Four Reasons Why Kawhi Leonard Is Going to Take the Raptors to the 2019 NBA Finals

The Raptors are doing everything they possibly can to persuade Kawhi Leonard to stay in Toronto for the foreseeable future.

In a big change from the scenery experienced in San Antonio, the relationship between Kawhi and the team’s medical staff has been fantastic.

The transparency involved is one of the driving forces behind Toronto’s pitch to Leonard and his team in hopes that he’ll sign a long-term deal north of the border.

But the number-one thing the Raptors organization can do in their attempts to lure Leonard in is fairly straightforward.

Win games and be successful during the postseason.

Because in the end, Kawhi is a pretty simple guy, and winning can solve everything.

In ESPN’s lone televised game on Friday night, Toronto faces a tough test on the road in Houston, as Leonard will try and put a halt to James Harden’s flabbergasting scoring streak he’s been on over the past month.

Here’s a guide to Rockets vs. Raptors with odds and a prediction for those who are interested.

After missing the past four games, all signs are pointing to “The Klaw” suiting up for this dynamic showdown. That makes this contest can’t-miss television.

While many speculators around the league are sure he’ll be on his way to La La Land to join either the Lakers or the Clippers this offseason, I wholeheartedly believe the Raptors are actually still the ones in the driver’s seat.

The main motive behind my thinking is the following. I predict that Kawhi will lead Toronto through the East, and the Raptors will win their first Conference Title in team history.

And here are four reasons why.

You can’t win in the NBA today without having a bonafide superstar on your roster. Someone who can single-handedly take over a game late. In the case of the Raptors, Kawhi Leonard checks off that box.

But you also need constructive team chemistry and role players who can fit the scheme. You need a good head coach who knows how to put his players in positions to succeed. And you need some young players who are up-and-coming but who aren’t afraid to step into the limelight.

Well, I’m here to tell you that Toronto has it all.

When Raptors team president Masai Ujiri drafted Pascal Siakam with the 27^th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Toronto was unsure as to how things would pan out.

After averaging just 6 points and 18.7 minutes per game over his first two seasons, it wasn’t looking entirely promising.

But talk about turning it up a notch – Siakam is now the leading candidate to win the Most Improved Player Award thanks to his superb and consistent play so far this season.

It’s not just the 15 points and 7 rebounds he’s contributing each night; it’s the fact that he’s shooting over 56% from the field and plays stout defense that makes it hard for Nick Nurse to take him off the floor.

Only Leonard and Kyle Lowry play more minutes.

And then you’ve got Fred VanVleet, who was overlooked coming out of Wichita State in 2016 and even went undrafted.

Kyle Lowry is a great floor general and is tough as nails on the hardwood, but this VanVleet kid has another gear. He does a little bit of everything on the court, making him a terrific complement to Kyle Lowry, who acts predominantly as the floor general.

His overall stats (10.5 PPG, 4.5 APG) won’t exactly knock your socks off, but trust me. VanVleet is solid, he’s dependable, and he’s on his way to becoming a terrific NBA point guard.

Given the young talent (Pascal Siam, Fred VanVleet) that surrounds Leonard, along with guys like Serge Ibaka and Jonas Valanciunas stepping up on a nightly basis, the Toronto roster has a tremendous blend.

I didn’t even mention Danny Green or fellow wing players like C.J. Miles, Delon Wright, or OG Anunoby. But all these cats can flat-out ball, and more importantly, they all understand their roles on the team.

It’s why the Raptors have been able to accumulate an impressive 11-3 record in games without Kawhi, and it’s why they’re currently tied with Milwaukee sitting atop the Eastern Conference standings.

The casual basketball fan likely had no clue who Nick Nurse was before the 2018/2019 NBA season began. The Raptors front office stunned the league when they fired Dwane Casey just three days after last season ended, but it wasn’t as abrupt of a dismissal as the outsiders may have thought.

