Kawhi Leonard Will Find It 'Hard' To Turn Down Toronto: Danny Green

Danny Green believes the city of Toronto may win Kawhi Leonard over with just a year remaining on his contract.

Both Leonard and Green will remain teammates as they were traded by the San Antonio Spurs earlier this summer to the Toronto Raptors in a deal that saw DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a protected 2019 first-round pick go the other way.

It was well-documented though, that Leonard wanted a move back to his native Los Angeles with the Lakers being the favorites. But with a year remaining on his deal, the Spurs demanded too much as the Lakers will ideally look to sign the 2014 NBA Finals MVP next summer when he can become an unrestricted free agent.

It is why despite Raptors president Masai Ujiri's hopes of persuading Leonard to stay beyond 2019, many believe he made an extremely risky deal in trading for what could just be a one-year rental, especially as the franchise parted with their star player in DeRozan to acquire him.

However, Green feels the charm of Toronto may play a big role in Leonard's decision making.

"I don’t know where his mind is at for the future. I can’t predict or tell you," he said on his "Inside the Green Room" podcast Tuesday. "I can just tell you that the city of Toronto is gonna be hard to turn down after being there."

"I’ve been going every summer for the past 10-plus years. It’s a great city and the fans are amazing. … I’m getting a great amount of feedback, a great amount of love and all types of different stuff from the fans. So it’s gonna be tough for him to turn down," he said.

Green's comments will come as good news for Raptors fans, especially after recent positive developments such as Leonard reportedly keeping an open mind about staying in Toronto (as per San Antonio Express News writer Jabari Young), while he has also purchased a home in the city, though that should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Leonard played in just nine games last season due to a quadriceps injury but is on the comeback trail ahead of the 2018/19 season.

The 28-year-old hasn't spoken much since wanting out of San Antonio, but Green revealed he's looking forward to the upcoming season and is feeling good.

"He asked me some questions about how I feel about [the trade] and I was like, 'It’s great, man. I love the situation,'" Green added. "[He] said his body looks good, said his body feels good. I’m looking forward to see how he comes out this year — everybody is, I’m sure — but I think he’s antsy. He said he’s been working out for two years."

"He’s played a little bit of one-on-ones here and there just to get in shape, get some contact in because he hasn’t played five-on-five much — he hasn’t played five-on-five for a while. But just to get some context, we played some twos with Toronto and some threes — well he didn’t play that — but we got some good workouts in, and then he gave me some good feedback. So right now, I think he’s just excited to play. It’ll be interesting to see," he said.