Leonard’s future adds drama to off-season
Some big names could be on the move and there are coaching vacancies that need to be filled
CLEVELAND — The NBA off-season has arrived, which means nothing will happen for the next four months other than a draft, three summer leagues, free agency, the creation of a new schedule, coaching hires, trades, roster reworkings and possibly movement toward letting high school graduates jump directly into the league again.
It all adds up to very little downtime.
There is no shortage of questions about what will happen this summer — leading off, of course, with yet another decision to be made by LeBron James about his future and where he’ll play next season as he resumes his quest for more championships.
Here are some non-James topics heading into the off-season:
KAWHI LEONARD
The mystery of the 2017-18 NBA season is the mystery of the off-season as well. Leonard played in only nine games for the Spurs this season while dealing with a leg injury, the specifics of which are a closely guarded secret even by San Antonio’s notoriously tightlipped standards. He could get a supermax deal, he could get traded, he might still be hurt. But the Spurs — and the league — need answers, because he can change a lot of directions in a hurry.
COACHES
The vacancies in Detroit and Toronto should be filled soon. The Pistons might be best-served to hire Dwane Casey, who led the Raptors to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference this season. This is a crucial hire for the Raptors, since whoever will be calling the shots next season will have a team that should be good enough to contend for the East title.
THE DRAFT
Arizona centre Deandre Ayton will likely go No. 1 to Phoenix, which makes sense on a lot of levels. The intrigue really starts there. Does Vlade Divac use the No. 2 overall pick and bring Luka Doncic, the young Slovenian who has been talked about as a can’tmiss NBA star for some time, to Sacramento? What does Atlanta do at No. 3? Inevitably, someone will move up on draft night and that probably means an established player (or players) will be on the move.
OFFICIATING
The NBA knows fans, players and coaches aren’t thrilled with the level of officiating in the league right now. This will absolutely be a big topic — maybe the primary topic — when the board of governors meet in Las Vegas next month. Also, there will be a challenge-flag-type item tinkered with during summer league games; it won’t be a red cloth like in the NFL, but the concept will be the same as the league studies whether something like that should be added.
CHRIS PAUL AND PAUL GEORGE
The futures of Chris Paul and Paul George will probably have some impact on whatever James decides to do this summer — or vice versa. Paul wants a max contract, and if his hamstring didn’t pop late in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals he and the Houston Rockets may very well have been in the NBA Finals. George seemed to be hinting that he could stay in Oklahoma City, but is a Los Angeles native. It seems likely that either, or both, would try to align with James — but how?