.

“While Boston and Philadelphia certainly had better draft assets, neither team had what the Spurs were looking for — an established All-Star in DeRozan who can play on the wing and has length on his contract.

Combined with a young center prospect in Jakob Poeltl and a protected first-round pick (that converts to two second-round picks if not bottom 10 in 2019), Toronto checked the boxes for the Spurs' front office.”

Los Angeles, Boston, and Philadelphia all gave pick-heavy offers, which the San Antonio Spurs deemed a “flat-out unacceptable” return for their estranged star.

These three teams did so for two reasons — the first was the lack of evidence of Leonard's health, given that he sat out the vast majority of the season with quad complications. Teams can't provide physical information until a trade has been made official, per league rules. The second, was a lack of intel detailing whether Leonard would be willing to re-sign with their team if traded — making it a very risky gamble to include players that are already contributors for a potential one-year rental.

The Raptors took a leap of faith, trading DeRozan, who has still three years left in his contract — considering that if Leonard leaves, the sheer cap space they would free up would allow for a clean rebuild situation.

This gambit was enough for San Antonio to choose to strike a deal with Toronto, sending sharpshooter Danny Green along to make the salaries match while getting a young prospect in center Jakob Poeltl and a first-round selection for next year.