Leonard might want Lakers, but could Spurs get better deal?
Kawhi Leonard has made the San Antonio Spurs more dysfunctional than the New York Knicks. At least for now.
The disgruntled and aloof Leonard has turned the so-called gold standard of NBA franchises on its head by reportedly asking for a trade. Those weren’t Leonard’s words because Leonard never speaks.
In all likelihood this is coming from “Kawhi’s camp” because all NBA superstars must have a camp: those behind-the-scenes folks who never hold the player accountable but instead blame everyone else.
All we ever hear is “you don’t know the whole story” from Leonard’s people. Well, Leonard had all year to explain his actions or non-actions, but he passed on that opportunity.
Of course, neither Leonard nor the Spurs are blameless here. Leonard appeared in nine games last season, spent much of his time rehabbing a quad injury in New York and didn’t even bother to attend any of the Spurs’ five playoff games.
His shocking behavior was mostly given a pass because Leonard was always viewed as the quiet, unassuming professional who played for the lovable, small-market Spurs and their gruff, left-leaning, can-do-no-wrong head coach, Gregg Popovich.
Just imagine the uproar if LeBron James basically stayed away from his team for most of the season as everyone was led to believe he was healthy enough to play. Or Kobe Bryant.
Kristaps Porzingis took heat for spending all of last summer training in Latvia, for crying out loud.
Spurs veteran point guard Tony Parker did publicly call out Leonard for making a slow recovery. It was a revealing comment that blew the lid off this charade. And in the grand scheme of things, it probably didn’t help mend a strained relationship, much less a strained quad.
Nor was the healing process aided when stories surfaced that painted Leonard and only Leonard as the bad guy. Those stories weren’t being leaked by Leonard’s camp, so who would want that information out there?
Of course, the obvious answer is the Spurs. Let’s assume that’s the case here. It would seem only fair that there would be an investigation to determine the source of the leak. If we’re going to investigate year-old tweets from burner accounts linked to former Philadelphia 76ers President Bryan Colangelo, why wouldn’t harmful information about Leonard spark similar outrage?
That’s a story for another day. For now, we’ll focus on Leonard, who reportedly would prefer to be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. A source familiar with the Spurs’ thinking — don’t bother investigating because I’ll take his/her name to the grave — confirms that the Spurs can get a better package from the Boston Celtics or the Sixers.
Celtics President Danny Ainge is always thinking big, so Boston is obviously in play. If I’m the Spurs, I’m asking for Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward, but not Kyrie Irving. Great player but he’s got a bum knee and he’ll be a free agent next summer. Brown, a big talent and mature beyond his years, is on a rookie contract, while Hayward is under contract.
The Sixers want in, and you’d have to believe the Knicks would be interested. A source close to Leonard — again, don’t bother asking — told me in February that Leonard enjoyed his time living in South Orange, N.J., and would not be opposed to a move to New York. That would include both teams in town, the Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets. But neither has enough unless the Knicks move Porzingis and future picks.
So much for that rebuilding narrative, right?
Don’t rule out the Miami Heat or even the Los Angeles Clippers, but the smart money says it will be the Lakers because in a players’ league it is the employees who run the asylum. Irving forced his way out of Cleveland last summer and found a favorable landing spot.
Two years ago, Kevin Durant took advantage of his free agency to leave a contender and join the 73-win Golden State Warriors. Now, Leonard is calling the shots, and in a couple of weeks James will be a free agent and likely on the move to the Lakers.
Former NBA player Andrew Bogut recently tweeted that not only will another super team be formed but the process had already started. Sounds as if Bogut might be on to something.