Five Potential Trade Destinations For Kawhi Leonard

The Lakers’ cap space also enables the Spurs to avoid taking back any bad contracts if this trade is completed after the moratorium, meaning they shed almost $15 million in 2018-19 payroll.

What started as a serious, but innocent injury, has turned into a franchise-changing moment for the San Antonio Spurs.

That is why there have been countless rumors around some of the game’s biggest stars.

For years, the Spurs have been hailed as the gold standard of National Basketball Association franchises.

The relationship between the San Antonio Spurs and Kawhi Leonard deteriorated this season as Leonard stayed away from the team and only played in nine games this season due to a quad injury, and they could be willing to trade him this offseason if things don’t get better between the two sides.

Wojnarowski says the Spurs will not be blindly offering Leonard a “super-max” contract this summer. There’s a possibility that “King James” and company will be ousted ahead of the NBA Finals, though, which could give him reason to consider other teams including the Lakers. It didn’t become an issue last season when the Spurs were still elite.

However, teammate Danny Green doesn’t want to worry about that just yet. None of us know what is going on in San Antonio. “Everybody knows I would love to stay here, but free agency is always insane, so we will see”.

Welp. It’s certainly going to be an interesting summer. However, this could all be false reporting.

Kawhi, who has one year left on his contract, will force a trade to the Lakers. “With a potential lottery pick from Sacramento next year and two young stars in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Celtics have more young talent to offer than anyone, including the Lakers”. But is it even worth it?

Given all that, I think the Lakers could part with Ingram, despite the promise he has shown at age 20.

Basically, the idea would be that San Antonio wouldn’t lose Kawhi to free agency and would get someone in exchange that could help them contend in the future. Kuzma averaged 16.1 points, shooting 45% from the field and 36.6% from downtown. Maker, 21, produced 4.8 points and 3.0 boards in only 16.7 minutes a night in the same span.

The Lakers should be patient. The Lakers should keep their young and talented core intact and wait for Kawhi. The Celtics have a treasure trove of picks and talented young players like Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. It is also a risky move as well considering how Kawhi’s health has been.

Leonard last spoke to the media on March 7, when he said at the time that he wanted to finish his career with San Antonio.