RealGM

Kawhi Leonard, the new franchise savior and former disgruntled San Antonio Spur, wasn't a vocal leader. He wasn't the guy cracking jokes on the plane or lifting up teammates with long-winded speeches.

He was the guy who asked for the ball and let the scoreboard do the talking. And according to Kyle Lowry, not everybody loved it.

"Kawhi rubbed people the wrong way because of how he operates," Lowry said. "He's like, 'Yo, give me the ball. I'm a get it done.' You might be like, 'Kawhi, I'm open.' But he's like, 'I'm gonna get this bucket.'"

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/off-the-court/kyle-lowry-says-some-raptors-players-despised-kawhi-leonard-during-their-championship-run

Masai is with Kawhi at Giants of Africa this year, and Kawhi’s contract expires in 2027. Would you bring him back?

Merit wrote:

Kawhi Leonard, the new franchise savior and former disgruntled San Antonio Spur, wasn't a vocal leader. He wasn't the guy cracking jokes on the plane or lifting up teammates with long-winded speeches.

He was the guy who asked for the ball and let the scoreboard do the talking. And according to Kyle Lowry, not everybody loved it.

"Kawhi rubbed people the wrong way because of how he operates," Lowry said. "He's like, 'Yo, give me the ball. I'm a get it done.' You might be like, 'Kawhi, I'm open.' But he's like, 'I'm gonna get this bucket.'"

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/off-the-court/kyle-lowry-says-some-raptors-players-despised-kawhi-leonard-during-their-championship-run

Masai is with Kawhi at Giants of Africa this year, and Kawhi’s contract expires in 2027. Would you bring him back?

Masai's gone, and he took any possibility of us reuniting with Kawhi or getting it on with Giannis with him.

Kurtz wrote:

Merit wrote:

Kawhi Leonard, the new franchise savior and former disgruntled San Antonio Spur, wasn't a vocal leader. He wasn't the guy cracking jokes on the plane or lifting up teammates with long-winded speeches.

He was the guy who asked for the ball and let the scoreboard do the talking. And according to Kyle Lowry, not everybody loved it.

"Kawhi rubbed people the wrong way because of how he operates," Lowry said. "He's like, 'Yo, give me the ball. I'm a get it done.' You might be like, 'Kawhi, I'm open.' But he's like, 'I'm gonna get this bucket.'"

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/off-the-court/kyle-lowry-says-some-raptors-players-despised-kawhi-leonard-during-their-championship-run

Masai is with Kawhi at Giants of Africa this year, and Kawhi’s contract expires in 2027. Would you bring him back?

Masai's gone, and he took any possibility of us reuniting with Kawhi or getting it on with Giannis with him.

We had issues getting people to come here before but at least we were respected enough to be rumored. People were sick of being "used" in rumours, it feels like we will go back to not even being close enough to be in those talks. Let's see...

Fred..

This was old news wasn’t it? I remember Kyle saying this years ago. Exact wording.

I mean the guy was brought here to be a mercenary and that’s exactly what he was. In the playoffs besides Lowry who else would you have trusted at the 3 point line anyway

AkelaLoneWolf wrote:I mean the guy was brought here to be a mercenary and that’s exactly what he was. In the playoffs besides Lowry who else would you have trusted at the 3 point line anyway

Fred went from 0 to hero from the 3, during those playoffs

mihaic wrote:

AkelaLoneWolf wrote:I mean the guy was brought here to be a mercenary and that’s exactly what he was. In the playoffs besides Lowry who else would you have trusted at the 3 point line anyway

Fred went from 0 to hero from the 3, during those playoffs

That is true. I forgot about Fred.

We had to load manage him 6 years ago... just think in 2 years time. Maybe on a 1 year vet min if the fit is right. But he's not even good mentor material.

Real Talk. One was Fred Van Vleet. Considering his comments after Kawhi left. And how he didnt acknowledge Kawhi at his ring ceremony.

Kurtz wrote:Masai's gone, and he took any possibility of us reuniting with Kawhi or getting it on with Giannis with him.

A misconception. Masai was no better at attracting external free agents here as Colangelo or anyone before him. What African FA did he attract here as a result of his connection with Giants of Africa? None. If you want to stretch it, maybe Bismack Biyombo for 1-year, $3M. Hardly notable.

Neither Kawhi nor Giannis are signing here with or without Masai.

I'm glad Lowry understood the assignment, unlike some other players (Fred).

It was necessary in order to win the championship.

Tacoma wrote:

Kurtz wrote:Masai's gone, and he took any possibility of us reuniting with Kawhi or getting it on with Giannis with him.

