With two NBA titles, Leonard can do whatever he wants, wherever he wants
Toronto, plus hometown teams in LA, all in mix
Kawhi Leonard has earned the right to take his sweet time. This one isn’t easy.
Now that every other major free agency domino has fallen, Leonard has a choice to make. He could try to run it back with the Raptors in an Eastern Conference without a clear favorite. He could form a superteam with LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the Lakers. Or he could take the reins of a toughnosed Clippers squad and try to make it on his own, again.
Whatever he decides, Leonard is in the rare position to call his own shot, on his own terms, with practically nothing for his critics to use against him. He has checked all the boxes. Now it’s Leonard’s time to make a move.
That’s what happens when you lift a snakebit franchise to heights unimaginable. Leonard validated Masai Ujiri’s bold move to trade DeMar DeRozan, the face of his franchise, for a player who might very well leave for sunnier skies this month. Leonard allowed for his teammates to shine, for former New Mexico State star Pascal Siakam to morph into the league’s Most Improved Player, for Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet to step up under pressure, for the Raptors to take the whole thing home.
“He’s always been that guy you can look at when something’s going bad, and he’s always got that calm demeanor,” Siakam said after Game 3 of the Finals. “It kind of gives you a peace, knowing that it’s gonna be OK. I feel like that every time I’m on the floor with him.”
The Clippers and Lakers want a piece of that peace. They have the hometown advantage. Leonard was born and raised in Los Angeles and played college ball at San Diego State. If hooping in the sunshine minutes away from the beach is what he wants, he has earned the right to go get it. No one can question that.
Leonard is as private a public figure as there is. Hoisting that “Larry O.B.” championship trophy is what matters most to him. He has been immune from the dialogue that has tainted the way Kevin Durant is perceived. Leonard won a championship in San Antonio, then won one after being traded. Durant left a successful but title-less team to join one of the greatest-constructed rosters in NBA history.
Some of that rhetoric will swirl around Leonard if he chooses to form a superteam on the Lakers. Joining James and Davis would break basketball, forming the most decorated Big 3 in the history of basketball. The MVP-laden team would spend the regular season picking on the rest of the league. Months after a wild free agency sent top talent from coast-tocoast, Leonard’s decision could redirect the conversation toward a question of parity.
The difference is, Leonard would be coming off of a championship, and would be the best player on the team, and would be joining two players whose teams missed the playoffs last season. Leonard might become the third option on such an overloaded team, but he’s already shown he doesn’t need co-superstars in order to win. And James has just three more seasons on his contract. By then, Leonard will be 31 and Davis will be 29. The Lakers could be his for a generation.
If Leonard were to join the Clippers, he would return to his hometown on a team he could call his own today, not years down the line. Durant and Irving just consciously chose to join the perceived little brother franchise in New York City. Leonard could choose to do the same, and it would ensure the league’s top talent is evenly spread across the conference. But do Leonard’s Clippers instantly become championship contenders? Lou Williams is the only player on the roster to ever receive All-Star consideration. The Clippers, though, proved last season they don’t need stars to be competitive. They stole two games in the first round against the mostly healthy Warriors, and will have cap flexibility going forward.
And then, of course, there’s a return to Toronto, possibly on a two-year deal, maybe even longer. If money matters, the Raptors can offer him a five-year, $190 million max contract. Leonard could commit to a long-term future up north, on a stacked Raptors team that he could call his own. The two-time Finals MVP David Fizdale once compared to a robot actually became human in the public eye in Toronto. He laughed. He smiled. He showed emotion. He became a fun guy. And most importantly, he took Toronto to their wildest dreams and fulfilled what mattered most to him: Winning a championship.
Wherever he goes, Leonard will be the last major domino piece to fall in this year’s studded free-agency class. The NBA has never seen a decision like the one he’s about to make. After all, Leonard destroyed the Heat dynasty in 2014, then dismantled Golden State’s championship run in June. Superteams are typically formed by players who haven’t been able to get over the hump on their own. Leonard has made a made a living as the insurmountable hump himself.
That’s why he’ll be as patient as he wants while deciding where he wants to win and what he wants his career to look like. Leonard will wait until he’s good and ready to make the most important decision of his life. At the very least, he’s earned that right.