I thought that was really interesting by Windhorst. The Raptors might be willing to cut into their team more than most. Seems like the Lakers, Philly, Boston are only slightly willing to cut. Whereas the Raptors are willing to cut deep and if it doesn't work out they can rebuild anyway. -DeRozan -Siakam -OG -1st That package probably could be on the table all the way to the trade deadline. It is possible the Spurs aren't going to be able to get their hands on premium talent like Ingram or Jaylen Brown.
All the seemingly quiet and humble superstars have turned out to be flaming assholes. Kawhi, "mature-being his years, humble and hardworking" Kawhi has become a team cancer. Durant, A.K.A "The Servant", has been caught bad mouthing his teammates, close friends (?) with whom he often break bread, to 14 year old strangers through his burner account(s) to win internet cookies. On the other hand, "*******" Westbrook always had his teammates back and never indulged in such immature passive aggressive bullshit.
Trade talks with several teams continue on, with traction slowly, surely gathering with teams offers on a star insisting that he wants to play for the Los Angeles Lakers. If the Spurs are losing deal leverage, they aren't operating in a manner that suggests they're peddling a depreciating asset. San Antonio has been determined in demanding a sizable return on Leonard. Still, the bidding war among Boston, Philadelphia and Los Angeles Lakers never materialized. The Los Angeles Clippers, Denver, Phoenix, Portland, Toronto and Washington are among teams who've talked with San Antonio, league sources said. As examples, no Blazers' package includes Damian Lillard or CJ McCollum, league sources said. For a player who teams fear could be a one-year rental, many offers are modified. So far, the Sixers have held out three players -- Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz - in talks. Boston hasn't included five players, including Jayson Tatum, Jalen Brown, Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford. The Celtics and Sixers have offered pick-heavy packages that haven't moved the Spurs, league sources said. Recently, there's been less traction around the possibility of the Celtics and Sixers' talks with the Spurs. Those teams are well-positioned for the future, and aren't in the marketplace to be risktakers. And Leonard - with his murky health, his desire to be in Los Angeles - constitutes a risk on some levels. So far, the Lakers are playing the longer game in trade talks, confident in the belief that Leonard wants to play with them and plans to sign in free agency in July of 2019. Through conversations with opposing teams, it appears that the Spurs want to bring back an All-Star caliber player, high-potential young players and draft assets in a Leonard deal. For now, the threshold on a trade is considerable and it remains unclear if the marketplace will command such a significant return. Besides Leonard's desire to play in Los Angeles, his non-communicative personality makes a season-long recruitment pitch post-trade - like Oklahoma City did with Paul George - less likely to gather traction. Around Leonard, there have been suggestions that he has no intention of entering the Spurs practice facility again, which rival teams consider an empty threat unless he's willing to incur a forfeiture of his $20 million salary and fines. The Spurs haven't allowed prospective trade partners to talk directly with Leonard, nor his representation --- and it's unlikely that permission will be granted without an agreement in principle on a deal to acquire Leonard - if even then. In most NBA deals, no medical information is exchanged until an agreement on trade parameters is reached. The Spurs had always hoped that the five-year, $221 million super-max extension would be too tempting to turn down. Fresh off a June trade demand, San Antonio had resisted offering that contract in part because of Leonard's anger toward the organization, his unwillingness to consider the possibility of a future together. For now, there's no extension, no trade and no clarity on Kawhi Leonard's future with the San Antonio Spurs. The NBA's most dramatic divide remains unresolved ---- with a national team mini-camp possibly the next mile post on the path.
The Los Angeles Clippers, Denver, Phoenix, Portland, Toronto and Washington are among teams who've talked with San Antonio, league sources said.
Kawhi balling for Team USA will only improve his trade value and help out Pop in the long run. Remind everyone how good he is. Show everyone he's healthy. And net those 2 first rounders, Kuzma, Ingram, Hart and 1 night with Jeanie.
Agreed, if i'm the Spurs i try to swap Siakam with Poeltl but yeah, even if i don't like Derozan (and ugh, thinking about him and LMA together...horrible fit imo) that might be not a bad package all things considered at this point.
He could well have reminded us of how good he is by suiting up for the playoffs and earning his paycheck instead of chilling at baseball games in LA while supposedly rehabbing in NY.
Raptors Have Made 'Most Compelling' Offer To Spurs For Kawhi Leonard On Monday, Brian Windhorst reported the Toronto Raptors could be in 'driver's seat' to acquire Kawhi Leonard and he added to his reporting on Tuesday. The Raptors reportedly have made a compelling offer to the Spurs for Leonard. "The Raptors have moved in because there isn't anybody on the Raptors' roster right now that isn't available in a trade," said Brian Windhorst on TSN 1050. "The Raptors aren't protecting anybody. The Raptors, I think, have a shorter timeline with this particular team than the Celtics or Sixers do." With LeBron James leaving the Eastern Conference, the Raptors see a window of opportunity. "(The Raptors) have made an offer to the Spurs. As far as I know, it's the most compelling offer that the Spurs have right now. I think right now, they're the only team active in discussions." Windhorst also spoke about Toronto's perspective on a deal on another program airing in Canada. "It's real, it's real," said Windhorst on the Tim and Sid Show. "The Raptors are legitimately talking to the Spurs. There's only a couple of teams that they could do a deal with and those teams right now aren't getting traction with the Spurs. "There's a couple of things you have to realize with this particular trade. It's operating on the Spurs' timetable. It's not a matter of whether the Raptors make a decision to make an offer, or to put a player in the offer. This is the Spurs. The Spurs have never done this before. They are working very methodically. They're not under any real deadline. It's not as simple as making an offer and waiting. It really has to do with the Spurs decide to execute a trade. "The second thing is you don't just have 'I'm willing to trade A for B.' You also have the uncertainity of Kawhi's health. How healthy is Kawhi Leonard? We don't know. The Spurs don't know. Whenever you get into a situation like this you want to get hard and fast answers because this is a really big moment. "The other part is would Kawhi Leonard want to stay long-term? I don't know if you're going to get that answer. Even if Kawhi was able to speak directly to the Raptors, I don't know if you've ever talked to Kawhi Leonard before, but he doesn't give direct answers to questions. He doesn't emote. This is a very muddled situation. "I'm sure Masai (Ujiri) and Bobby Webster and Nick Nurse and other members of the Raptors' front office have been going around and around on this trying to get their minds around it. Trying to figure out whether this is something they should do. But it's there. It's in front of them.
