The Raptors made one of the biggest splashes of the NBA offseason by trading star shooting guard DeMar DeRozan to the Spurs in exchange for two-time Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard. Apparently that wasn't the only deal Toronto considered involving DeRozan.
In their search for change, the Raptors reached out to the Thunder about swapping DeRozan for Paul George last season, according to Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix. As part of his story detailing the Raptors' challenge in keeping Leonard beyond this season, Mannix reports team president Masai Ujiri pondered major changes before Leonard hit the trade market.
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Per Mannix:
[Raptors general manager Bobby] Webster had been the one to kick-start negotiations with the Spurs, and Ujiri had been itching to shake up the roster, even before Leonard became available. (Last season, he approached the Thunder about a Paul George-for-DeRozan swap.)
Since Ujiri took over basketball operations in 2013, the Raptors have been consistently good, never sinking below 48 victories. But they never felt great. "I have a mandate... to win a championship," says Ujiri. "You can’t continue doing the same thing over and over again. We gave a chance to [that] team. We tried to build it as much as we can."
It's unclear whether Oklahoma City expressed any interest in acquiring DeRozan, but there likely would have been multiple pieces coming from Toronto because George is a better all-around player than DeRozan. Perhaps it was better for all sides that the Raptors figured out a workable trade with the Spurs.
Leonard is a legitimate MVP candidate once again and DeRozan is leading a Spurs team suddenly on the rise in the West. After signing a four-year, $137 million contract with the Thunder at the start of free agency, George is putting together arguably the best season of his career.
Now, the Raptors find themselves in a similar position as the Thunder last year, taking a risk on a star player and hoping their infrastructure will persuade Leonard to re-sign this summer. That's still a long way off, but a 30-12 start to the 2018-19 campaign shouldn't hurt Toronto's odds.
