Kawhi Leonard will be available for Raptors’ pre-season home opener Tuesday

See more Toronto Sun on Google — save as a Preferred Source

One has to rewind all the way back to Game 5 of 2018-19 NBA Finals to see Kawhi Leonard in a Raptors jersey on the same night, it must be disclosed, fans took glee in watching Kevin Durant tear his Achilles tendon.

That Raptors post-season in particular remains the signature moment for a franchise that came into the NBA in 1995.

Durant’s Golden State Warriors were denied a shot of a three-peat when the Raptors ventured into Oakland where they closed out the series in Game 6, while officially putting a bow on the Warriors’ time at Oracle Arena before the club relocated across the bay to San Francisco.

Times has definitely changed for both the Raptors and Warriors, whose primary links to the club’s golden era remain Steph Curry, Draymond Green and head coach Steve Kerr.

Leonard’s trajectory in the NBA would take him to the Los Angeles Clippers following his one-and-done season with the Raptors, his time in L.A. capped off by an ugly cap circumvention investigation by the league that severely handcuffed the franchise.

That’s all history, even though the 2019 champion does evoke the most memorable memories and moments for a Raptors franchise fully capable of producing a repeat had Leonard stuck around.

Toronto’s championship did usher in a new era in the NBA, one that has not featured a single champion repeating since Golden State.

More recently, a new financial landscape has been in effect designed to foster, in theory, greater competitive balance, while harshly penalizes teams for exceeding the salary threshold.

In layman’s terms, it’s known as the apron, a highly punitive area the New York Knicks, Toronto’s opponent Tuesday night as the Raptors continue their pre-season schedule with a home date, will need to navigate if they plan on keeping the club’s championship core.

Kawhi to face Knicks in Raps return

For the record, Knicks ownership refuses to cross over into the second apron, a rarefied and extremely expensive zone only the Denver Nuggets have entered.

A generation elapsed before the Knicks finally won a title, but the price might involve the departures of Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart if extensions are not consummated.

At least for this season, the Knicks remain a championship-contending team, the lone piece not to return involved Mitchell Robinson, who found greener pastures in Boston.

The Raptors, meanwhile, are hoping to turn back the clock with Leonard, even though he’s eight years removed from Toronto’s title team.

At least fans will get to see him for the first time in Leonard’s second act with the franchise as he is expected to see some playing time Tuesday.

He hasn’t been available in each of the team’s previous two exercises in exhibition tedium, the first in Quebec City against the Miami Heat, the second and most recent in Vancouver this past Saturday against the Clippers.

In terms of pre-season home debuts, Tuesday night does have an added layer of anticipation, while perhaps revealing how the Raptors plan on integrating Leonard.

Mind you, pre-season games involving any professional sport is hardly a time for teams to tip their hands.

In football, the most common term used is vanilla with teams running their base offence and defence.

Kawhi’s minutes to be monitored

In basketball, team’s don’t necessarily throw the ball out onto the court and allow players to stage a glorified pick-up game, but no intricate offensive sets, no half-court traps on defence or anything remotely resembling what the regular season might have in store are exposed.

Inevitably, the biggest crowd reaction for Leonard will arrive during the pre-game introductions.

If the circumstances allow and if the ball is in his hands along the baseline right in front of the Raptors’ bench, images of Leonard’s four-bounce buzzer beater against the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinal will resonate.

No pro athlete in Toronto sports memory has impacted the city and its fans than Leonard.

Once his trade from the San Antonio Spurs was complete, many believed Leonard wouldn’t even bother to show up in Toronto.

During his season, load management became in vogue.

The calls for Leonard to re-sign far exceeded the come back T-Mac cries to entice Tracy McGrady to stick around before he headed off to Orlando.

At least Leonard will be around longer this time around having agreed to an extension.

Health remains the biggest unknown, which is why it’s completely uncertain how many minutes Leonard will be on the court Tuesday.

At least he will be handling the ball, getting off his own shot, facilitating and playing defence, albeit of the token variety given the backdrop.

Kawhi moving on from messy L.A. ending

The night also provides closure for Leonard, who was effectively taken off the hook following the league’s in-depth investigation of the Clippers, unless one views being hit with a $700,000 fine as due justice.

It’s all water under the bridge as the Raptors turn the page into a new era that could potentially be very meaningful if Leonard can stay health, if young pieces such as Collin Murray-Boyles can build off of last year’s rookie season and if Scottie Barnes can play at an even higher level he reached during last spring’s seven-game series against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the opening round.

The Kawhi Part 2 act officially begins Tuesday, even though the night doesn’t officially tip off the regular season.

No pre-season game since the Raptors’ very first exhibition game played in Halifax carries more meaning than Tuesday.

Toronto does wrap up its exhibition slate with a back-to-back set beginning Thursday in Gotham against the Knicks before wrapping up the pre-season in the Motor City Friday against the Pistons.

The Raptors begin the regular season on Oct. 21 with a home date against the Chicago Bulls.

The Kawhi-mania figures to increase, but he’ll need to be healthy, for obvious reasons, and he’ll need to find a way to help Barnes ascend.

In Leonard’s first act, the Raptors were a much more balanced and deeper team than this year’s edition, but there was nobody close to Barnes’ talents.

fzicarelli@postmedia.com

1. 

   Columnists
2. 

   Sports
3. 

   Celebrity
4. 

   News
5. 

   Celebrity