The Kawhi Leonard trade is officially official.
This means that finally, current members of the Toronto Raptors can speak on Leonard’s return to the franchise. While preseason media day is just days away (where there will be lots of juicy quotes), there have been a few that have already given some of their thoughts.
During Saturday night’s celebration for Kyle Lowry, TSN’s Josh Lewenberg asked Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, and head coach Darko Rajakovic about Leonard’s return.
“I’m excited to learn from him. I’ve been watching him for a while so just to be able to learn from him, pick his mind on things, pick his brain, I think that’s going to take me along way as well as a player.”
“Can’t wait. He’s been with us but not really with us so it’s been kind of hard, but now that it’s fully done it’ll be great to have somebody like that.”
“Super excited, he’s one of best players in his generation, one of the best guys in his generation. Winning the championship two times. Winning the championship here with the Toronto Raptors. He’s on the path to have a Hall of Fame career. We’re really happy to have him back home.”
Lindsay Dunn also had the chance to speak with Fred VanVleet on facing Leonard and the Raptors this upcoming season.
“Listen, they didn’t get worse, they didn’t get worse. I’m exited for the city, I’m excited for the organization, it’s good to see ‘Whi back, they’ll be a damn good team. Especially in the East, they’re gonna be a tough out.”
On September 16, the Raptors also posted a new episode of Open Gym, in which Allen Graves and Collin Murray-Boyles also spoke about having Leonard on the team.
Being able to be teammates with Kawhi Leonard, that’s insane. He’s the, if not the greatest defender in the NBA, just being able to learn from him and that’s the biggest part of my game that I want to focus on is the defensive side of the ball and just being able to have that resource is going to be amazing.
Even at his age, he’s still one of the best players. His attention to detail, I know it’s sharp. I know the process to get to that level is boring. So to see how he attacks it, his mindset, and just learn how to be where he’s at.
As excited as fans have been to have Leonard back on the team, it seems that the Raptors themselves are just as thrilled to have him around. It’s hard to understate just how much his mentorship is going to mean to guys like Barnes, Graves, and Murray-Boyles.
