The air in Las Vegas was thick with the murmurs. Kawhi Leonard for DeMar DeRozan. A gamble for Toronto. A salvage job for San Antonio.
Reporters normally on their way out of Las Vegas toward the end of Summer League were sticking around because Spurs general manager R.C. Buford wasn't going anywhere. What the top-rate Spurs front office did next was the next big story of the summer.
The Thunder gambled trading for Paul George and ended up winning. Did the Raptors see a similar path in dealing DeRozan to get Leonard?
Even after a four-game sweep by the Cavaliers and the brilliant LeBron James in the second round of the playoffs, Toronto could have ran back the same squad with justification.