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Heading into free agency time in the NBA, one of the unresolved issues remaining is that of the San Antonio Spurs and Kawhi Leonard. Leonard is not a free agent yet (that will happen next season) but he might as well be. He has the Spurs at his fingertips despite the organization still holding the rights to the player. Leonard is almost 100 percent sure to be gone from San Antonio before this summer is over.
Though losing a franchise player is never a good thing, the Spurs may look at this situation one day as a blessing in disguise. As good as Leonard is, the Spurs franchise is perhaps the best sports organization to deal with this kind of nightmarish situation.
Working Things Out with Kawhi
The Spurs had been working hard to repair their relationship with the disgruntled star. But the relationship appears to be irreparable at this point despite coach Gregg Popovich’s visit to Kawhi Leonard before the 2018 NBA Draft.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith’s sources claim that Leonard made it clear to the Spurs organization that he is done with their franchise.
“From what my sources tell me, Kawhi Leonard met with Gregg Popovich face-to-face, looked him dead in his face and said: ‘I don't want to be here,” Smith said. “I don't want to be in San Antonio any longer.'
“And by all accounts everywhere that I’ve searched, he is absolutely, positively going to become a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. You know what, let me take that back. I should tell you L.A. He wants to be in L.A. The likelihood is that it is the Lakers but Kawhi Leonard wants to be in L.A. and he is going to be in L.A. either this season or after this season come next summer.”
Based on this report from Smith, there doesn’t seem to be any choice for the Spurs but to give in to Leonard’s demands. The relationship between the two has been strained beyond repair and their only recourse is to part ways.
The Silver Lining
After one of the most drama-filled seasons in Spurs’ history, the 2017-18 season is thankfully over and the summer of discontent by Leonard will not linger too long, it seems. The Lakers are determined to trade for the 2014 Finals Most Valuable Player at the soonest possible time. They want to get the trade over and done with so they can focus their energies in convincing the Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James to sign with them once Leonard is in place.
According to another report, James is hesitant to be the first star player to join the Lakers. He likely wants Paul George and/or Kawhi Leonard to be in the boat first before he signs with the Purple and Gold. That means the Lakers are more than determined as they may, in fact, be more desperate than any other team this summer to secure an All-Star.
If they are that desperate, then the Spurs can take advantage of the situation to make sure that they get the best deal possible. A franchise player like Leonard only comes once in a generation and San Antonio knows this. They aren’t going to trade Leonard without getting proper compensation.
Trade Opportunity Part 1
The Lakers will have to part with their young talent in order to get their hands of Leonard. That means the most likely players that the Spurs will want to get are Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and Julius Randle, who will have to be signed and traded by the Lakers.
“That’s a lot of young talent to give up,” some might think.
But that’s the value of a Kawhi Leonard. His accomplishments include the aforementioned Finals MVP award, two Defensive Player of the Year awards and a finalist for the 2017 NBA MVP award. In the 2016-17 season, Leonard averaged 25.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.8 steals. He also shot nearly 50 percent from the field that season while making 38 percent on threes and 88 percent from the line.
When healthy, the Spurs forward is truly one of the best players in the game.
So when the Lakers come calling for a trade package, it had better be really good in order to convince the Spurs to give up their best player. And if USA TODAY’s Sam Amick is correct, the Lakers may actually throw everything they have at the Spurs just to make the deal work.
Rumblings of a Godfather Lakers offer for San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard have rival teams wondering if anyone else can compete here. The latest summer of LeBron has officially begun…
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) June 28, 2018
Trade Opportunity Part 2
If the Spurs get these players, not only are they going to be able to fill out their roster, they can package a couple of them to another team in the hopes of acquiring an All-Star to pair with LaMarcus Aldridge.
The players that the Spurs are likely to keep are Ingram and Randle but Hart and Kuzma could be on their way out if the team finds that they have a shot at getting a player like Damian Lillard or John Wall in exchange for these two plus one other player.
Let’s say the Spurs get Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers. Their starting lineup and key players off the bench will look like this:
Starters:
Point Guard – Damian Lillard
Shooting Guard – Danny Green
Small Forward – Brandon Ingram
Power Forward – Julius Randle
Center – LaMarcus Aldridge
Key Reserves:
Guards – Tony Parker, Dejounte Murray, Patty Mills
Forwards – Manu Ginobili, Lonnie Walker IV,
Center – Pau Gasol
If the Spurs were able to make it in the playoffs with the lineup they had last season, a team like this will perhaps get them, at best, as far as the Western Conference Finals.
Moving Forward
Being one of the best run organizations in sports, the Spurs will no doubt find a way to remain competitive next season and in the seasons to come even with the loss of their All-Star forward. Leonard is a special talent for sure, but they cannot afford another distraction next season.
When the trade for Leonard is announced, expect the Spurs to be genuinely smiling at their good fortune.
