Just get Kawhi. That's what led to my post above; I'm exhausted over this narrative that Kawhi is just automatically going to be a Top 5 guy whenever he decides to get back on a basketball court.

If that's how it works out, that's amazing, but this guy sat out an entire year because of a combination of handlers whispering in his ear, a seriously confounding injury, and homesickness or depression or some lighter manifestation of those things.

It seems pretty obvious the Raptors just want to blow it up after giving it one more shot while the Celtics and 76ers are still growing up together. So I think this trade makes sense for them; if Kawhi refuses to play for them, they're working under the assumption he's leaving anyway and that jump starts it.

That said, if they were being smart about it in the short term, they'd have found a trade for Lowry instead. The long con with trading DeRozan for Kawhi, if he doesn't play for them or proves he's healthy but undermines the team from the locker room, is hoping they can fleece Los Angeles with a Melo-level gutting later this year.

Ujiri already did it to the Knicks.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz