Raptors coach describes ‘great’ first meeting with Kawhi Leonard

If Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse is to be believed, it certainly sounds like Kawhi Leonard is warming up to the prospect of playing for the team.

Nurse said that his first meeting with Leonard last weekend went “great” and management ultimately had to “drag us out of there” after the two became so engaged in discussion.

“I’d never talked to him before. I don’t think I’m alone in that. So you get a perception of him,” Nurse said, via Dave Feschuk of The Star. “I’ll be honest with you. I kind of went in there thinking, ‘What if he doesn’t say anything? What am I going to do?'”

Instead, Nurse says he got a very engaged Leonard who “lit up like a Christmas tree” when the coach began diagramming plays and schemes.

“I sat down and said, ‘Do you have any questions?’ And he started firing them,” Nurse said. “And it just led us to a really easygoing (conversation). Not what I was expecting. Very smart. Very intelligent. Very engaging. Really enjoyed it … (Management) had to drag us out of there in the end because they had to go do something else. But it was great.

“We could have gone forever. (Raptors management) kept knocking on the door and I was like, ‘A couple more minutes.’ Because we were really into it. It was fun to listen to his take. He asked me, ‘How are you going to use me? Where are you going to get me the ball? What do you see?’ And I told him, ‘Listen. To me, you can do pretty much everything. You can post. You can drive. You can handle it up the floor. You can play screen and roll. You can come off pindowns.’ I said, ‘Did I miss anything?’ He’s like, ‘No, that’s about it.’ I said, ‘You’ll probably be doing all that stuff.'”

Reports said that Leonard was initially not at all pleased to be traded to Toronto — so displeased, in fact, he was willing to take some drastic measures to avoid suiting up. It appears that he’s stepped back, thought things through, and is getting along with his new coach and prepared to make the best of his new home. That’s great news for the Raptors and their fans.