Sources: Leonard frustrated, wants to leave Spurs
Kawhi Leonard wants out of San Antonio and could request a trade from the Spurs, sources told the San Antonio Express-News on Friday.
Months of frustration involving the team’s handling of Leonard’s right quadriceps injury — which cost him all but nine games last season — and the team’s lack of support when Leonard sought a second opinion about the injury are partly to blame for the deterioration of what many in the NBA deemed a successful partnership.
Now it seems the relationship between the Spurs and Leonard, 26, has reached a point where even a “supermax” extension, which the Spurs could offer on July 16, will not come to the rescue.
If Leonard is traded, he will no longer be eligible for a supermax contract — a five-year deal worth $219 million. Leonard is currently in the last year of his deal, which would pay him more than $18 million for the 2018-19 season.
Sources told the ExpressNews that Leonard and his representatives have been in contact with team officials over the last few days, but he has yet to meet with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
Spurs general manager R.C. Buford did not respond to a request for comment Friday when contacted by the Express-News.
If Leonard does become available, sources say he has preferred destinations, including the Lakers, who many around the league believe to be at the top of that list. The 76ers could also make a play for Leonard. 76ers head coach Brett Brown, a former Spurs assistant coach, has a relationship with the two-time Defensive Player of the Year.
ESPN reported that the Celtics made an offer for Leonard around last season’s trade deadline, but the Spurs declined.
On March 7, after weeks of silence following a “return to injury management” stint, Leonard was asked if he wants to finish his career as a Spur. “Yeah,” he said. “For sure.” That, it turns out, might not have been the case.
Leonard is instead seeking a change of scenery, even though many league sources do not expect the Spurs to rush a decision to make him available in trade talks. Popovich still could attempt to meet with Leonard in hopes he can convince the face of the franchise to remain with the team — the same way he talked forward LaMarcus Aldridge out of his trade request last summer.
“Pop has the power to correct any perceived deficiencies that Kawhi may have,” a league executive told the ExpressNews. “Pop, being in the position that he’s in, can address the issues in a way that perhaps no other coach in the league could because he has both coach and president position.”
In the nine games Leonard played last season, he averaged 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists. He recorded a season-high 25 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals in helping the Spurs beat the New York Knicks 100-91 on Jan. 2.
The Spurs initially traded point guard George Hill for Leonard’s rights in 2011 after he was selected 15th overall by the Pacers. Leonard still has two years remaining on a fiveyear, $94 million deal he signed with the team in 2015.
Behind the scenes, Leonard has returned to the San Diego area to continue rehabbing his right quadriceps tendinopathy injury. He also continues to see medical staff in New York and expects to be healed and ready for the start of training camp.
“He’s about 96, 97 percent,” a source told the ExpressNews.