Jan 2, 2019
By the Numbers: A look at the Leonard-DeRozan trade ahead of their first meeting of the season
With the Raptors and Spurs set to meet for the first time this season Thursday in San Antonio, it’s a good time to take a look at how each team has fared since the blockbuster deal.
TSN.ca Staff
It was the biggest trade in Toronto Raptors history, sending a package highlighted by fan favourite DeMar DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs for MVP candidate Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. With the Raptors and Spurs set to meet for the first time this season Thursday in San Antonio, it’s a good time to take a look at how each team has fared since the blockbuster deal.
The Raptors carry a 28-11 record into Thursday’s game, an identical mark from last season. But the Leonard trade was made with an eye toward the playoffs, where, save for 2016 when the Raptors made the Conference Finals, the team underperformed in the DeRozan era.
The Spurs are 21-17 through 38 games this year, four games worse than their 26-12 mark of a season ago. But that comparison is not entirely fair because Leonard played in only nine games for the Spurs last year, battling a season-long quad injury.
Leonard has fit in well with the Raptors on offence this season, with the 27-year-old averaging a career-best 27.3 points per game. But his defensive numbers have taken a hit. While the two-time Defensive Player of the Year is averaging a career-high 8.2 rebounds per game, his defensive rating is a career-worst 107.4 and his is plus-5.2 rating this year is 0.7 lower than his mark over seven seasons in San Antonio.
While Leonard was the headliner last July, Green has also proven to be a significant addition to the Raptors’ lineup. Green has started all 38 games in DeRozan’s old spot this season and is averaging 9.5 points per game, his highest total since the 2014-15 season. Green is also known for his defensive chops and his numbers on the other side of the court are on par with his Spurs’ totals. Green’s 101.6 defensive rating this season is less than a point off his All-Defensive Second Team 2017 season rating of 100.7.
Switching over to San Antonio, DeRozan has started all 38 games for the Spurs this season and leads the team in both points and assists. At 22.9 points per game, DeRozan’s offence is on par with his final seasons at Toronto, while his 6.3 assists per game are a career-high.
Jakob Poeltl, who had developed into a useful bench piece for the Raptors last season, was also shipped to San Antonio alongside DeRozan, where he’s picked up a similar role. The 23-year-old is averaging 5.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in 15.4 minutes per game.
The Raps also sent their first-round pick this coming spring to the Spurs in the deal.