Keep in mind, Casey had led this squad to the #1 seed in the East, but the lead executives knew improvements were necessary.

Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster felt like a move needed to be made if they wanted to get over the hump, so that’s exactly what they did by promoting Nick Nurse to the man in charge.

They realized that Nurse, who had been serving as an assistant head coach in Toronto since 2013, was the best fit for the gig thanks to his prowess as an “offensive coordinator” of sorts.

The 51-year-old former point guard at Northern Iowa spent his time in the trenches, working his way up through the coaching ranks.

From all of Europe to all over the country, Nurse paid his dues at all levels, finally earning a shot in the NBA Development League, which is now referred to as NBA G-League. After winning the D-League Championship in 2011 with the Iowa Energy, he led the Rio Grande Valley Vipers to the title in 2013.

That’s when the Raptors spotted his aptitude and brought him into their organization.

The Toronto Raptors aren’t just a flash in the pan; they’re built to last when it matters most. Toronto joins Milwaukee as the only two teams in the NBA who rank in the top ten in both points scored and points allowed (per game).

They’re the only team in the NBA who has four players averaging seven or more rebounds per game, and seven players average 9.9 PPG or more. They lead the league with 36 wins, and they’re only going to get better.

If you can spot any weaknesses or flaws with the roster, please, come forward, and I’ll hear you out.

The fact that Nurse has so many reliable hands on deck makes this a very difficult team to defend, and it’s part of the reason why some of leading NBA betting sites like MyBookie.ag currently have Toronto listed as the odds-on favorite to emerge from the East.

Aside from the terrific stability the Raptors possess, they happen to have (in my mind) the second-best player on the planet. And let’s transition right there…

Forget about Kawhi Leonard being the best two-way player in the NBA; that was a hot take like four years ago.

As talented as Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant are, and as freakishly good as James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo have been playing, I’d still take Kawhi over them all.

I’m not ready to claim him as the heir to LeBron’s throne just yet, but if he can start racking up some NBA titles, he could very well be on his way.

Having the two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year award winner on your roster would be an enormous bonus for any team in the league, and believe me, Toronto is ecstatic to have him.

But when the best on-ball defender in basketball also averages 27.6 points a night and shoots over 50% from the floor, that’s when you know you have a special, special player.

During his first couple years as a professional, Gregg Popovich and the Spurs coaches had to preach to Kawhi to leave the gym when he was spotted shooting jumpers some two hours after practice had ended.

Truth be told, the dude is just an absolute gym rat who doesn’t care about anything other than basketball and his family. Here’s a dude who signed a $94 million deal and was still driving around his beat-up ’97 Chevy Tahoe he got in high school.

So while he may not be a primadonna, he’s a menace on the court who terrorizes anyone who dares to stand in his way. Not only can he hit threes and knock down jumpers, but his uncanny ability to get to the basket and finish around the rim is astounding. It’s something he has worked on over the years in his chase of perfecting his craft, and it’s turned him into a world-beater.

Leonard might not win the MVP award this year, especially considering the torrid pace that James Harden has been on. But I can promise you that he’ll be on the short list of the legitimate candidates.

Toronto’s flexibility in having a wide-open salary cap in 2020 paves the way for them to really contend for a number of championships over the next 8-10 years. Locking up Kawhi Leonard is obviously priority #1, and they’ve got a number of other assets to build around should that be the case.

With that being said, winning important games in 2019, namely in the playoffs, is what will go the longest way in trying to influence Leonard to stay in Canada. I love their chances of getting to the 2019 NBA Finals, although beating the star-studded Warriors is an entirely different question.

We’ll see if Milwaukee or Boston has anything to say about it, and I’m sure Philly will be a tough out. But when it’s all said and done and for the four reasons stated, I believe we’ll see Nick Nurse’s team playing well into June and getting to the final series.

Should Toronto get there as I believe they will, I suspect we’ll see Kawhi in a Raptors uniform for years to come.