Despite missing all but nine games of the 2017-18 season so and his future with the team is completely up in the air, star forward Kawhi Leonard is still expected to be offered a max contract extension this summer by the San Antonio Spurs and qualifies for the designated veteran player contract extension, according to Spurs beat reporter Michael C. Wright of ESPN.
“Popovich and sources within the organization have long maintained that the team will continue to err on the side of caution when it comes to Leonard's injury,” Wright said. “It's expected the club will offer the forward a max contract extension worth more than $200 million over the summer.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Spurs longtime shooting guard Manu Ginobili even expressed his serious doubts that Leonard would return at all from his lingering quad this season.
“He is not coming back,” Manu Ginobili said of Leonard. “For me, he’s not coming back because it’s not helping [to think Leonard is returning]. We fell for it a week ago again. I guess you guys made us fall for it. But we have to think that he’s not coming back; that we are who we are, and that we got to fight without him. That shouldn’t be changing, at least until he is ready for the jungle.”
Ginobili's take, however, could also be seen as a way of saying that the Spurs can't rely on expecting to have him back soon. Instead, they should play hard every day as if he isn't coming back, and if he does return, well, that'll only help.
Last week, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said that he had no idea when or if Leonard would come back, considering that All-Star forward has not yet been cleared for a return.
This continues to be a very strange situation for San Antonio. Have we already seen Leonard's last game in a Spurs jersey? Hopefully not, but time will just have to tell at this point.
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