In 2018, the Raptors bet on Leonard, how did the four people involved in the transaction develop? Green won another championship

In the recent NBA, where Durant's next stop has become a hot topic again. As for now, the Heat, Spurs, Rockets, and Timberwolves are the most promising teams to get him, but there are also media reports that at the same time, the Toronto Raptors from the East cannot be ignored. They may be a dark horse in Durant's battle. In fact, we have seen the Raptors decisively in the trading market long ago, such as in exchange for Ingram in the middle of this season, but in fact, before the latter joined, his most likely next home did not include the Raptors.

And Leonard was the early one. After the latter had a quarrel with the Spurs in 2018, the outside world thought that his potential next home was two teams in Los Angeles. No one expected that the Raptors would come out halfway and "rob" Leonard to Toronto. Later facts proved that this was the most important deal in the history of the Raptors. Leonard's arrival made the Raptors "more than wings". They, who already have great strength, ushered in a qualitative change.

The Raptors easily achieved the second record in the Eastern Conference in the regular season in 2018-2019. During this period, Leonard's physical condition has been well protected by the team, so he was able to start the playoffs in a very healthy state, and then we saw Leonard's super performance. In the 2019 playoffs, Leonard averaged 30.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He has no solution on the offensive end and can also limit MVP stars like Antetokounmpo on the defensive end. Finally, with Leonard's outbreak, the Raptors successfully won the first championship trophy in team history, and he personally won his second FMVP.

However, winning the championship did not change Leonard's intentions. He yearned for Los Angeles and joined the Clippers as a free agent in the 2019 offseason. At the same time, he also recruited George. In addition to Lovie, Beverly and others, the Clippers were once considered to have formed a set of Galaxy battleships, so they also became the favorites to win the championship in the 2019-2020 season. Unfortunately, the Clippers' development this year was far from meeting expectations. In the second round of the playoffs, they were eventually reversed by their opponents. Leonard and George "scored" 24 points together and became a famous scene at the time.

Later, Leonard and George were affected by injuries, and they never finished the whole season healthy together. Even though the Clippers were lucky enough to enter the Western Conference Finals in 2021, they quickly experienced a decline. They missed the playoffs in 2022 and the first round of the 2023. Then the Clippers called Harden, but because of Leonard's injury, the team was eventually eliminated by the Mavericks in the first round. However, even so, Leonard, who renewed his contract with a maximum salary during the season, but another year has passed and the team has not been able to break through the first round. This time they are all healthy, but now their lineup is obviously difficult to compete for the championship.

For Leonard, his championship window was quickly closed as he grew older and his physical condition was ineffective. So how did other players except Leonard develop in the original deal? Let’s take a look together below!

1. DeRozan

was first used as a trade to serve as a core bargaining chip, DeRozan. He has become one of the best defenders in the East since he was selected by the Raptors in 2009, but his successive playoff defeats made the team realize that the lineup that he is the leader has not gone far in the playoffs. After being sent to the Spurs in 2018, DeRozan changed his playing style under the use of Popovich, and eventually he practiced better pass control here, so his average assists per game in the season also set new career highs one after another.

However, since the Spurs are about to enter reconstruction, they also had conflicts with DeRozan's plan, so the latter decided to leave here in 2021. In the end, he also joined the Bulls by signing first and then changing. The Bulls DeRozan ushered in his second spring in his career. In the 2021-2022 season, he averaged 27.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. He was not only selected as the All-Star, but also selected as the All-Second Team again after 4 years.

Unfortunately, the Bulls team has no future. After missing the playoffs again in 2024, DeRozan transferred again. This time he signed first and then joined the Kings. However, this season he made a mistake in his decision. He averaged 22.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, he still failed to avoid missing the playoffs for the third consecutive year. Considering that DeRozan is already 35 years old, it is obvious that he will find it difficult for him to win the championship in the future.

2.Danny Green

In 2018, Green was sent to the Raptors with Leonard. Before that, he was already the top 3D in the league. His performance in the finals also left a deep impression on fans. After joining the Raptors, Green was naturally also reused. He started in 80 games in the regular season and contributed 10.3 points, 4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.5 three-pointers, and his three-point shooting percentage was as high as 45.5%. However, in the playoffs that year, Green's performance shrank. Although the team won the championship, his average of 6.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game was obviously not ideal.

However, in the offseason in 2019, Green still received offers from multiple teams. In the end, he also came to Los Angeles like Leonard, but he joined the Lakers. Green remained firmly in the start in the 2019-2020 season. He averaged 8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.8 three-pointers per game in the regular season, and his outside shooting percentage was 36.7%. In the playoffs, Green's performance still fluctuated. Although he averaged 8 points per game, his three-point shooting percentage still dropped to 33.9%..

So even though the Lakers won the championship in the end, they still saw the fact that Green is no longer suitable for the team, so he was sent to the Thunder by the management during the offseason. Then the Thunder did not want to keep Green, so both sides bought out. Later, Green joined the 76ers and other teams. During this period, as he got older, his decline became more and more obvious. Finally, he had basically completely faded out of the NBA in the 2023-2024 season.

3. When Jacob Pelter was traded to the Spurs in 2018, Pelter was still a 22-year-old young center. Although he is talented, the team also needs to spend time training. However, this obviously shows that Pelter is very suitable for the Spurs. The latter's ability to train rookies is very outstanding in the NBA, and later facts prove this again. At the Spurs, Pelter made a steady start step by step. In his peak season, he averaged 13.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.7 blocks per game.

Pelter was traded back to the Raptors by chance in the 2022-2023 season. In 2023, he grabbed a four-year, 80 million contract with the team. This season, he averaged 14.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks. Therefore, for the Raptors, it is very suitable for them to trade chips with Pelter or leave them to use.

4. Kelden Johnson

Although the Spurs selected him in 2019, the first round of the team's selection came from Leonard's deal. After Johnson entered the league, he gradually made a name for himself. During the team's bad performance, he still averaged 22 points per game in the season. Later, after Wenban Yama and Castle entered the league one after another, Johnson was still willing to follow the team's arrangements to play as a substitute. This season, he can still contribute 12.7 points, 14.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Seeing his current strength and hard-working mentality, the Spurs' use in this first round is very cost-effective.