[Arc12345Participant]

With Toronto going to the NBA finals, it’s safe to say trading Demar was absolutely the right move and one Ujiri got crucified for. 

Bottom line: they weren’t going to win with Demar. This is the epitome of the difference between a star and superstar. You saw how important Kawhi was to this team and how key some of the other additions were like Gasol.

Even if Kawhi walks after this season (I hope he doesn’t) it was absolutely worth it to trade him instead of tearing it down and rebuilding. They made history. 

I think this is a reminder that winning games is more important than people’s feelings. There was so much support for Demar about being traded it made me kind of sick. Whether you liked it or not, he was part of the problem – not the solution.

I hope Demar uses this as motivation to become a better more complete player, and lets his grudge against Toronto go. It’s hard to hold a grudge when the other person was right.

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

To say DeMar was part of the problem is a bit of a stretch imo. He’s an excellent player and he helped them win a lot of games. Him and Lowry were the 2 cornerstones for building the team and he helped take them to a level that the franchise had never previously seen before. But yea, he’s definitely not capable of what kawhi is. Very few players are.

The trade for kawhi was absolutely the right move. I thought so when it happened and still do now. It would have been hard to see them getting to the finals with derozan on the roster. However, let’s not just discount what demar did for that franchise.

[Arc12345Participant]

Not discounting what Demar gave to Toronto.

But to me, his inability to come up in big moments along with becoming a better defender were part of the problem. He was expected to be a superstar on that team and he wasn’t. You can be a great player and still be part of the problem.

People were ready to call Demar the greatest Raptor of all time (and many already were). The love was overblown.

[The GoatParticipant]

 They would’ve came close with DeRozan. Don’t forget Siakam, Powell  and VanVleet better and they got Gasol too. Kawhi just made steps in those moments that DeRozan isn’t capable of, and that’s the difference. He just knew when it was his time, and I saw one screen grab on IG after he got those big step back 3s in game 5 that pushed Toronto to the next level, Kawhi screaming – 

" Motherf*ckers can’t guard me". 

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

DeMar is definitely punching the air right now 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Poor guy. He had every chance. Funny thing is remember when he said "we wuldve won if we had Lebron too". They asked Lowry how they beat the Bucks and he basically said the same thing, just sorta looked over at Kawhi as if to say "you know exactly why we won".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HitsterParticipant]

 Demar is a tremendous player and with Gregg Poppovich as his coach has someone who could help him take his game to the next level. But Kawhi at his best is simply a more complete player than DeRozan. Don’t forget people were calling Kawhi the 3rd best player in the NBA behind LBJ and KD a couple of years ago. He is back playing at that level now. Where he fits in the list with the other two guys, Giannis, Steph, AD, Embiid etc I’m not going to debate now.

[MopgrassParticipant]

The Spurs deserve all the credit for developing Leonard, but I think their system held him back. To be clear, San Antonio is a superior organization, but I think Toronto gets Leonard.  

[khaled_a_dParticipant]

Demar was 2 games away from reaching finals in 2016, but failed against a historic Cavs team with Lebron,Kyrie & KLove, I think that Cavs team was better than anything Raptors faced this year.
Kawhi is the better player, no doubt about it, and it was the right trade too. But people are discrediting Demar too much IMO
He was a great player for the Raptors that should see his Jersey retired once he himself retire from the game.

[Bmore_DCParticipant]

I don’t think it tells us anything about Demar we didn’t already know…

Kawhi is a superstar and Demars an all-star. Simple as that 

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