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There will be no sightings of Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard in this week’s Team USA minicamp in Las Vegas, as Leonard has opted to focus on assimilating to his new basketball environment north of the border, according to Chris Haynes of ESPN.
Toronto forward Kawhi Leonard will not attend USA Basketball minicamp in Las Vegas this week, league sources tell ESPN. He will use time to prepare for transition to new team.
The USA’s men’s basketball team is currently under the watch of San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, who inherits the role from Duke Blue Devils mentor Mike Krzyzewski, so it’s not that much of a reach for people to speculate that Leonard is merely trying to avoid crossing paths with his former bench boss in San Antonio.
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It was previously reported that Kawhi Leonard was expected to attend the minicamp, but that plan has now obviously gone kaput.
Leonard’s absence from the camp will not necessarily mean that he’s out of contention for a spot on a team that will represent the nation come 2020 in Tokyo, but that won’t help his chances either.
With or without Leonard, Team USA will not be lacking in firepower. Other players invited to the camp include the likes of Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, and DeMar DeRozan, the other star player involved in the trade that brought Leonard from San Antonio to Toronto, to name a few.
