The Toronto Raptors have interest in signing a big man for their 14th roster spot.

Greg Monroe is an option, according to sources. 

While Monroe wouldn't provide the Raptors their much needed rim protection, he is a gifted frontcourt scorer.

Monroe was traded by the Bucks to the Suns last November and finished last season with the Celtics.

Nick Nurse talked about his first meeting with Kawhi Leonard following his trade to the Toronto Raptors.

“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. “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?’ ”

Nurse was pleasantly surprised by how engaged Leonard was with him.

“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.”

Nurse and Leonard met for approximately 45 minutes.

“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,” Nurse said. “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.’ ”

The Toronto Raptors have hired Adrian Griffin, Sergio Scariolo, Nate Bjorkgren and Phil Handy as assistant coaches. The group will join Patrick Mutumbo, Jim Sann and Eric Khoury to form head coach Nick Nurse’s staff for the 2018-19 season.   

“Adrian, Sergio, Nate and Phil each bring something different to our staff and our team. They have a blend of experiences that will give our team a unique perspective,” Nurse said. “We’ve already had substantive conversations about where Raptors basketball is and where we intend to go, and we can’t wait to get to work in earnest.”

Griffin joins the Raptors following two seasons as an assistant coach with Oklahoma City (2016-18). In addition to the Thunder, Griffin has previous assistant coaching stints with Orlando (2015-16), Chicago (2010-15) and Milwaukee (2008-10). He began his coaching career as assistant coach/player development with the Bucks. During the summer of 2014, Griffin also worked with the USA Basketball Men’s National Team that captured the gold medal at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

Scariolo joins the Raptors following a successful coaching career in Europe that spans 20 years. Since 2009, he has led the Spanish National Team as head coach and guided the program to a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janerio. Spain has also won the FIBA Eurobasket tournament three times (2009, 2011 and 2015) under his watch.   

Bjorkgren joined the Raptors as an advance scout during the 2017-18 season following two seasons as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns (2015-17). Prior to joining the Suns, he had a successful tenure as a head coach in the NBA G League, amassing a 126-74 (.630) record in four seasons with the Bakersfield Jam (2014-15), Iowa Energy (2013-14), Santa Cruz Warriors (2012-13) and Dakota Wizards (2011-12). Bjorkgren was as an assistant coach on Nurse’s staff in Iowa from 2007-11, helping the Energy win the 2010-11 NBA G League Championship.

Handy joins the Raptors following five seasons (2013-18) with the Cleveland Cavaliers as director, player development/assistant coach, and two seasons (2011-13) as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Less than a week after his trade from the Toronto Raptors to the San Antonio Spurs, DeMar DeRozan sat down for an exclusive interview with Chris Haynes.

DeRozan was asked what the past week has been like following the trade.

"Man, it was a blur," said DeRozan. "It was a dream ... still kind of feel like a dream right now. But it's been tough having this roller coaster -- up and down -- just trying to get acclimated to changing teams."

DeRozan claimed Masai Ujiri told him he wouldn't be traded just a few days before the trade went through. Ujiri said there was a gap in communication.

"Um, no, because all summer through the talks we had -- through the talks he had with my agent -- you know, it seemed like I was in that discussion of moving forward with the team. My whole approach every summer was preparing, going out there and supporting the young guys at summer league, figuring out ways I can be better, make my team better, and that was the gist of the conversations we had with moving forward. Having the opportunity to do something special all over again, you know? So that was my mindset and everybody around me's mindset as well."

DeRozan never envisioned leaving Toronto.

"I was so mentally in this being my home. I took pride in the community. I took pride in everything when it came to Canada. Not even just Toronto, everything that came with Canada, wearing that Toronto Raptors jersey. That's why it was so tough and emotional for me when I first heard it because everybody knows what type of guy I am. It showed when I went out there and played. Whether it was for the good or for the bad, I took it like a man."

DeRozan was asked asked what the Spurs are getting in him.

"A guy that's been proven to prove himself time and time again -- this time around having the biggest chip on his shoulder ever."

Kawhi Leonard will skip the Team USA minicamp in Las Vegas next week.

Before Leonard's trade to the Toronto Raptors, he was expected to attend. Leonard possibly was going to use the event as a chance to showcase the status of his recovery.

Team USA is coached by Gregg Popovich.

Kawhi Leonard has passed his physical with the Toronto Raptors, which makes the trade with the San Antonio Spurs now official.

The Raptors agreed to acquire Leonard from the Spurs last week.

The San Antonio Spurs had a team meeting in March in which the status of Kawhi Leonard was discussed.

"Tony (Parker) quarterbacked the whole thing," said Michael C. Wright on The Lowe Post. "It was just more them trying to get a feel for when Kawhi might get back. 'Hey, we're about to make a playoff run. Do you have any idea of when you're going to be back?'

