All-Star DeMar DeRozan unhappy with Kawhi Leonard trade, but can Spurs smooth it over?

Sam Amick | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Spurs and Raptors swap superstars in Leonard and DeRozan Sports Pulse: USA TODAY Sports' Jeff Zillgitt breaks down the blockbuster trade between San Antonio and Toronto.

If all goes according to San Antonio’s plans, this will work out just fine.

DeMar DeRozan will work through the hurt and frustration that came with being shipped out of Toronto in exchange for Kawhi Leonard, forge a strong relationship with Gregg Popovich & Co., then go to work winning games for one of the best teams in the West. That part is inevitable, right, if only because DeRozan has two guaranteed years left on his contract and really no other choice?

Well, not exactly.

As the Spurs were reminded through the sordid Leonard saga that led to the NBA’s latest mid-summer blockbuster deal, the personal dynamics always matter when it comes to team building. It wasn’t long ago Leonard was telling the world he planned to be in a “Spurs jersey for life,” and next thing you know there was this bizarre season in which Leonard’s quadriceps injury sparked a great divide between the two sides and, ultimately, this franchise-altering move.

So the reality that DeRozan, a four-time All-Star, is not only angry at the Raptors for the way they doubled back on their word but also unhappy about joining the Spurs, is no small thing. And talk about timing: DeRozan and Leonard are on the list of players invited to the Team USA training camp at UNLV next Wednesday through Friday, with none other than Popovich himself coaching the national team for the very first time. It’s unclear if DeRozan will attend, but Leonard was considered likely to attend before this deal went down.

As NBA personalities go, the 28-year-old DeRozan is as measured and mature as they come. But he’s also a top-tier player in his prime who has every reason to be furious.

Just two years ago, DeRozan had a choice to make: Stay with the Raptors, who drafted him ninth overall out of USC in 2009 and made him the face of their franchise, or flirt with other suitors like the Lakers who were hoping to lure him south of the border. He chose the former at the very start of the free-agency period, agreeing to a five-year deal (with a player option in the fifth season) that said everything about his level of commitment to Toronto. Now just about the time the Raptors’ future was looking bright again, with their arch nemesis, LeBron James, headed West to join the Lakers and Toronto coming off a franchise-record 59-win regular season, DeRozan’s incredible run there is over.

The specifics of DeRozan’s ire toward the Raptors aren’t hard to understand. Not only was he told at Las Vegas summer league earlier this month that he wouldn’t be traded, but that message – according to a person with knowledge of the talks – came at the very same time and location where the Raptors were gathering intelligence on Leonard for this eventual deal. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity surrounding the situation.

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For the Spurs’ part, this is déjà vu during a post-Tim Duncan era that gets stranger and more conflict-ridden by the year. First it was big man LaMarcus Aldridge expressing his discontent last summer, making it known he would prefer to be traded before doing an about-face. He mended fences with Popovich, then signed an extension in October 2017.

Spurs assistant coach Ime Udoka had a positive influence on the situation during that time. He had a strong relationship with Aldridge that aided the cause. He may be key again this time, too, considering Popovich and DeRozan are known to have no prior relationship. Not only did Udoka play against DeRozan during the final two years of his career, but they routinely worked out together at Loyola Marymount during the 2011 NBA lockout and grew closer during that process. What's more, Udoka is on Popovich's Team USA staff as an assistant and would have a chance to re-connect with DeRozan if he takes part in the national team camp.

Coach Popovich addresses the media after today's trade. pic.twitter.com/dzl6dlwUI8 — San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) July 18, 2018

Just about the time the Aldridge situation was being smoothed over, the Spurs’ relationship with Leonard went sideways. And a little more than a month after his associates made it known he wanted out, here we are.

The Spurs are shooting 50% from the field in this category, their immediate future hinging on the question of whether they can hit this shot. Young center Jakob Poeltl might turn out to be a fine rotation player who they're happy to have landed from Toronto, and the top-20 protected 2019 first-round pick they also received could yield a good player as well. But this trade, for better or worse, was about replacing one All-Star with another.

Convince DeRozan that there’s a San Antonio chapter to be written in his already-impressive story, and one of the league’s best franchises will have found a way yet again to keep this run of success rolling. Fail on that front, and this deal might go down as nothing short of a disaster.

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