San Antonio shipped Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green to the Toronto Raptors for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a protected 2019 first-round pick, ending a standoff of nearly seven months of off-court drama for the Spurs.
Leonard requested a trade after a meeting with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. His absence from the team became a point of consternation for Popovich and the Spurs, who didn’t have the All-Star forward on the floor for the final five months of the season because of a quadriceps injury.
“We hope that this will be a good situation for everybody involved,” Popovich said during a brief press conference in San Antonio yesterday. “Kawhi obviously worked very hard to become the player he is. Our staff worked very hard to help him get there. We wish him all the best as he moves on to Toronto. I think he’s going to be great.