Leonard seeking trade from Spurs, several reports say

Kawhi Leonard’s time with the San Antonio Spurs may soon be over.

A person familiar with the situation says Leonard has told the Spurs that he would like to be traded this summer, the clearest sign yet that the relationship between the team and the All-Star is in disrepair.

The person said Leonard has decided that he is “unhappy with the situation” in San Antonio. The person spoke with The Associated Press on Friday on condition of anonymity because neither the player nor the team commented publicly.

Yahoo Sports and the San Antonio Express-News first reported Leonard’s hope for a trade.

The Lakers have long been among his preferred destinations, if not the preferred destination, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing sources not authorized to speak publicly. Leonard, who was born in Los Angeles, went to high school in Riverside County before playing college basketball at San Diego State.

While interested in the Spurs star, so far the Lakers haven’t had any trade discussions about Leonard. It’s also unclear if the Spurs would be willing to trade Leonard to the Lakers or to any team at all. If they are, other teams might have more significant assets to offer, especially given that the Lakers do not have a lottery pick this year. They will select 25th in next week’s draft, a pick they got in a trade with the Cavaliers.

Leonard played in only nine game with the Spurs this past season because of a leg injury — officially described as right quadriceps tendinopathy, and the Spurs listed him as out on their injury reports for much of the year citing “injury management.” In the 2016-17 season, he averaged a career-best 25.5 points and was third in the MVP voting.

Leonard is due just over $20 million next season, and can become a free agent in the summer of 2019. It’s unclear if the Spurs will go ahead and try to trade him, or if the team will try to patch things up with the 2014 NBA Finals MVP and two-time NBA defensive player of the year.

There were signs of strain in the relationship this past season while Leonard was sidelined.

The Spurs were reduced to giving only cryptic answers about Leonard’s status. While San Antonio was in the playoffs, losing in the first round to eventual repeat champion Golden State, Leonard was rehabbing in New York — which meant that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, when asked about the situation, deferred all comment to “Kawhi and his group.”

Teammates also were tightlipped about Leonard’s situation all season.

Honors: Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson will receive the NBA’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the NBA Awards on June 25. Robertson, the career leader with 181 triple-doubles and the first player to average one for a season, was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 1961, was MVP in 1964 and won a championship with Milwaukee in 1971. The guard was a nine-time selection to the All-NBA first team and was voted one of the league’s 50 greatest players.