Spurs still hoping to offer Leonard Super Max contract (SA Express)

[Amuseddaysleeper]

https://www.expressnews.com/spurs-nation/article/Rehabbing-Leonard-s-image-would-be-easy-12926456.php

Hardly a day goes by that advertising executive Al Aguilar doesn’t find himself involved in a conversation about Kawhi Leonard and the tension between the Spurs and their franchise player.

Some of the bewildered include fans who admit they have soured on the two-time All-Star. When the Spurs were in the midst of being ousted by the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs last month, Twitter was aflame with posts criticizing the absent Leonard.

“Dude let his team down bigtime!! ANY other star would’ve been getting KILLED by the media. If you can play PLAY!!! #Kawhi #NBAPlayoffs,” wrote one user.

Leonard played in just nine regular season games in 2017-18 despite receiving clearance from the Spurs’ medical staff to return from a quadriceps ailment. His decision to continue rehabbing away from the club under the supervision of his own medical team created a rift between him and the Spurs, as well as many of their fans.

“It’s a bit of a dark cloud,” Aguilar said of the saga, which ranks among the strangest in club history.

Related: A brief history of the No. 18 overall pick in the NBA Draft

Still, the Spurs hope to meet with Leonard and his representatives soon in a bid to mend fences and pave the way for Leonard to come to terms on a five-year $219 million supermax contract that he will be eligible to receive starting July 1. If attempts to patch up the relationship fail, the Spurs will be forced to explore trading a player coach Gregg Popovich once labeled “the future face of the franchise.”

With Leonard’s status in San Antonio in doubt, Aguilar and other marketing experts were asked what he could do to rehabilitate his image and prove to the Spurs he wants to remain with them.

Each believes it would be an easy fix provided the notoriously media-shy player steps out of his comfort zone long enough to get in front of some reporters, microphones and cameras at a news conference and say a few words.

“I know the community would embrace him in a heartbeat if he would just come out and say something positive in a succinct way,” Aguilar said.

A San Antonio native, Aguilar is the co-founder and CEO of Creative Civilization. He is perhaps best known for coining the ubiquitous “Go Spurs Go” slogan while developing an advertising strategy for the team for the 1999 playoffs, which ended with the Spurs capturing the first of their five NBA titles.

“San Antonio to me has historically been a very friendly community, so I don’t think it will take a heck of a lot of what I call PR repair for fans to embrace him again,” Aguilar said. “All he would need to do is offer a simple, brief message that brings clarity, something that says, ‘We are back on track. Let’s go do what we need to do (to win another championship),’ maybe a simple phrase like, ‘I love San Antonio.’

“I think the community would be very happy to hear that, and from one day to the next, everything could be fixed. I don’t think it’s too complicated.”

[szkorhetz]

He's gone.

[cd021]

"Soured on the two time all-star?" Ya fucking think

[baseline bum]

:lmao Go Spurs Go starting in 1999 :lmao

Who is this moron who wrote this? The whole stadium has been chanting that shit at games at least since the 80s.

[John B]

The FO will do its best to resign Kawhi, simply because the small market Spurs cannot survive a losing season. No respectable big time FA would come knocking on Spurs door unless Kawhi is signed. And Pop at109 yrs old is not staying to rebuild. Kawhi pretty much guarantees 6 or more winning seasons that means ticket sales. Why would any good businessman mess with that? Spurs FO will suck it up. Will offer Kawhi the max and forget anything happened.

[rjv]

ST universe is never happy.

[Mugen]

Lock his ass up in a contract then trade him to HIV in 2-3 years or less if his health/athleticism starts declining tbh.

[spurs10]

:lmao Go Spurs Go starting in 1999 :lmao

Who is this moron who wrote this? The whole stadium has been chanting that shit at games at least since the 80s. :lol Probably the 70's...maybe they were smart enough to trademark the slogan and make t-shirts.
:flag:


The FO will do its best to resign Kawhi, simply because the small market Spurs cannot survive a losing season. No respectable big time FA would come knocking on Spurs door unless Kawhi is signed. And Pop at109 yrs old is not staying to rebuild. Kawhi pretty much guarantees 6 or more winning seasons that means ticket sales. Why would any good businessman mess with that? Spurs FO will suck it up. Will offer Kawhi the max and forget anything happened. This is about it. I'm very concerned about the value of my tickets. No doubt him signing the super-max and staying here will be great for ticket sales.
:flag:

[Mugen]

:lol What else would you niggas watch in SA tbh?

[John B]

:lol What else would you niggas watch in SA tbh?

There’s the annual rodeo :lol

[BackHome]

The FO will do its best to resign Kawhi, simply because the small market Spurs cannot survive a losing season. No respectable big time FA would come knocking on Spurs door unless Kawhi is signed. And Pop at109 yrs old is not staying to rebuild. Kawhi pretty much guarantees 6 or more winning seasons that means ticket sales. Why would any good businessman mess with that? Spurs FO will suck it up. Will offer Kawhi the max and forget anything happened.