A misconception. Masai was no better at attracting external free agents here as Colangelo or anyone before him. What African FA did he attract here as a result of his connection with Giants of Africa? None. If you want to stretch it, maybe Bismack Biyombo for 1-year, $3M. Hardly notable.

Neither Kawhi nor Giannis are signing here with or without Masai.

It will interesting to see what people latch onto as a “free agent” hope now that Masai is gone. For 5+ years it was “Giannis might come here because of Masai”. Now Masai is gone.

We never had a chance at any star free agent anyway. It will be interesting to see what the new hope will be around here. My guess is the narrative will shift to “SGA homecoming”

AkelaLoneWolf wrote:I mean the guy was brought here to be a mercenary and that’s exactly what he was. In the playoffs besides Lowry who else would you have trusted at the 3 point line anyway

During the reg season, Danny Green led us in 3PA (5.4) and 3P% (.455)
Gasol, Norm, Pascal and the aforementioned FVV, all shot better % than Kyle and all but Pascal shot better than Kawhi from 3.
During the playoffs, Fred, Norm and Gasol shot a better 3P% than Kawhi or Kyle.
In the NBA finals, Fred led us in 3P% (.400), Kyle (.368), Danny G (.364) and Kawhi (.357) rounded out our top 4.

gp2015 wrote:I'm glad Lowry understood the assignment, unlike some other players (Fred).

It was necessary in order to win the championship.

Fred was 6th man in 2019 with Kahwi added. Lowry? He was the team heart and soul. Kahwi must've realized that. In any sport if I have a choice between possession and a winning play - any winning play, I would buy into winning by any means necessary.

Basketball_Jones wrote:This was old news wasn’t it? I remember Kyle saying this years ago. Exact wording.

Maybe, but I don’t remember it. It’s from a more recent podcast episode with CJ McConnell. You could be right though!

ConSarnit wrote:

Tacoma wrote:

Kurtz wrote:Masai's gone, and he took any possibility of us reuniting with Kawhi or getting it on with Giannis with him.

A misconception. Masai was no better at attracting external free agents here as Colangelo or anyone before him. What African FA did he attract here as a result of his connection with Giants of Africa? None. If you want to stretch it, maybe Bismack Biyombo for 1-year, $3M. Hardly notable.

Neither Kawhi nor Giannis are signing here with or without Masai.

It will interesting to see what people latch onto as a “free agent” hope now that Masai is gone. For 5+ years it was “Giannis might come here because of Masai”. Now Masai is gone.

We never had a chance at any star free agent anyway. It will be interesting to see what the new hope will be around here. My guess is the narrative will shift to “SGA homecoming”

I don’t really duck with absolutes. I feel that history hasn’t been kind to the raptors, but history doesn’t mean anything with regards to the future.

The political climate is changing, drastically. Point of fact, more World Cup games are *edit* LIKELY coming to Toronto because teams don’t feel safe entering the USA.

Now that obviously doesn’t apply to the same extent in the case of NBA players, but when people like Jamal Shead say they’re looking to be Canadian Citizens - unprompted, might I add - I would like to think that the tide is turning.

We already signed BI, and we already re-signed Scottie and Jak and IQ - all our key free agents. That also gives me hope. I understand your perspective and I don’t quite agree. As for a SGA homecoming - or heck, any Canadian player - why not?

Bankai wrote:Real Talk. One was Fred Van Vleet. Considering his comments after Kawhi left. And how he didnt acknowledge Kawhi at his ring ceremony.

I didn’t pick up on this! Tell me more.

AkelaLoneWolf wrote:I mean the guy was brought here to be a mercenary and that’s exactly what he was. In the playoffs besides Lowry who else would you have trusted at the 3 point line anyway

Fred? Danny Green? Maybe serge or the occasional Marc Gasol hit?

Tacoma wrote:

Kurtz wrote:Masai's gone, and he took any possibility of us reuniting with Kawhi or getting it on with Giannis with him.

A misconception. Masai was no better at attracting external free agents here as Colangelo or anyone before him. What African FA did he attract here as a result of his connection with Giants of Africa? None. If you want to stretch it, maybe Bismack Biyombo for 1-year, $3M. Hardly notable.

Neither Kawhi nor Giannis are signing here with or without Masai.

Who would you say was available that he missed out on?

The chance of us landing a star in free agency was always remote (largely because those guys rarely make it to free agency, and when they do, they tend to look to LA or Miami). But due to the Masai connection, there was always a chance (however remote) that a guy like Giannis could see us as a destination. I think that remote chance is gone now.