LOS ANGELES — With the way things ended for the Raptors last year, no matter what happened, bitterness was never going to be a part of things. When a team wins a championship, it looks good on everybody.



With their excellent play, huge moments and behind-the-scenes leadership, Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green helped the Raptors win a title, putting to rest the notion that this was a joke of a franchise that was always going to be a pretender in a top-heavy league. Due to their play with Toronto, surrounded by a bundle of other players who expertly complemented their skill sets, Leonard reestablished himself as one of the best players in the league — maybe the best — and Green ended the notion that he was firmly on the decline as one of the league’s best role players.



If Leonard chose to remain a Raptor instead of going home to Los Angeles to play with the Clippers this summer, Green would have stayed in Toronto, too. Alas, things other than a...