Spurs send Leonard to Raptors for DeRozan

The Kawhi Leonard saga in San Antonio is over.

So is DeMar DeRozan's time in Toronto.

The Spurs sent Leonard to the Raptors on Wednesday as part of a four- player deal that has DeRozan heading to San Antonio. The Spurs also got center Jakob Poeltl and a 2019 protected first- round draft pick, while the Raptors acquired sharpshooter Danny Green.

For Leonard and the Spurs, there's finally closure to a relationship that seemed fractured beyond repair and played out like a soap opera as the season went along.

But in the end, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich — insisting that looking back at what happened would not be worth his time, and that Leonard was a good teammate throughout his tenure in San Antonio — simply said he hopes the move works out for everyone involved.

"Kawhi, obviously, worked very hard to become the player he is," Popovich said in San Antonio, a couple of hours after the trade became official. "Our staff worked very hard to help him get there. We wish him all the best as he moves on to Toronto. I think he's going to be great."

Leonard was the 2014 NBA Finals MVP and had been with the Spurs for seven seasons, averaging 16.3 points, though he was limited to just nine games last season because of a leg injury. DeRozan has been in the league for nine years, all of them with Toronto, and is a career 19.7 point- pergame scorer.

DeRozan has led the Raptors in scoring in each of the last five seasons.

He was key to Toronto winning 59 games and securing Kawhi Leonard, who was limited to just nine games last season because of a leg injury, can become a free agent next summer.

the No. 1 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs last season. But after getting swept in the second round by

Cleveland, the Raptors decided massive changes were necessary — first the firing of coach of the year Dwane Casey, and now the trading of a perennial All-Star who once famously declared "I am Toronto."

DeRozan's initial reaction seemed to be one of anger and frustration.

"Ain't no loyalty in this game," DeRozan wrote in an Instagram story that appeared in the wee hours of Wednesday, around the time that ESPN and Yahoo Sports reported that the trade was approaching the imminent stage, several hours before it was finalized. "Sell you out quick for a little bit of nothing ... ."

DeRozan did not specifically reference the trade in that post, but his message didn't exactly need translation.

Raptors president Masai Ujiri has been traveling in Africa and was not immediately available for comment.

Leonard hasn't played since January because of the somewhat mysterious right quadriceps injury — and the level of severity was something that even some of his now-former teammates reportedly questioned last season while San Antonio was trying to qualify for the Western Conference playoffs.

The Raptors clearly aren't worried about Leonard's status, and Popovich indicated Wednesday that Leonard has recovered sufficiently enough to play.

Leonard can be a free agent next summer. When he asked the Spurs for a trade weeks ago, it was made clear that he wants to play for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Lakers guard Lonzo Ball had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Tuesday.

The team said he is expected to be fully recovered by the start of training camp in September.