Title: Potential free agent targets for Raptors once the Kawhi Leonard domino falls
Date: July 5, 2019
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic Toronto, I explored the remaining free agent options for the Raptors once they sort out that whole Kawhi Leonard situation.
At some point, Kawhi Leonard is going to sign. It might be with the Toronto Raptors. It might be with a team in Los Angeles. He might not even announce it, instead just showing up to the first day of training camp as if a non-announcement of change made clear his intention of maintaining the status quo.
It has felt like a long week. Leonard deserves this time to mull over the biggest decision of his life. He hasn’t had the opportunity to choose his destination since San Diego State. As a player who has earned free agency and as a human making an enormous choice for the next one to five years, Leonard should be afforded patience. The Raptors are well-suited to wait, anyway, given the limited opportunity cost they’re facing thanks to some financial inflexibility and path certainty.
At some point, though, I couldn’t stare at my drafts for Leonard-stays and Leonard-leaves stories any longer, and Matt Thomas breakdowns are only going to fill so much time. Eventually, the Raptors are going to dip into the free-agent market beyond their own two primary unrestricted free agents, and with something like $3.5 billion given out over 80-plus contracts so far, the pickings will be a little slimmer when they do. There’s not much to stress there — there are still productive players available, and in the Raptors’ best-case scenario, they’ll be hunting for depth pieces, anyway. Today, we’ll look through what’s still out there.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 