TORONTO — You can never knock Darko Rajakovic for his enthusiasm. 

The Toronto Raptors head coach is perpetually caffeinated, in both the literal and figurative sense. 

So keep that in mind when he described his view on Kawhi Leonard finally putting on a Raptors uniform for the first time since he lifted the Finals MVP trophy over his head at Oracle Arena in June 2019. 

“It’s going to be super-important to get him with our guys on the court, to get him integrated and it’s very special that it’s happening here at home in front of our fans in Toronto and not some road game,” Rajakovic said before Leonard suited up Tuesday night for the third of the Raptors five exhibition games and the only one at Scotiabank Arena. “It’s a very special day for him. It’s a very special day for us. We’re super excited.” 

But in this instance, Rajakovic’s passion was properly placed. "Special" and "pre-season" normally don’t do well in the same sentence, but in this case it all fit.

Leonard’s debut — especially by pre-season standards — was absolutely exciting. The anticipation had been building. Leonard’s Raptors return has been something both the organization and the fan base were looking forward to since Toronto tried acquiring him from the Los Angeles Clippers on Jun 30th, only to have to wait for more than two months for the trade to be completed pending an NBA investigation into salary cap circumvention by the Clippers on behalf of Leonard. 

The delay in the trade set back Leonard’s readiness for training camp, so he sat out Toronto’s first two pre-season games for "reconditioning" purposes. 

But the wait was finally over as Leonard took the floor at Scotiabank Arena as a Raptor for the first time since Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals.

And the wait was worth it — almost like the last seven years never happened and Leonard remembered not only where the home dressing room was but all of his passwords too.

“It feels good, just being out there and playing a different opponent was great,” said Leonard after leading the Raptors to a dominating 148-98 win over the New York Knicks, improving the Raptors pre-season record to 2-1 with road games against the Knicks and Detroit Pistons to round out their schedule before they host the Chicago Bulls next Wednesday in the season-opener. “The crowd was involved … we came in and got focused on defence, that was my intention. I wanted to get out there and get tired — I still want to get in better shape — but it was fun to play.”

It was fun to watch. 

When Leonard left the Raptors, he was the best two-way player in the sport with two NBA championships and two Finals MVPs to prove it. 

Now? At 35, he's older and........

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