Kawhi Leonard 'excited' to be with Raptors and for what's next

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Kawhi Leonard is a Toronto Raptor.

We now, finally, have definitive proof.

Just over two months since the Raptors acquired the former NBA Finals MVP from the San Antonio Spurs, along with Danny Green, for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a first-round draft pick, Leonard put on team gear, posed for pictures and met with the media at the Scotiabank Arena on Monday morning.

Leonard, famously quiet, was all smiles while up at the podium alongside Green and team president Masai Ujiri, unexpectedly cracked a joke and said he was happy about the move north.

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“Excited, knowing I’m coming to a great organization and a great city that loves basketball,” Leonard said of his initial reaction to the deal.

“I want to play here. I came here with an open mind, I want to do great things,” he said, but did not elaborate on what comes next. He will become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

“If you look toward the future, you’re going to trip over the present,” Leonard said, somewhat philosophically.

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Ujiri said the Raptors will not “over-sell” Leonard and was adamant that Toronto is a great city, the Raptors – about to field the most expensive team in franchise history – are aiming for championships, and that the narrative about “selling” players on Toronto and the Raptors belongs in the past.

“The narrative of not wanting to come to this city is gone, believe in yourselves,” Ujiri said, noting afterward that Leonard remarked to him about how beautiful Toronto is.

Leonard was only in the Spurs lineup for nine games last season, but pronounced himself healthy and ready to roll.

“Right now I’m feeling great, ready to play basketball,” Leonard said.

He also expressed “no regrets” with how his time as one of the best players in San Antonio history ended. “I have no regrets, but I want to focus on on this team and this journey that we have in front of us.”

Green, who added some needed levity to the proceedings with a number of jokes, cracked that the Drake OVO jerseys sold him on being a Raptor.

New head coach Nick Nurse and Ujiri said they have not spoken to incumbent star Kyle Lowry much (or at all) since DeRozan was dealt away but Ujiri said Lowry would be “all-business.”

Up at the podium later in the morning, Lowry would not bite on whether his opinions of Ujiri or the franchise have changed, repeatedly saying the NBA is a business and one he is well aware of, having been dealt in the past.

“I understand the business, I come to work,” Lowry said. “I always ride or die for my teammates,” he said, adding that his relationship with DeRozan is “bigger than basketball.”

He said he’ll get to know Leonard and is excited about the possibilities, goes way back with Green – since they played against each other many times as youths coming up on the New York/Philadelphia basketball scene, and has only one goal in mind: “Trying to win a gold ball (championship).”

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rwolstat@postmedia.com