NBA Schedule 2018-19: When does Kawhi Leonard play the Spurs?

Kawhi Leonard will make his much anticipated epic return to the Spurs court on Jan. 3, before DeMar DeRozan gets revenge on the Raptors on Feb. 22.

Kawhi Leonard might have penned a letter thanking the San Antonio Spurs organization and its fans the other day on Twitter, but let’s keep it real for a second … public relations and genuine feelings (trade demand remorse) aside, Leonard will most likely be going for a new scoring record or dropping a triple-double when he returns to the AT&T Center on Jan. 3.

It’s only natural for any NBA player to make their former team shed a tear at the player they lost. Call it customary, a rite of passage for the traded player, regardless of demand.

This could be particularly true if the rumors are indeed correct that Kawhi was unhappy with the way organization handled his injury and little things like not getting premium travel options (read: private luxury cars) like other All-Stars.

Meanwhile, DeMar DeRozan has been more than vocal about his discontent over being traded (betrayed) and will likely put the Raptors through another Vince Carter-style return. For those who remember, VC dropped 39 points in his first return to Canada as a member of the Nets.

This led Raptor fans to weep as their booing only fueled the man to score point after point. Will Raptor fans again see a repeat when the Spurs visit Scotiabank Arena? The league will find out on Feb. 22, according to Yahoo Sports’ NBA Insider Shams Charania.

Questions remain, will Kawhi Leonard become a Raptor for life or is a move to Los Angeles just a season away? If Leonard were to move to the Lakers or Clippers, the Raptors would be left utterly devastated by their own creation.

They would have traded away their franchise player after reportedly promising not to do so, and had merely a one-year rental. Thus other free agents would think twice about signing with the Raptors and their contending hopes could be over.

On the other hand, if the Raptors were to make the Finals or even Eastern Conference Finals with Kawhi, the risk would be seen as all worth it.

Even if Leonard were to leave one season later, it would still be looked at in some manner as a worthy gamble in a newly LeBron-less Eastern Conference.

On the Spurs side of things, LaMarcus Aldridge and DeRozan might gel well on the court. Aldridge seemed to flourish without Leonard on the court. Whether that was due to coach Gregg Popovich’s new game plan or Leonard’s void is difficult to say for sure.

However, Leonard and Aldridge never seemed to have the best chemistry on the court. Even in the 2017 Western Conference Finals against the Warriors where Leonard was injured initially, Aldridge seemed to improve as the round went on, despite the elimination loss.

A change was likely needed for both to prosper individually.

It’s one of the stories that have gone under the radar, how will Spurs players like Aldridge and Manu Ginobili face off against Leonard? Ginobili definitely did not seem happy that his teammate was sitting out the playoffs last year as his career closes in on retirement.

Will he be the one to go on a scoring run? Spurs and Raptors fans will find out on Jan. 3 and Feb. 22.