[Arthur] The player option in the 2nd year of the extension, meanwhile, is not seen as an escape hatch, per sources familiar with negotiations. When James Harden exercised his player option in Cleveland this summer, it was to maximize the team’s financial flexibility: that resulted in Peyton Watson
At 35, Kawhi took about \(5.5-million less than he could have under the CBA, and had already waived his 15 per cent trade kicker, which would have increased this year’s salary by almost \)7.5 million; if you know Kawhi, or if you have paid cursory attention to his affection for money, you know Kawhi giving back \(18 million without an under-the-table deal is not a small thing. Besides, the Raptors would have owed Brandon Ingram over \)40 million each of the next two seasons; $57.5 million isn’t too much more.
The player option in the second year of the extension, meanwhile, is not seen as an escape hatch, per sources familiar with the negotiations. When James Harden exercised his player option in Cleveland this summer, it was to maximize the team’s financial flexibility: that resulted in a deal for restricted free agent Peyton Watson. Kevin Durant has a player option in Houston next summer, and could do the same thing. That’s what the Kawhi player option, as imagined, is intended to do for Toronto.
It’s a sea change, in many ways. These Raptors are still relatively young, with only three players over the age of 27; as Kyle Lowry’s appreciation weekend recently highlighted, the 2019 Raptors were a veteran crew. In 2018-19 there was an understandable urgency to every aspect of the Kawhi experience, with his free agency looming; this time there is a sense of comfort with the front office, and a sense in the Raptors organization that Kawhi is more at peace. it’s the difference between a negotiation, and a partnership.
So now you can daydream about a defensive demon lineup of Jamal Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter, Kawhi, Scottie Barnes, and Collin Murray-Boyles. You can get excited by a huge lineup of Immanuel Quickley, R.J. Barrett, Kawhi, Scottie, and Jakob Poeltl. You can wonder how the Raptors might upgrade if this team looks like a contender in the crowded East, and you can appreciate that even if Kawhi’s legendary efficiency erodes over the length of this contract, it will be in the context of a team whose young players could improve.