Kawhi Leonard is fresh off winning his second title with the Toronto Raptors, but this is likely to be a short-lived celebration for The North. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski noted the Finals MVP is focused on returning to his hometown Los Angeles, but it isn't the Los Angeles Lakers he's looking at, but rather the LA Clippers (h/t Mike Chiari of Bleacher Report):

“The reality is Kawhi Leonard's focused on Los Angeles, but it's the Clippers, not the Lakers. No. 1, they don't have the money to sign him. And two, the idea of him being a third wheel on a team trying to create a superteam, that has not been Kawhi's M.O. The Clippers are poised to be able to lure him from Toronto. This will be a Raptors-Clippers fight down to the end. He may take meetings with more teams; it's not even certain he'd even take a meeting with the Lakers right now.”

Leonard bringing a championship to Toronto would likely take some of the sting away from paying for a one-year rental, as it resulted in the team's first-ever NBA title after becoming an expansion team in 1995.

Yet Woj himself said the Raptors will have “a lot of work to do” from here until June 30, as they still have to convince Leonard that staying in Canada is the right choice for his long-term future.

The Clippers are the No. 1 team that can pry him away, offering him closeness to his roots, sunny weather and a max deal to help him rival LeBron James across the halls of Staples Center.

The Lakers are expected to make a run at Leonard anyway, even though they're not set to have max cap space and the star likely won't take a discount.