The San Antonio Spurs will be receiving calls left and right on their star forward Kawhi Leonard, but those will be put on hold until the organization has their differences sorted out with the 26-year-old.
Former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin gave some insight on how the Spurs plan to handle this situation
“San Antonio is not into media frenzy. Until they have a conversation with Kawhi Leonard and he looks coach Popovich and RC Buford in the eye and says, ‘Guys, I want out,’ none of this means anything,” said Griffin on his Sirius XM radio show, per Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype. “It really doesn’t. It’s a lot of fun to talk about. It’s a fascinating story. It’s wonderful, in some ways, that they’re now part of that media frenzy. But what makes them special is that they’ve ignored the noise for 21 years! They didn’t forget how to do that just because there’s some scuttlebutt out there.”
The former executive warned that while the rest of the NBA might panic and try to pull the trigger on a trade before the season starts, the Spurs will not move a finger until it is completely and absolutely necessary.
“Be very careful with the notion that they ‘must do something.’ Those dudes have been phenomenal at not forcing anything until it was absolutely the right time in their own minds. If something happens relative to the draft, it’s going to be because they heard something directly from [Leonard] and not because of the things we’ve heard [in various reports].”
Let's try and think of the last time the Spurs have traded a player — they just don't. The Spurs Way is predicated in drafting talent and making it grow through the system, and they've done so with Leonard as well as the several international gems they have found over the years (Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan).
Players that have left the organization have done so through free agency for the most part, but this is one asset that San Antonio will want compensation for if it is indeed time for a divorce, but it will be the Spurs dictating how the clock ticks and when it starts ticking.
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