Offseason starts with bang as Spurs’ Leonard wants out
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.
Leonard played in only nine games 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 careerbest 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 for the situation,
deferred all comment to “Kawhi and his group.”
Teammates also were tight-lipped about Leonard’s situation, even by Spurs standards. “He has to do what’s best for him,” Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge told USA Today Sports back in April.
All of Leonard’s nine appearances with the Spurs this season were prior to the All-Star break, none of them coming after Jan. 13. OSCAR ROBERTSON TO RECEIVE
LIFETIME AWARD >> Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson will be honored with the NBA’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the NBA Awards on June 25. Bill Russell won the award last year in the first season of the awards show.
NFL
RAIDERS SIGN DRAFT CHOICE KEY >> The Raiders signed third-round draft pick DE Arden Key, the club announced. Key was selected 87th overall by the Raiders in April’s draft. In three seasons (2015-17) at LSU, Key appeared in 31 games and made 28 starts for the Tigers, tallying 130 tackles (59 solo), including 26.5 for loss, 21 sacks, four passes defensed, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
COWBOYS’ IRVING SUSPENDED >> Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman David Irving was suspended for four games for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, the second straight year the pass rusher is facing a ban to start the season. The punishment announced by the league will not keep Irving from participating in training camp starting next month in California. The 24-year-old Irving’s fourgame suspension to start last season was for violating league policy on performance enhancers.
NHL
COYOTES TRADE DOMI >> The Arizona Coyotes have traded forward Max Domi to the Montreal Canadiens for Alex Galchenyuk in an exchange of young, talented players. The 23-yearold Domi had been one of the cornerstones of Arizona’s rebuilding project since the Coyotes selected him with the 12th overall pick in 2013. The son of former NHL tough guy Tie Domi, Max scored 18 goals and had 34 assists as a rookie in 2015-16, but his production has dipped the past two seasons.
The 24-year-old Galchenyuk has eclipsed 20 goals twice, including a career-high 30 in 2015-16. Galchenyuk had 19 goals and 32 assists last season. FORMER FLAMES OWNER DIES >> Sonia Scurfield, the former Calgary Flames owner and only Canadian woman to have her name engraved on the Stanley Cup, has died. She was 89. Born Sonia Onishenko in 1928, she married Ralph Scurfield in 1954. They brought the Flames to Calgary from Atlanta in 1980. She took over the club after he died in 1985.
Football
NCAA SETTLES CONSUSSION SUIT >> The NCAA has settled a lawsuit with the family of a former University of Texas football player that said the organization was responsible for his brain injuries and death decades after his playing career. The widow of former Longhorns defensive lineman Greg Ploetz sought to hold the NCAA responsible for his health problems long after his playing career. Ploetz died in 2015, and Boston University researchers concluded he had extensive brain damage known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
College baseball
FLORIDA’S SINGER EARNS DICK HOWSER AWARD >> Florida pitcher Brady Singer has been honored with the Dick Howser Trophy as college baseball’s player of the year. Singer, who received the award Friday, carries a 12-1 record and 2.30 ERA into the College World Series. He was the No. 18 overall pick in the MLB draft by the Kansas City Royals.
Tennis
FEDERER BOOKS SEMIFINAL PLACE >> Roger Federer defeated Guido Pella 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the Stuttgart (Germany) Open semifinals against Nick Kyrgios. The fourth-seeded Kyrgios defeated Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.