Devil within the particulars, however everybody wins with Raptors-Kawhi Leonard extension

It’s good to be within the NBA, and it’s particularly good to be Kawhi Leonard. 

Even if the contract extension the Toronto Raptors introduced Wednesday with their new/previous star ahead would be the final deal the 35-year-old indicators, Leonard would retire after the 2028-29 season having earned almost $500 million enjoying basketball. Plus, fairly actually, who is aware of how far more through, ahem, his ‘endorsements.’

But context issues. And within the context of the Raptors signing Leonard, it issues that he signed for 2 years and $115 million — and never for the utmost $126-million extension he was eligible to signal on a deal that covers 2027-28 and 2028-29. 

In the apron period, ever greenback saved issues. 

The $11-million low cost the Raptors bought on Leonard’s contract represents $5.5 million per yr of wiggle room normal supervisor Bobby Webster may have heading into the subsequent two off-seasons. It might be the distinction in signing a veteran free agent to shore up a roster weak spot or construct on a power. 

The deal and the best way it’s structured can be roughly comparable to a few different contracts some older, but extremely productive, NBA stars have signed lately. 

Kevin Durant, for instance, signed a two-year, $90-million extension with the Houston Rockets final yr that kicks in for this season. And whereas that’s lower than Leonard bought with the Raptors, Durant’s deal covers his age 38 and 39 seasons. It’s some huge cash, however like Leonard, Durant in his late 30s stays one of many NBA’s finest gamers. 

And then there’s the three-year, $96.5-million deal that James Harden signed with Cleveland this summer season that can cowl his age 37, 38 and 39 seasons. That issues otherwise, however we’ll get to that in a minute. 

The deal can be indicative of Leonard’s willpower to make issues work with the Raptors. 

How sturdy the market was for his companies leaguewide is one thing we will’t fairly know, however coming off an all-NBA season, it’s not arduous to think about plenty of contenders and near-contenders believing Leonard might be the distinction in successful a championship as a result of it’s apparent to anybody who has ever seen him play at full fuel that he’s simply that.

But Leonard put out the bat sign that he needed to play in Toronto, that the one franchise he needed to signal an extension with was the Raptors, and right here we’re. The framework of the contract remained constant from when the Raptors first entertained the concept of buying Leonard again in June. 

Leonard then waived his $7.5 million commerce kicker to make the deal work underneath the Raptors’ present cap state of affairs based mostly on the $50.3 million he’ll earn this season — one other act of religion, by NBA requirements. 

That all must be thought-about when evaluating the opposite factor of the deal that raised some eyebrows across the NBA: Leonard’s deal features a participant choice for its ultimate season in 2028-29.

When I used to be speaking with one long-time NBA government about what the ultimate deal would possibly appear to be, he speculated that the Raptors would push to have solely a partial assure for the second season of the deal or that the second yr would solely totally assure if Leonard — eternally an damage danger — met sure thresholds for video games performed. 

Instead, the Raptors gave Leonard a totally assured deal that features that participant choice on the second yr, which is usually thought-about a concession by the crew to the participant. 

That’s as a result of, usually, a participant choice is nothing however a headache for the crew. If the participant underperforms or is injured or each, he picks up the final yr of his deal and the crew is caught. Conversely, if the participant is over-performing or has an eye fixed on one other market, the specter of him declining the choice can power a crew’s hand. 

“I don’t understand why they would do that; there was no leverage here,” one outstanding participant agent stated when requested concerning the deal. “It’s a great deal for Kawhi. Any time you get the player option it’s a win for the player.”

But once more, context issues. 

If we take Leonard at his phrase, he very a lot needs Toronto to be his ultimate NBA vacation spot. 

“I’m not really championship chasing. … I didn’t want to put on a thousand jerseys,” Leonard stated throughout the latest episode of Open Gym, the Raptors’ in-house documentary program. “This city took a liking to my family, and I took a liking to this city … my son was born here, and he’s been asking me forever when he’s going to come back. Now he’s back, and he’s able to see it rather than me tell him the great stories that happened.”

With that in thoughts and provided that it’s fairly unlikely that Leonard will go ring buying heading into his age-37 season, the participant choice may be checked out a bit in another way. 

Let’s presume that the Raptors, with Leonard persevering with to defy the getting old curve (his 27.9 factors, 6.4 rebounds, two steals and 62.9 true-shooting marks with the Clippers final season represented not solely one in all Leonard’s finest however the most effective seasons ever by a participant of their mid-30s), head into the 2028-29 season with championship aspirations, however in want of yet another piece. 

That’s the place the participant choice might be a win for everybody involved. 

In that situation, Leonard would choose out of his deal and signal yet another for, simply to select a quantity, two years and $80 million. Leonard will get one other $23 million in his denims and the Raptors would head into that third low season with an additional $17.5 million to spend, which may very properly be sufficient to signal that lacking piece. 

The tough analogy right here is Harden, who opted out of the ultimate yr his deal on which he was slated to earn $42.3 million with Cleveland this yr and signed for 3 at $96.5 million, giving the Cavaliers an extra $11 million of cap house which enabled them to signal Peyton Watson, the rangy free-agent wing Cleveland hopes will vault it into Finals competition. 

So certain, Leonard beneficial properties some theoretical leverage by having a participant choice on the ultimate yr of his new deal, however given everybody’s aim that his return to Toronto is a homecoming reasonably than a means station, it’s extra concerning the potential for making the ultimate years of his profession as aggressive as doable. 

There are nonetheless loads of ifs and dangers, as with all NBA contract that runs into 9 figures and particularly so for a participant in his mid-to-late 30s. 

But a minimum of with Leonard, the Raptors know precisely the participant they’re getting, and exactly what it prices.