The Kawhi Leonard saga has reached its conclusion.
The San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors have completed a deal that would send Leonard to the Raptors for All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan, league sources confirm.
Guard Danny Green is also headed to Toronto, while center Jakob Poeltl and a protected first-round pick go to San Antonio with DeRozan.
The trade culminates what has been a monthslong standoff between Leonard, his camp and San Antonio, one that has seen the typically drama-free Spurs become a three-ring circus for the first time in more than two decades. After only playing nine games last season because of a quad injury, Leonard made it clear he wanted to be traded, and that he wanted to play for the Los Angeles Lakers when he becomes a free agent after next season.
The Raptors now will hope he'll reconsider a year from now - just as Paul George did in re-signing with Oklahoma City after being traded there last summer following him issuing a similar demand to the Indiana Pacers.
The trade has been in the works for more than a week. The Washington Post reported last week that the talk at the Las Vegas Summer League was that the two sides were discussing a potential deal. Since then, momentum has carried forward to the deal being consummated early Wednesday morning.
With the Boston Celtics not being interested, the Philadelphia 76ers being unwilling to include Markelle Fultz and the Lakers not feeling any urgency to make a move, the Raptors were the last team standing - and used that leverage to their advantage. Not giving up either OG Anunoby or Pascal Siakam in the deal - not to mention only a top-20 protected first this year, which will convert to a pair of seconds if it doesn't convey, according to ESPN, shows how little leverage San Antonio had.
One additional wrinkle: Leonard, DeRozan and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich are all scheduled to be part of Team USA's minicamp next week in Las Vegas. Popovich, who is coaching Team USA in next year's FIBA World Cup in China and in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, will undoubtedly be there; whether the two players are, particularly in light of this trade potentially happening, remains to be seen.
Presuming health, Leonard remains one of the best five players in the NBA, and arguably its best two-way player. His acquisition elevates the Raptors into the same conversation with the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers atop the Eastern Conference, and gives Toronto a true superstar around whom to build its roster.
San Antonio, meanwhile, gets a four-time All-Star in DeRozan - one who seems quite unhappy by what is transpiring. DeRozan, who signed a five-year deal worth $139 million to remain a Raptor in 2016, has said repeatedly that he hopes to retire in Toronto, the only city he's ever played in since being drafted ninth overall by the Raptors in 2009.
In an Instagram story posted early Wednesday morning, DeRozan seemed to indicate what sources had told The Washington Post previously: that he and his camp had been told he wouldn't be traded this summer.
That didn’t turn out to be the case. And, because it wasn’t, the Kawhi Leonard saga has officially come to an end.