NBA Rumors: 2019 Most Improved Player Hardly Cares About Kawhi Leonard Departure

Kawhi Leonard opted to move to another team next NBA season after leading the Toronto Raptors to the 2019 NBA title. While it was something speculated as early as the summer of 2018, critics were left wondering why the two-time NBA champion decided to push through seeing how he was practically treated like a king in Toronto.

Regardless, all of this is water under the bridge and the Raptors are moving on. No one can erase the fact that they are the reigning NBA champions and that they will be one of the teams to watch next season. This is perhaps what 2019 NBA Most Improved Player Pascal Siakam was trying to get at when TMZ Sports caught up to him recently.

"We're still the champs right now, so I'm still enjoying that," Siakam said. "Imma figure out next season, next season."

Outside Leonard, the Raptors had a lot of players stepping up. Siakam is one of them, perhaps one of the overlooked factors that helped Toronto capture its first-ever NBA title. Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet and Marc Gasol will be back next NBA season alongside Siakam as they try to make it back-to-back titles. But with teams like the Los Angeles Clippers, Leonard’s new team, improving immensely, Toronto may find itself hard-pressed duplicating their feat.

There are some new additions to the Raptors fold like Terrence Davis, Dewan Hernandez, and Rondae Hollis Jefferson. Dragan Bender is reportedly someone on their radar as well. The names may not ring a bell now, although anyone from the new faces could shine if they fit into the system of head coach Nick Nurse. Similar to the 2018-19 NBA season, the Raptors could pull off a fast one. To recall, Toronto was not among the favorites last season with the team entering with a different kind of look.

Nurse is aware that losing Leonard is big. However, he said in an interview with ESPN that he cannot blame Kawhi for leaving. In fact, he says that it was something that he knew could happen.

"Got the text message and then got the news report quickly afterward. I'm not totally surprised. I think we all knew that [Leonard leaving] was a situation that could happen. He delivered big-time, played his heart out for us. We certainly are going to relish this championship for a long time. And we're going to stop celebrating it pretty soon,” Nurse said.

Looking ahead, Nurse knows a new challenge awaits the Raptors. With Leonard gone, he plans to expand the roles of other players in the fold and hopefully reap dividends once more.