Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri has spent several years building the team into one of the league's elite, and it's thanks in large part to his ability of retaining big stars like Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.
Ujiri was able to prove that the Raptors are capable of keeping and/or landing top-tier players, despite the ongoing theory that NBA superstars don't want to play in Canada. Lowry and DeRozan both re-signed with the Raptors on two different occasions, rather than seek a trade or test free agency.
Of course, DeRozan was sent to the San Antonio Spurs (along with Jakob Poeltl and a 2019 first-round pick) for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. The risk, however, is that Leonard only has one year left on his contract and could leave next summer. And so, many already believe Leonard has no interest in staying with Toronto.
But during a press conference on Monday, Ujiri introduced Leonard and made it clear that the "nobody wants to play in Toronto" perception is now done with.
"The narrative of not wanting to come to this city is gone," Ujiri said, via Stan Temming of Yahoo Sports. "We should move past that. Believe in this city. Believe in yourselves."
As a member of the Raptors, Leonard is not just playing for the city of Toronto, but for the entire country of Canada. He'll be admired and beloved all across the country, and he's playing on a team that led the East with 59 wins last season.
Oh, and the Raptors are t he only team that can offer Leonard the five-year super max contract. So if he really does come to love the city of Toronto and opts to re-sign rather than test free agency, Ujiri will have put the naysayers into silence for good.