If there is no shortage of NBA teams in recent years, there are no more than the Clippers and Raptors. The former lost to his grandmother's family because he paid a large sum of luxury taxes around the two-time FMVP winner Kawhi Leonard and All-Star forward Paul George but did nothing, and the latter unexpectedly won the first NBA championship in team history because he traded to get one-time FMVP winner Kawhi Leonard, and made a lot of money. As you can see, both teams have changed because of one person, FMVP winner Kawhi Leonard.
How to say, Leonard is really strong, he was able to get FMVP in both NBA Finals and help the team win the championship trophy, but at the same time he is very weak, because he is often injured and does not play, occupies the team's salary space and hurts the team, it is really Schrödinger's player, maybe one day he will be lucky or unlucky. Today, let's not discuss the Clippers' loss of bad luck Leonard for the time being, and first carefully review the situation when the Raptors traded to get lucky Leonard, and see who the other three players are in addition to Leonard, and whether the current development has become as unlucky as Leonard.
Players sent by the Raptors:
1. DeMar DeRozan
DeMar DeRozan, a 2009 NBA draft pick with Curry Harden and other superstars, was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the 9th pick in the first round and started his NBA career. In the early part of his career, DeRozan's development momentum was no weaker than that of the superstars of the same generation, and even when Curry and Harden were on the team's bench, he was already the main player, and in the second year of his career, he averaged 17.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1 steal per game, becoming the absolute core of the Raptors in the future. When Curry and Harden and others came to prominence, DeRozan also led the team to the playoffs in the 13-14 season, and even made the team never miss the playoffs for five consecutive years, and once helped the team reach the Eastern Conference finals in the 15-16 season.
Unfortunately, when DeRozan was at his strongest, he met LeBron James, who was more at the top, and the Cavaliers, who had a better lineup, and finally failed to touch the floor of the Finals. Therefore, DeRozan, who helped the team enter the playoffs five times but never broke through the East, and Kyle Lowry of the same team are called garbage brothers by fans, corresponding to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, who led the team to the Finals in the West for many years. In this way, in the 17-18 season, the Raptors, who wanted to seek change, traded DeRozan to the Spurs as the main bargaining chip in exchange for Kawhi Leonard. That year, DeRozan averaged 23 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game, was selected to the second team of the All-NBA, and was a standard All-Star small forward.
After arriving at the Spurs, DeRozan seemed to be tainted with Leonard's bad luck and continued to decline, although the statistics looked more comprehensive, averaging 21.5 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists per game, but he only led the Spurs to the playoffs once in three years, and fell in the first round, which is completely incomparable to before. In order to get rid of such bad luck, DeRozan came to the Bulls in the 21-22 season, but unfortunately the bad luck seems to have completely entangled him, as both with dunk king Zach LaVine, rebounding king Andre Drummond, All-Star forward DeMar DeRozan and a group of super main players The Bulls have only entered the playoffs once in three years, even if DeRozan can average 28 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game next season, the team also fell in the first round. In this regard, the author can only say that it was probably Leonard who won the championship in 19 and absorbed too much luck, which caused DeRozan, who was traded with him, to also be affected.
2. Jacob Poeltl
Jacob Poeltl, like DeRozan, was also the No. 9 pick in the first round selected by the Toronto Raptors, but he is younger and less valued than DeRozan. Poeltl was a 2016 NBA draft pick, and when he was drafted by the Raptors, the Raptors were still a playoff powerhouse and even made it to the Eastern Conference finals the year before, so he didn't have many opportunities to practice, averaging a maximum of 18.6 minutes per game in his two seasons with the Raptors. However, he averaged 6.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game in 18.6 minutes, proving that he really has a lot of potential, so he also went to the Spurs in 2018 as the main bargaining chip in trading Leonard.
With the Spurs, Poeltl's playing time has increased, peaking in the '21-22 season, averaging 29 minutes per game, averaging 13.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, and it is clear that he has grown into a first-hand center. Unfortunately, he seems to have been affected by Leonard's luck, and he couldn't go further after reaching the peak of his career in the 21-22 season, not only did he never average more than 13.5 points per game in the season, and he never broke 10 rebounds in the season, but now he has been plagued by injuries after returning to the Raptors, averaging only 11.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.
3. 2019 first-round pick (Keldon Johnson)
In addition to the above two players, the Raptors also gave the Spurs a 19-year first-round pick. Although the pick was not high, only the No. 29 pick, but a good player was selected - Keldon Johnson. In the fourth year of his career, he averaged 22 points, 5 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, and the future is promising. However, the god of bad luck enveloped him, and in the 23-24 season, after the Spurs welcomed the talent monster Victor Wembanyama, Johnson's statistics that should have continued to improve fell due to injuries, averaging only 15.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
In addition to Kawhi Leonard, players sent by the Spurs
1. Danny Green
Danny Green, like DeRozan, was also a 2009 draft pick, was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round at No. 46, but was cut by the team after 20 appearances for the Cavaliers, and then played two years in the Development League before returning to the NBA, averaging 9.3 points, 3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in the playoffs to help the Spurs win the championship in the 13-14 season, completely as the team's starting position. In the 18-19 season, Green came to the Raptors as another bargaining chip in the trade, and won another championship trophy with Leonard's lucky halo at that time. Unfortunately, after this year, Green went downhill without the favor of Lady Luck, changed five teams in five years, and finally in November 2023, the 76ers were cut in order to free up the roster due to the James Harden trade. Now, the 36-year-old Green has become a free man and is just waiting to announce his retirement.
Although feudal superstition is not advisable, since the Raptors won the championship in '19, all five trade chips, including Leonard, are now all unlucky, and it's hard to evaluate what exactly is the reason for this.