Knicks must keep eye on Summer of Kawhi

The Summer of Kawhi has a head start on the Summer of LeBron.

Kawhi Leonard is expected to meet with the San Antonio Spurs in the not-sodistant future, assuming that he is medically cleared by his team of doctors. The Knicks should be paying close attention.

The most bizarre and unreported story of the NBA season involved Leonard, who four years ago outplayed LeBron James in the NBA Finals and was named Most Valuable Player of the series. The Spurs had their heir apparent to Tim Duncan. Or at least they thought they did.

This year, Leonard played in nine games and seemed to spend more quality time with his “group” rehabbing his quadriceps injury in Manhattan than he did with his teammates in San Antonio. Although the Spurs doctors had cleared Leonard to resume playing, Leonard’s group, including his own medical staff, advised him to continue rehabbing.

Not really sure why anyone would think it would be in the best interest of the Spurs to give their franchise player, who turns 27 in June, bad medical advice but if you want to believe that, have at it.

For years, the Spurs have been hailed as the gold standard of NBA franchises. But between trust issues, Leonard being detached from the team and Tony Parker questioning the severity of the injury, this was the most un-Spurs-like thing we’ve ever witnessed.

And there will be more plot twists in the coming weeks and months. The Spurs have the option this summer to offer Leonard the “super-max”: a five-year contract worth $219 million. If he were to be traded to another team, he would receive a substantially reduced salary, perhaps as much as $80 million over the length of what would be a four-year deal. Financially, it makes sense for Leonard to want to remain in San Antonio.

The Spurs, though, have a difficult decision on their hands. Do you invest the richest contract in franchise history for a player who didn’t exactly rush back to play this season and who has missed a ton of games over his career? In his first six seasons, Leonard missed 78 games. This year he was out 73. That’s nearly two full seasons of games missed in seven years.

“Don’t you have to sign him,” asks one rival executive. “From what I understand, he wants (Gregg) Popovich to lighten up a little with practice and tweak some things. The Spurs may not want to change their ways, but this is Kawhi Leonard we’re talking about.” A meeting between Leonard, Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford will either mend fences or lead to a high-profile divorce. One plausible option is to trade Leonard, which should be of interest to the Knicks.

Any deal for Leonard would have to include Kristaps Porzingis, whom the Spurs are said to be head over heels with, as well as a first-round pick. It’s a steep price, but the addition of Leonard plus available cap space in the summer of 2019 could dramatically alter the course of history for the starcrossed franchise.

The one major problem, of course, is that Porzingis is currently recovering from major knee surgery and his status for next season is uncertain. But with Manu Ginobili and Parker possibly retiring, perhaps the Spurs are thinking of playing the long game.

Leonard has enjoyed his time in New York and isn’t averse to playing in a major market. That should also interest the Brooklyn Nets since their general manager, Sean Marks, has a good relationship with Leonard’s New Jerseybased uncle/advisor. Of course, if a player like Leonard is available on the market, you know that Magic Johnson and the Lakers will make a push. Same with Pat Riley and the Miami Heat. Meanwhile, the Sixers and Celtics have the assets to satisfy the Spurs.

The Summer of Kawhi has arrived.