The San Antonio Spurs' season may not be over yet but with head coach Gregg Popovich still out for Game 4 and the fact that no other team has climbed out of a 3-0 series deficit (against the defending champions Golden State Warriors no less), it's well within the realm of possibility to assume that the shorthanded Spurs are expected to be fishing soon.
The major reasons as to why very little chance is given to the usually resilient Spurs is the absence of their franchise cornerstone and one of the best two-way players in the game, Kawhi Leonard. The 26 year-old led the team in scoring last season with 25.5 points per game and his injury-plagued 2017-18 season has led to forward LeMarcus Aldridge shouldering the bulk of the scoring load with a roster that's getting up there in age and production.
Despite being medically cleared by team doctors to play, Leonard refuses to return until he's absolutely certain that he's healthy and would not be re-aggravating his injury – hoping to not repeat the same mistakes that plagued his previous seasons that were mired by constant injuries. This conflict in opinion has led to a strained relationship between Leonard, the front office, and even his teammates – leading to various trade rumors.
Out of the many interested teams, according to Chris Mannix of Yahoo! Sports, the Boston Celtics are the team that have the best shot of pulling it off.
Now, you hear the Lakers, you hear the Knicks, Boston will be in line for this. They absolutely will make an offer of some type for Kawhi Leonard. And they still have more assets than anyone else.
With an abundance of picks, young promising players, and a playoff core, he may be right.
Follow Us
Subscribe