"Put yourself in Kawhi's shoes and you have your team coming at you like that, you're going to be a little taken aback by that, I believe. And in that meeting, Kawhi basically stood his ground.

"He was like, 'I'll be back when I'm ready to come back.'

"I had heard, for the aggregators who get ahold of this, I heard that Kawhi had said something about like 'I'll do anything for all you guys in this room, but not this organization.' That what I heard he had said. But he stood his ground.

"I also heard that during the meeting a lot of those guys were supportive."

The Boston Celtics appeared to be on the periphery of the Kawhi Leonard trade talks as they didn't have the type of package the San Antonio Spurs were looking for. 

While Boston wasn't prepared to offer any of their top-5 players, they were willing to part with some of their future draft picks from other teams.

"Rebuilding was just not going to be an option there," said Zach Lowe on his podcast. "They want to remain 'relevant', I think is the word that has been used. They want to remain in the playoff race. They just weren't going to consider offers that were heavy on draft picks and young players.

"And by the way, as all the reporting from this sort of trickled in, I think the Celtics offered most of their best draft picks. I don't think the Celtics just offered (and said) 'You could have a bunch of our picks.' I think some of the picks they're owed, at least two of the picks, if not all of them that they own from other teams, including the Kings, Grizzlies and Clippers. I think those were all in the deal.

"And the Spurs were like 'Nah, we don't want that.'"

The Spurs traded Leonard to the Toronto Raptors for a package centered on DeMar DeRozan.

Danny Green played most of the 17-18 season with a torn groin that went undiagnosed by the San Antonio Spurs' doctors.

Green knew he strained his groin in an early December game against the Boston Celtics, but the tear was discovered during his exit physical at the end of the season.

The Spurs traded Green in the Kawhi Leonard trade last week.

"I strained my groin first half, probably first or second quarter, trying to chase down and block a dunk," said Green. "It was stupid, because I was nowhere near close to getting the block. But that’s the competitive nature in me. And I wanted to go back in.

"But get an MRI next day. It’s a slight strain, take a couple weeks off. So, we do the rehab, do everything we’re supposed to do. And people – with a groin strain, it’s hard to tell between a groin and a sports hernia sometimes.

"So, after some time, it healed. Started to try to play again. It’s kind of certain days, I’d have bad days. Some days would be good. And I’d feel it.

"And they were like, “Maybe we should get it checked.” My agent: “Maybe you should get a second opinion.”

"I didn’t want to, because I have full faith and belief in the Spurs’ staff. They’ve always been great to me. They’ve always done right by me. They’ve always done a hell of a job.

"So, throughout the season, we’ve monitored it. But we never went back to check on it again, because so many other injuries have happened.

"I should have – I could have gotten a second opinion. So, I see where Kawhi is coming from when he’s got his second opinion. Because a lot of times, you’ll get information from outside sources.

"And not saying that the Spurs staff is not up to par. It’s just that everybody is a specialist in every area. So, it’s not like they’re a special in a groin area where a sports hernia may be. So, to go to a guy who may be in Philly to get a second opinion shouldn’t hurt.

"At the end of the season, regardless of that being said, at the end of the season, I come to find out is it could have happened that day or that playoff series against Golden State. But we don’t know. So, at the end of the season, I had to get another MRI, because you get your physicals, the exit physicals. The strain was still there, a little tear.

"Since then, I’ve been rehabbing it, basically. And now they’re passing the information on Toronto.

"But we don’t know how long I’ve been playing with this strain or how long this tear has happened, because we haven’t really circled back or focused on it that much because of some of the injury were happening throughout, whether it was the Achilles, dislocated finger. I had stitches in my face. Whatever it may be.

"Second opinion could have helped, but they did a great job. They did everything they could.

"But I think it would have been nice to see a specialist, just to see if there’s another angle, another view. Just because Kawhi and got a second opinion, you can’t knock him for that. Everybody should get a second opinion just to get another perspective, another angle, another view.

"Regardless of that, I’m working on it, trying to get healthy, because you can tell my play deteriorated toward the end of the season. It wasn’t the same. But, competitive nature, I didn’t want to leave the floor."

Jordan Brand will let Kawhi Leonard walk from his endorsement deal after he turned down a four-year, $22 million extension.

Leonard was seeking a bigger shoe deal.

Sources say most brand aren't worried about Leonard's health status as much as his prior lack of interest in endorsement deals and commercials.

Leonard has only Tweeted four times and doesn't have an Instagram account.

Leonard's status with the San Antonio Spurs has been one of the NBA's biggest stories but he has remained averse to speaking with the media.