Kawhi Leonard-DeMar DeRozan Trade: Where the Raptors Rank in the New Hierarchy of East After the Blockbuster Affair

As reported on Wednesday, the Toronto Raptors traded against Kawhi Leonard (and Danny Green), sending DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a first-round draft pick in 2019 to Spurs. These are the facts. Otherwise, it's a job full of unknowns. Would Kawhi, who would have said very clearly that he did not want to go to Toronto, is actually ready for the Raptors? That would sound like a delusional question under other circumstances, that a star player in his bounty would sit flat all year long, but did anything about this Kawhi saga seem anything other than crazy?

more about the Kawhi-DeMar trade

Also, even if he plays, there is no guarantee that he will be in full health, or even that he is in good health, he will be the same player that he was after losing a year of timing and rhythm by sitting down basically all last season. But hey, it's East, without LeBron James, where almost all teams with at least one star player can reasonably be called Finalists contenders.

So where do the new Raptors come from in this new hierarchy of the Eastern Conference? We will take a look.

There is no doubt that the Celtics are now the cream of the East harvest. Really, they are the only team that can honestly be spoken to among the elite league without the qualification that they "play in the East". In the current state, I would call Boston the second-best league team behind the Warriors. Now that they have signed Marcus Smart again there is a universe in which the Celtics can win everything from next season, even with the Warriors – having added DeMarcus Cousins ​​and being them – even online to maybe go down as the biggest team ever met – at the height of their powers.

First and foremost, let's point out that the Celtics took the Cavs to seven games in the Eastern Conference finals last season WITHOUT Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. As we sit here talking about all these new players on new teams, the Celtics are adding two All-NBA talents to a team that was already a game in the final.

Think about this potential fence range: Irving, Jayson Tatum, Hayward, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford. Want a defensive length to activate Golden State shooters? Check. Do you want an isolation score when the system reaches a wall? Check. Seriously, the Celtics, on paper, have five legitimate defenders to pitch to Kevin Durant in a one-on-one situation: Tatum, Brown, Smart, Marcus Morris and Semi Ojeleye – the last three will be BENCH PLAYERS. Just like Terry Rozier, who showed everyone last year that he's able to carry a team all alone in stretching.

These are their backups, people. As big Allen Iverson might say: Not their starters, their starters, their starters … we're talking about their backups! Oh, and they have one of the best coaches in the league in Brad Stevens. Do not underestimate this. If this guy can put the Celtics from last year in a game of the final, he'll have a field day after-time with this team. Seriously, the Celtics are so good.

For the purposes of this ranking, I will assume that Kawhi is in good health and will be something close to the player that he has been in the past. If that's not the case, well, the Raptors simply performed a pay dump involving two All-Stars, who, honestly, could be the most likely end game anyway.

For now, the Raptors have Leonard, and again, assuming he's healthy and motivated, he's a better player than DeRozan. With Leonard, Kyle Lowry, Danny Green and OG Anunoby, the Raptors have the makings of a truly versatile and solid defensive team, not to mention the offensive upgrade of a healthy Leonard against DeRozan , which is significant.

A skewer of Lowry, Leonard, Anunoby, Serge Ibaka and Jonas Valanciunas, with Fred Van Vleet, Delon Wright, Paskal Siakam, Normal Powell, Danny Green and CJ Miles on the bench, is a contender for the title of marginal title in No matter what world. in which the Golden State Warriors do not exist. If you go small at the end of the games with Ibaka to the five, you can get super-switch with a lot of versatile queues with two legitimate superstar plugs in Leonard and Anunoby, the latter has already proven that he was able like almost everyone else in individual matches with the league's top scorers.

Considered simply through the lens of LeBron leaving the conference and Kawhi joining your team, the Raptors are closer to the final right now than they've ever been in their history franchise. So that's fine. If they manage to convince Kawhi to stay, it would be even better. And do not exclude it, from somewhere else. Paul George said that he wanted to go to the Lakers, too, and he reconsidered. Money tends to be a pretty powerful trading currency, and the Raptors can now offer Kawhi a lot more money than any other team. Like, about 50 million dollars more.

I hate the losing Sixers Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova because what really made them fall last year was Ben Simmons with all that shot. At the same time, I'm not really going to significantly degrade a team that has Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons because they've lost Belinelli and Ilyasova, if that makes sense.

Bottom line, the Sixers have two of the top five players in the conference. My personal command would be Kawhi (so healthy), Giannis Antetokounmpo, Embiid, Irving and Simmons. The Sixers have again signed JJ Redick and Dario Saric and Robert Covington still have the floor. This starting team was deadly last year and it will be again this year. In addition, did not sleep on the Sixers first-round pick Zhaire Smith. Dude is a crazy and versatile athlete, potentially an elite defender. On the defensive front, the Sixers could again be among the top five, as they were most of last year.

