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Kawhi Leonard out indefinitely

Discussion in 'NBA Dish' started by zeeshan2, Jan 17, 2018.

  1. Rudyc281

    Rudyc281 Member

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    Have a feeling he ends up in LA. I just wonder if we can get our hands on Kuzma in any potential deal.
     
  2. zcarenow

    zcarenow Member

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    some say leonard, lebron, and cp3 could happen this summer with spurs. i seriously doubt it.
     
  3. BigShasta

    BigShasta Contributing Member

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    Forgot this dude was even in the league.
     
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  4. Hard_foul

    Hard_foul Member

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    Who?
     
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  5. zeeshan2

    zeeshan2 Member

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  6. napalm06

    napalm06 Huge Flopping Fan

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    So bizarre.
     
  7. zeeshan2

    zeeshan2 Member

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  8. Deuce

    Deuce Context & Nuance

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    Kyler, LOL
     
  9. Vivi

    Vivi Member

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    Kawhi trade confirmed :D
     
  10. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Contributing Member

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    Your mom and her friends don't count as a source.
     
  11. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...nard-san-antonio-spurs-nba-free-agency-trades

    [...]

    Around the time when Leonard attended the Popovich gathering on May 6, he underwent a routine exit physical with the Spurs and left for his offseason home in California, league sources said.

    Sooner than later, there will be a meeting set with Gregg Popovich and Leonard. It's still in the planning stages. They have been in contact, but there will be a conversation -- or, perhaps, a series of them -- about whether a lasting trust and partnership can be rebuilt. They'll have to talk about medical care and treatment. They'll have to talk about Leonard's relationship with the coaching staff and his teammates, which is strained. They'll have to talk about the franchise's willingness to deliver the five-year, $219 million contract extension Leonard is eligible to receive, because the Spurs will need to be convinced that a historic contract is met with historic commitment.

    If Leonard wants the Spurs to make that super-maximum contract offer --- and indications are indeed, yes, Leonard and his group want that offer -- the history of how Popovich and Spurs president RC Buford do business suggests the offer won't come without significant repairing of the relationship.

    History suggests the Spurs could want to see Leonard return to the active lineup before making a super-max offer next year, see him reinvested fully into the program. To think Popovich will walk into a room after months of discontent and immediately drop that $219 million on Leonard goes against every way the Spurs have operated.

    To broker a future with Leonard, it won't be with his agent, or his uncle. It'll be Popovich and Leonard -- or it probably won't happen.

    Because Leonard didn't meet All-NBA criteria in 2017-18, he will need to requalify next season to become eligible again to be offered the five-year, $219 million contract in the summer of 2019. To do so, he will have to make one of the All-NBA teams, or win MVP or Defensive Player of the Year. Leonard can opt out of the final year of his contract and become a free agent next July.

    So, if the Spurs resist offering Leonard the $219 million now --- and then he threatens to walk in free agency or asks for a trade this summer --- it will get complicated for San Antonio.

    Will the Spurs wait out Leonard and gamble he wouldn't turn down the $219 million next year? Do the Spurs have leverage in a possible Leonard trade now? Does the marketplace limit where San Antonio can trade Leonard, because teams that don't believe they can re-sign him in 2019 would be reluctant to part with major assets in a deal?

    Those are questions the Spurs must be asking themselves now, and they are a big part of the reason San Antonio prefers it doesn't come down to these trade scenarios. Popovich wants to coach Leonard for the rest of his Spurs tenure, wants to find a way to make it possible now.

    The Boston Celtics made a trade offer to San Antonio before the February deadline, but the Spurs turned it down --- and never made a counterproposal, league sources said. San Antonio wasn't willing to discuss deals for Leonard in February. So far this spring, the Spurs remain resistant to trades.

    If reconciliation talks don't go well with Leonard, San Antonio has time to reconsider that stance. For example, Boston has the most appealing assets: starry young players and Sacramento's No. 1-protected 2019 first-round pick.

    Only four months since the trade deadline, the Celtics find themselves in a different organizational space. GM Danny Ainge can stay on course with forwards Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown on rookie contracts, sparing Boston the financial pressure of re-signing two maximum-contract players with injury histories -- Kyrie Irving and Leonard -- in 2019.

