Latest Kawhi Leonard rumours: No noise good for Raptors?

By Dave Zarum, Sportsnet

Day four: Silence.

If Kawhi Leonard wants to kick back and enjoy his July 4 holiday, then an announcement Wednesday would be nice. Especially for the fan bases and front offices of the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, and Toronto Raptors who would surely love to get on with their lives and stop refreshing social media feeds and web browsers every two minutes.

The reigning Finals MVP and the NBA’s current king of the court has reportedly now met with all three contenders and merely needs to decide which team he’ll sign with and, subsequently, which direction the NBA’s balance of power will tilt: north or west.

Here are the latest rumours and talking points from the Kawhi Leonard Watch.

The airplane

And so it’s come to this.

MLSE’s private jet flew earlier today from LAX to YYZ, transporting who knows who or what from L.A. to Toronto. Two people who weren’t on board? Raptors GM Bobby Webster and team President Masai Ujiri. Cue the grainy security footage of a caravan that, according to Marc Stein is “believed” to be carrying one Kawhi Leonard.

Ok, this is nuts. Current speculation ranges as far from ‘Leonard is headed to a midtown Toronto hotel to meet with the Raptors’ brass’ to ‘nobody has a clue what is going on’ and, as the local Toronto news just disclaimed, ‘just because what looked like a tall guy came off the MLSE plane doesn’t mean it’s Kawhi Leonard.’

Yes, it could be Kawhi. Yes, it could be anybody — it’s the off-season, L.A. is the hub for most NBAers, and the Raps, Ujiri and Webster fly in and meet with any number of figures during this time of year.

Raptors getting help from Drake

In the face of increasing mumblings that Leonard could very well be L.A.-bound, Marc Stein of The New York Times reports the Raptors are fighting hard as ever for Kawhi. And they’ll be getting a boost from their most famous fan, as Drake is reportedly in recruitment mode, too.

The LeBron factor, and making sense of the (lack of) noise

Save for Lakers-related fodder, it’s been eerily quiet on the Leonard front.

There has been next to zero words emanating from the Toronto Raptors camp, save for a generic report that the team remains active in the hunt and could be getting a recruitment boost from Drake.

We haven’t heard much in the past few days regarding the Clippers, either, fuelling speculation that they have taken a backseat to the neighbouring Lakers in the race for Leonard. But based on several reports that Leonard’s camp is testing teams to see who can keep their mouth shut to the media, who knows how much you should read into all of that.

Partly because they are a marquee franchise and a top-billed topic of discussion — whether they’re a bottom-feeder missing the playoffs or on the verge of potentially forming an unfathomable “big three” — and because the organization and those surrounding it seem to feed media insiders like a sparrow feeding its chicks, the Lakers will always be front and centre in the public eye.

But there’s no question it seems the team has emerged as an extremely legitimate threat to land Leonard, who watched the Lakers growing up and reportedly asked to be dealt to the team while on his way out of San Antonio.

A prior road block, it seemed, was that it was reported long ago that Leonard had no desire to join the LeBron James circus. That has apparently changed. While there may have been truth to that notion previously, James himself has helped to change Leonard’s mind:

“There was talk around the league whether Kawhi would want to play with LeBron,” ESPN Lakers reporter Dave McMenamin said on ESPN Radio Tuesday, “…that issue, to my knowledge has been dissolved and that’s through the work of LeBron James.”

While we have no idea what Leonard is thinking, or where he’s leaning, that obviously won’t stop those who talk for a living to make their best guesses.

Passing the test?

On Sunday night ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne said part of the lack of concrete rumours and information being leaked to media sources is a result of a “loyalty test” Kawhi and his camp are giving to teams.

The Raptors have been tight-lipped through this process, which should give them the edge in this regard.

 

Kawhi-to-Lakers a very real threat

While it goes against much of our notions about Kawhi Leonard as a competitor — save for the whole wanting to win championships thing — that he would opt to join LeBron and Anthony Davis on a loaded-if-too-top-heavy Lakers team next season, it’s reportedly way more than conjecture at this point.

On his podcast, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, who cut his teeth covering LeBron James closely since high school, says that, while he doesn’t actually know (join the club) and didn’t see it coming, the increasing noise surrounding Leonard possibly joining the Lakers shouldn’t be ignored.

“I am feeling more like the Lakers are a chance,” he said. “…I do believe there is some real traction towards the Lakers. I still think the Clippers are the pick, but I admit I don’t know at this point.”

“I’m in total agreement with you, Brian,” added his guest, NBA writer Jackie MacMullan. “Clearly, there’s too much smoke for there not to be a little bit of fire here.”

Kendrick Perkins, longtime NBAer and current analyst who remains plugged into the league — he notably called Durant-to-the-Nets weeks ahead of that deal — added fuel to that fire Monday night when he said that Leonard was meeting with the Clippers, but that team had to work a miracle to dissuade the reigning Finals MVP from joining the other L.A. franchise.

We’ll update as we hear more. In the meantime, the NBA and its worldwide audience await Leonard’s decision, one that regardless of the flurry of major moves that took place over the past two days, will instantly shift the balance of the league.

Danny Green and the Kawhi fallout

A major subplot of Leonard’s lingering decision is that, while he schedules meetings and deliberates, the rest of the free agent market has all but dried up. The best player left on the market is probably Danny Green, who is waiting on Leonard before he makes his own free agent decision.

Don’t misinterpret that as Green waiting for Leonard so he can sign with the same team as his longtime teammate. If Leonard returns to Toronto then you can expect Green to follow based on what he’s been saying throughout the process. But a move to the Clippers or Lakers could see Green taking a larger contract elsewhere and getting paid by one of the teams who cleared cap space to sign Leonard and now need to allocate that money elsewhere.

Leonard to the Clippers could mean Green to the Lakers. Leonard to the Lakers could mean Green to the Clippers, Raptors, or maybe the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavericks are one of three teams, along with the Lakers and Clips, with significant cap space remaining and have been pursuing Green since the start of free agency. And, apparently, Green is interested in what they’re selling.

Harrison Sanford, co-host of Green’s podcast, Inside the Green Room, said Wednesday night that Green “really valued what the Mavs have put in front of him.”

In Dallas, Green is eying a big payday while also taking on a significant role for an up-and-coming team built around Luka Doncic — one of the most promising young players in the NBA — and Kristaps Porzingis — one of the rarest talents that has stepped onto an NBA floor.

Either way, by also waiting it out this long and putting the leverage in his own hands, Green stands to be another big winner in free agency.

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