As it is currently being built, Philly could reasonably be called the second best team in the East assuming a year of growth. If Markelle Fultz gets up in one way or another and looks like a player, we all expected him to be when he was ranked number 1 in 2017, and if Ben Simmons come back with something resembling a jump shot that you owe at least respect, you could argue that the Sixers might, perhaps, alert Boston in a series of seven.

Reports there suggesting that the Sixers did not want to part with Fultz in a potential deal to get Leonard are confusing for me. If it was really on the table, the Sixers should have made that move. Kawhi, Simmons and Embiid are a cold-blooded championship threat, and you take your chances of re-signing the guy next year. But I guess it's another story.

Unless there is an injury, there is absolutely no excuse for the Wizards not to win a seed in this conference. They have John Wall. They have Bradley Beal. They have Otto Porter and Kelly Oubre. Do not sleep completely on Dwight Howard either. The guy was as welcome in a locker room as a MRSA staph infection, but he averaged just under 17 points and 13 tips last year. There is always something as a pick-and-roll partner and lob with Wall, and he's always a defensive presence.

Washignton slipped to seeded No. 8 last season, but was right there in his first-round series against Toronto. There was a stretch when Wall was hurt that they really figured out how to operate more inclusively, and if Wall can add some of that to his game without losing his ability to do what he's doing. done individually, like the Raptors and the Sixers, is a reasonable claim to argue that Washington has the talent of being a final contender behind Boston.

I agree with the long-term decision not to renew Jabari Parker, but in the short term they lost a pointer of 20 points per game when they are not really crawling with talent outside Giannis. But again, it's East, where Giannis alone is enough to make you an outside threat, at least, against any team other than Boston.

Khris Middleton showed many NBA casual fans how good he is in defeating Milwaukee's seven games in Boston in the playoffs last year, and Eric Bledsoe has it in him to be a player of caliber All-Star expands. The Bucks have a good defensive length on the paper and their first-round pick, Donte DiVincenzo de Villanova, is super intriguing. I 've talked to a scout from the Las Vegas Summer League, in fact, who thinks that DiVincenzo could be one of the first three rookies of the year in this rather starry class.

In the West, the Pacers are fighting for their lives in the playoffs, similar to the Bucks. In the east, they pose a threat to conference finals. Victor Oladipo is a star. It was not a miracle situation of one year. Tyreke Evans is a beautiful signature. Aaron Holiday, like DiVincenzo in Milwaukee, is a novice candidate. He is really strong.

There is some fear here that the Pacers could be in a bit of a 2013 Phoenix Suns situation. Remember when this team was supposed to be trashy and then ended up winning 48 games? Nobody expected the Pacers to be anything last season after losing Paul George. Everyone thought that they had been cheated in this case. Then Oladipo, and to a lesser extent Domantas Sabonis, broke out, the Pacers played very hard every night, and the next thing you knew that they were fighting for a seeded four.

A major regression is not out of the question. The teams will take them more seriously than maybe to start last season. But where can they really fall in the East? I know I keep saying it, but it's true. If you have a star player, what the Pacers possess, you should at least be a playoff team in the East. Well, maybe excluding the Hornets, should they hang on to Kemba Walker?

The team that plays the most regularly above its level of collective talent, the heat should be back in the playoffs. Who knows what they do with Hassan Whiteside comes into the playoffs (if they can not find a way to exchange it before that), but in the regular season, when Scouting is not not so focused on the ruthless exploitation of a player's weakness, can always be a hard-hitting guy.

I came across Erik Spoelstra during the summer league and he is high on Bam Adebayo because almost everyone is at this point. Spoelstra said that they can not take Adebayo out of the gym. A guy with that kind of underappreciated physique and skills that works so hard? He feels like a candidate for one of the biggest second year jumps.

I would say Detroit sneaks into the playoffs. Again, they are talented to Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond, and to the East, if you can not even get out of the lottery with two All-Stars and another potential guy from 18 to 20 points in Reggie Jackson, you have problems. Dwane Casey was the coach of the year for a reason. He will find ways to better cohabit Drummond and Griffin. I hope he can make the most of Jackson and Stanley Johnson, and I think Luke Kennard has a chance to be a solid player this year.

I am tempted to place the Cavs at this location, but deep down I think that they will eventually take care of Kevin Love and enter full rebuild mode, which would be the smart game. Why end up in 8th place at the conference, when you can put down, start emptying your books and add some lottery choices along the way? Do not be stupid, Cleveland.