The latest episode of #KawhiWatch has NFL Hall of Famer Cris Carter predicting Kawhi Leonard will wait until Friday to announce his much-awaited free agency decision. Leonard will either pick the Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers or Los Angeles Clippers .
Via RealGM:
“I think he's going to make an announcement on Friday,” said Cris Carter on FS1's “First Things First” on Thursday morning. “The process was, it didn't start for him at 6 p.m., even though his camp and Magic they made plans as far as having a discussion on Sunday. They planned on meeting with the Lakers and Clippers on Monday and Tuesday in free agency. After that, they would meet with the Knicks and Brooklyn, and then ultimately meet with Toronto.
“Given what happened with KD deciding early, him and Kyrie already had a deal going to Brooklyn: so that removes Brooklyn out of the chase.
“The Knicks were concerned about Kawhi, when they would get to him and if they would have a real chance. They got information that they might not have the best chance to sign him, so they got out of it on Sunday.
“Then it became the meeting with the Lakers and the Clippers. We saw yesterday him decide to go back to Toronto to meet with them.
“We are on what their scheduled plan was.”
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski predicted Leonard's decision would come either later on Wednesday or on July 4. Yet Carter says things are going right on schedule, and the Independence Day holiday might just delay his decision another day, with no team having an edge over the other:
“Based on what they planned on doing going into free agency, they are on schedule,” said Carter. “Fortunately or unfortunately, the holiday comes right after the third meeting, so is that going to delay the announcement another day? But I know as of yesterday, 6 p.m., no team had an edge. What I said in the Tweet was exactly was conveyed to me. I asked a few questions, but it was very, very direct. As far as every team is still in it. They have a great deal of interest in the Clippers. There's a great deal of interest in the Lakers. And we knew, the team everyone has to overcome, that's Toronto. The reason why is because Kawhi makes a lot of decisions based on trust.
“Why do I have the information? Because they trust me. I've been knowing Kawhi since he left San Diego State and decided to come into the NBA. They trust how I report it and trust I'm going to get it accurate to what they say. Not what my opinion is.
“Toronto has that over everyone. The doctors. The coaching staff. The city. He's comfortable. Kawhi trusts his career with the Toronto Raptors. And the Lakers and the Clippers are going to have to convince him and take some of that trust for him to decide to play basketball with them moving forward.”
It seems Leonard doesn't have his mind made up or is leaning toward any team at the moment, but rather making use of all the intel gathered from every meeting and coming down to a consensus.
Ideally, that is exactly what teams expect players to do, but that is hardly what happens to superstars that have been lured and talked into situations throughout the course of the season.
Kawhi Leonard is cut from a different cloth, and he is basing this decision on more than just his lifestyle, but on who he can trust the most after departing San Antonio last season in dire straits.
Follow Us
Subscribe