    Boston could still consider Leonard on a distressed, discounted deal -- the way it secured Irving last summer -- but that has become a far less likely scenario than keeping its young core.

    The Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers have interest in Leonard, each with a differing array of young assets to trade for him now and the potential of salary-cap space to sign Leonard outright in 2019.

    In the end, Leonard could dictate his destination based on his willingness to sign long term upon a trade. Oklahoma City acquired All-Star forward Paul George last summer without a commitment, and there will undoubtedly be a few teams with a similarly adventurous spirit in pursuit of Leonard.

    For now, the Spurs' future is on hold awaiting the Popovich-Leonard sitdown. How Popovich details his own coaching future to Leonard could be an interesting subplot of the conversation. Since the Spurs won a fifth NBA championship in 2014, Buford has had to be prepared for the possibility of Popovich, 69, coaching a final season and moving onto NBA retirement. Every year, they need to make sure there will be one more season for Popovich. It's only natural this deep into his career.

    Few in his orbit expect Popovich to coach the Spurs beyond the 2020 Summer Olympics, and there always has been the possibility that he could spend the 2019-20 season traveling the NBA and globe, preparing for his national team duties. Perhaps Popovich can have Leonard on Team USA in 2020, too, but that's a conversation for a different day.

    For now, Gregg Popovich and Kawhi Leonard are trying to find a way to get through the summer of 2018 -- and beyond -- together. They're a long way from the offer of a $219 million contract, from a franchise and a franchise star resurrecting a relationship.
     
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  12. SS0101

    SS0101 Member

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    So they can't offer the super max right now? Did I read that correctly?
     
  13. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    The seven best Kawhi Leonard trades ESPN would like to see

    Lakers get: Kawhi Leonard
    Spurs get: Lonzo Ball, Luol Deng, Kyle Kuzma
    Magic get: Joffrey Lauvergne, 2020 Lakers second-round pick, $1.7 million cash (from Lakers)

    76ers get: Kawhi Leonard and Derrick White
    Spurs get: Robert Covington, Markelle Fultz, and the No. 10 pick

    Celtics get: Kawhi Leonard
    Spurs get: Kyrie Irving and Boston's 2018 first-round pick (plus whatever other picks get the deal done)

    Heat get: Kawhi Leonard and Patty Mills
    Spurs get: Goran Dragic, Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow and Bam Adebayo

    Raptors get: Kawhi Leonard and Rudy Gay
    Spurs get: DeMar DeRozan, OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam

    Blazers get: Kawhi Leonard, Derrick White
    Spurs get: CJ McCollum, 2019 first-round pick

    Celtics get: Kawhi Leonard and Patty Mills
    Spurs get: Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier
     
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  14. Vivi

    Vivi Member

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    Pretty sure the Spurs would ask for Fultz and Saric, maybe the 10th pick too...Fultz alone won't cut it imo.

    Also not sure about Irving and Boston pick, Hayward and Rozier would be better for the Spurs, or Irving but with something better than the Celtics pick...i'm really starting to think Ainge is not exactly exited about a max to Irving next summer, and if that's true i agree with him, just not sure why he traded for him...maybe just to have a good asset to trade now lol.

    Oh btw, if they think Toronto, Miami and Portland could be in the mix with those offers, we should be too, i'd trade Capela, Gordon with pick/s and fillers for Kawhi, they would fit very well in San Antonio.
     
  15. aelliott

    aelliott Contributing Member

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    If "some" say that, then "some" don't understand the salary cap.
     
  16. Daddy Long Legs

    Daddy Long Legs H- Town Harden

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    Permanent damage has been done to kawhis body.

    I have no idea why you or any other fans want him. Hes damaged goods and will never be the same player again.
     
  17. Bruce Bowen

    Bruce Bowen Member

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    and no to all of these trades

    sincerely,

    Spurs fans everywhere
     
  18. YOLO

    YOLO Member

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    we'll probably need to see him actually play this year to determine the extent of this
     

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