Listening back to analysts shredding the Raps for DeMar/Kawhi trade will please Raps fans

It was the deal that brought a Championship north of the border. Like a lot of the world’s most valuable art, you wouldn’t have known it at first.

When Toronto Raptors President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri pulled the trigger on a trade with the San Antonio Spurs, it was met with a lot of criticism. It wasn’t so much that they had acquired Kawhi Leonard, a proven superstar, but it was more that they had to give up DeMar DeRozan.

DeMar changed the city of Toronto into being much more of a basketball city than it was before, and his loss still stings those that have been loyal for years. It wasn’t just heartache that was creating backlash, though. It was the whole situation.

With Kawhi missing almost all of the previous year to injury, and tons of stories about Leonard not getting along with Spurs staff, it was thought that sacrificing a proven loyal player for a head case that may not stick around was a bad idea.

One Championship later, and it’s entertaining to listen back to some of that reaction.

This is definitely a “hindsight is 20/20” situation, but we figured it may make some Raps fans smile anyway. Particularly if Kawhi does in fact decide to stay.