Getty Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors, who one analyst said gives the Raptors the best chance to beat the Warriors
With the Golden State Warriors presumably winning the Western Conference yet again, debates are heating up as to which teams in a LeBron-less Eastern Conference might pose a tough mismatch for the Golden State Warriors. On First Take, Stephen A. Smith brought up Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors as a team with the possible makeup to take down the reigning juggernaut Warriors.
Kawhi Leonard, Raptors best equipped to dethrone Warriors, says analyst
When asked on which team would be best suited to beat the Warriors, Smith replied:
“Right now if I had to pick at this particular moment, it would be the Toronto Raptors. I know that even though they’ve had a couple of games they should not have lost – there’s no question about that. I’ve been watching them, Nick Nurse has been very impressive as a coach, Masai has done an exceptional job of assembling their talent. They have experience, they have perimeter shooting, they have length, they have athleticism, they have depth, and they have somebody with the ability to close in Kawhi Leonard who is an experienced, championship-tested commodity. You take all of those into consideration and considering the way they go at it, I like them a lot.”
Looking at Smith’s rationale here, it is hard to disagree. Leonard, in particular, has always given the Warriors fits with his relentless defensive play paired up with his extremely efficient offensive outings. When with the Spurs, Leonard consistently bullied the Warriors and was a Zaza Pachulia cheap shot away from possibly knocking them off in the 2017 Western Conference Finals.
Leonard, in particular, shined in game one and was adept at disrupting passing lanes and stagnating the Warriors pass and cut happy offense. As soon as Leonard went down, the series took an entirely different turn and the Warriors were able to cruise to a relatively easy win. While Nick Nurse is far from the coach that Gregg Popovitch is (not a slight, just nobody comes close to Pop), the Raptors arguably boast a deeper lineup than a Kawhi Leonard Spurs team ever had. With a loaded bench to help keep Leonard, Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam fresh, the Raptors don’t give opponents any time to catch their breath with the stars off the court.
Kawhi Leonard Raptors Playoff Path
Essentially locked into the second seed in the Eastern Conference, the Raptors are currently slated to face off with the Brooklyn Nets who pose a somewhat dangerous matchup at the bottom of the conference. However, there is a ton of movement on the horizon in the six through eight seeds and the Raptors could also theoretically start off facing the Detroit Piston, Miami Heat, or Orlando Magic as well.
While the Nets have been quietly exciting and have a knack for playing their best in crunch time, the fact of the matter is that the Raptors are simply too good for any of these potential teams and none have any form of an answer for Kawhi Leonard.
From there, expect the Raptors to handily beat either the 76ers or whoever lands in the six seed before facing off with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the top-seeded Bucks. The Bucks offer one of the worst mismatches for any team in the NBA and the Raptors will need a massive effort out of Leonard in order to slow down one of the most potent offensive attacks in the league. Despite the Bucks holding a three games to one lead in the season series over the Raptors, Kawhi typically becomes a different beast in the playoffs and it will be interesting to see if they wind up using him extensively on the much taller Antetokounmpo.