00:00I'm going to start off and I wanted to have this discussion at length here because there's
00:03some things to sort through here. Kawhi Leonard has obviously been traded to the Toronto Raptors.
00:11I think we all know that by now. He just signed an extension with the Toronto Raptors. So he will
00:16be there for a little bit of a long haul. So he signed a two-year extension worth up to
00:21$115
00:22million. The second season in 28-29 is a player option. So obviously he has the contract for this
00:29year. And then he's going to be extended for another year, at least guaranteed. And then
00:33the player option in 28-29. So Toronto obviously hasn't announced it in full yet. This is a
00:39Shams Toronto report. But John, do you think this commitment makes sense for Toronto? Because for me,
00:47if you're going to put all your eggs in the basket and say, listen, we're going to get this guy.
00:52This is going to be our superstar for at least the next couple of years. We're going to try to
00:57win
00:57a title in these next couple of years. Give him the extension. We'll see what happens in these
01:01three years. And if anything happens after that, we can either let him go or we can trade him or
01:06whatever. But it seems like, and Shams has mentioned this on NBA Today, that Kawhi wants to
01:12end his career there. And we've heard plenty of players say that. So I'm not going to put all stock
01:16into that. But I don't know what other team would want Kawhi or what other team he would want to
01:20go
01:21to. He's not going back to the Clippers in LA. There's no San Diego team. I don't think he's going
01:25to the Lakers. So I think Toronto Raptors are his last option. So does this commitment do you think
01:32makes sense for Toronto at this point? Well, 100% it does for them. He's the only team they haven't
01:39burned. Yeah. Like he, his situation with the Spurs ended really bad. His situation with Toronto
01:48ended over money and his desire to play in his hometown, which nobody could push back on.
01:55His tenure in Los Angeles, he seemed to have burned the Clippers. So naturally you go back
02:01to a place that you won a championship with, that the fans there love you, the organization
02:06there loves you, and he'll get a statue there. He deserves it. He was fantastic for them and he
02:14delivered for them. No one remembers the circumstances in which you delivered. They just
02:19remember that you delivered. It's not going to say anywhere on the statue, Kevin Durant and
02:23Klay Thompson both tore Achilles in his finals. So here's the statue of the Toronto Raptors
02:27being the NBA champions that no one's going to do that. No one's going to remember that
02:31the people of Toronto only remember the good time they had by him being there. And so for
02:36them, this is, was an easy decision to make. You went through, you, you ignored all the noise
02:40to sign him, to trade for him. So signing him was only the next logical step. It was just a
02:46matter of
02:46how much and how long. Once they figured that out, this was the right move for them. After the summer
02:53that he's had, this is the right move for him. And I hope that the organization can put better parts
02:58around him. Despite what I have had said about my thoughts on this, the last time we talked about
03:04this on the internet. And I told all those people, come see me. Come, come on back at the end
03:09of the
03:09season. Bookmark those comments. Cause I sure did. Cause I'm gonna come looking for y'all. So I hope
03:14y'all come looking for me. Cause I stand on mine, buddy. I stand on mine. So if they don't
03:20put better
03:21players around him, buddy, that thing, that shit be sinking as they say. I don't know if y'all heard
03:26of that in Toronto, but that's what we say here in America. Shit be sinking. So I know that we've
03:33kind of talked about this, but even with Kawhi coming off of his career best year and with that
03:39team making the playoffs, right. They made the playoffs. They pushed, but they went to seven
03:45with the Cleveland Cavaliers. They have a superstar already or a star. I wouldn't say superstar. A star
03:51in Scotty Barnes. They have a solid core. I get like RJ Barrett was awesome in the playoffs for
03:57some reason. Uh, you, you just really, well, I mean, it's true. They had a top 10 defense in the
04:03league. So you just, you don't. And then they, now they add a guy that was second team, all NBA,
04:09a guy that was an all-star last year, a guy that was, yeah, I guess the top five player
04:14in the league
04:14for a long stretch of time in the NBA. You like, what part of that do you not believe in
04:20for them to be in
04:20a contender tier? Is it them or is it just the competition around them? Two reasons. One,
04:26I think the competition in the Eastern Conference has gotten better. And now you're looking at this
04:29roster in comparison to the roster that he had the original time he was there.
04:33Pascal Siakam basically rose to stardom that year. Kawhi Leonard was there. Kyle Lowry,
04:41Kyle Lowry was there. They had the proper parts around Kawhi Leonard to ensure A, he could get the
04:47ball in the right spot and B, when he couldn't make a shot, you had somebody else who could
04:52facilitate without help. Scotty Barnes has shown you nothing but the ability to have you frustrated
05:00with his play. Scotty Barnes looks and feels and puts up numbers overall like this guy's about to
05:08break out, but he hasn't. And Kawhi coming demands more shots, demands respect, and demands the hierarchy
05:16on the team. Regardless of what he says about, oh, I'm just here to help Scotty win and Scotty's team
05:20until you start playing. It's Scotty's team when it's time to do an interview. It's Scotty's team
05:26when it's time to do a public appearance. It's Kawhi's team when it's time to play. And so I,
05:33with his health concerns not being a factor last year, I think people tend to assume that that's
05:39not behind him. But a guy that injured only gets older. It only gets worse.