Bull crap we got LMA and lots of teams were after him

[exstatic]

The FO will do its best to resign Kawhi, simply because the small market Spurs cannot survive a losing season. No respectable big time FA would come knocking on Spurs door unless Kawhi is signed. And Pop at109 yrs old is not staying to rebuild. Kawhi pretty much guarantees 6 or more winning seasons that means ticket sales. Why would any good businessman mess with that? Spurs FO will suck it up. Will offer Kawhi the max and forget anything happened.

Only if he's healthy. Wasn't it his camp saying that there was calcification in his quad? If that's the case, year 5 at $49M could break the bank. Even if they get insurance, that only pays the bills. That dead money would stay on the cap unless he were medically retired. Players resist this. See: Bosh, Chris.

[K...]

Who fuck is this guy and why is he speaking for the Spurs? This piece of shit marketing guy is not paying kawhi the super Max... And I'd be surprised if he has an input at all


Article should be titled *areas marketing man does not want to sell for a rebuilding team without it's Star". It's rather they cite Spurs talk than this loser

[tholdren]

Bye. And take all these spurstalk bums with you

[goliath]

Spurs are going to offer the Supermax and Kawhi is going to accept it.

They will take the next season to try and repair the relationship. Hopefully everything is repaired and worked out as the season progresses. If the relationship is still fractured, they trade him next offseason. Benefits the Spurs in that they have more leavage for a trade because he would be under contract. Benefits Kawhi because he maximizes his money.

[John B]

This

[exstatic]

Spurs are going to offer the Supermax and Kawhi is going to accept it.

They will take the next season to try and repair the relationship. Hopefully everything is repaired and worked out as the season progresses. If the relationship is still fractured, they trade him next offseason. Benefits the Spurs in that they have more leavage for a trade because he would be under contract. Benefits Kawhi because he maximizes his money.

It's harder to put a trade together next year when the extension kicks in and he's making 35% of the cap. It's also not ONLY about the relationship, it's about his health, and his group has drum beat over and over that his quad is calcified, which is supposedly why he sat out 73 games. You CANNOT sign him to the SuperMax if he's not 100%.

[Dex]

It's harder to put a trade together next year when the extension kicks in and he's making 35% of the cap. It's also not ONLY about the relationship, it's about his health, and his group has drum beat over and over that his quad is calcified, which is supposedly why he sat out 73 games. You CANNOT sign him to the SuperMax if he's not 100%.

Pretty sure the Spurs wouldn't be offering the supermax unless they felt reasonably confident he is (or can be) healthy. Obviously, they have no way of knowing for sure...but if they strongly suspected otherwise, they wouldn't throw nearly a quarter billion dollars at him.

If this report is accurate, then it's good news.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

If Kawhi can prove he’s healthy and ready to go, he’s worth the investment. Every superstar in this league is a prima donna. We may as well keep ours.

[Dex]

If Kawhi can prove he’s healthy and ready to go, he’s worth the investment. Every superstar in this league is a prima donna. We may as well keep ours.

Amen. Spurs fans were lucky to have Duncan for two decades, but let's face it...there aren't anymore Duncans in the league. The only player in the league that even compares is Dirk, and he's on his way out.

[SupremeGuy]

If Kawhi can prove he’s healthy and ready to go, he’s worth the investment. Every superstar in this league is a prima donna. We may as well keep ours.This.

[baseline bum]

Spurs are going to offer the Supermax and Kawhi is going to accept it.

They will take the next season to try and repair the relationship. Hopefully everything is repaired and worked out as the season progresses. If the relationship is still fractured, they trade him next offseason. Benefits the Spurs in that they have more leavage for a trade because he would be under contract. Benefits Kawhi because he maximizes his money.

Trade him to fucking Tijuana if he thinks he's going to get his supermax deal and then ask for a trade next summer.

[goliath]

Of course, the Spurs don’t sign him if they think it’s a chronic condition and he is going to miss big chunks of the season every year. But one of the issues between them is the Spurs doctors cleared him months ago. If they cleared him and said he could play months ago, why would they change the diagnosis now? Wouldn’t the Spurs position during all this drama of he’s cleared and should be playing go out the window if after all year now when it’s extension time they change their position?

And even if Kawhi extends at the supermax and is 75%, the offers would be much better than they are now. Bad and mediocre teams won’t offer anything because he could walk in a year. The lakers and clippers figure they can wait a year, not give up assets and pay less. We are talking about fultz and ingram as centerpieces of Kawhi deals right now. A 75% Kawhi under contract gets more than the rumored deals floating out there.

While not the supermax, people said the clippers would never be able to trade Blake Griffins contract because of the amount and his injury history. A few months later he’s gone to detroit.

I believe harden and Westbrook both signed supermax deals or supermax extensions. Most of not every team would line up to trade for them

[Mugen]

Best case realistic scenario would be to get KL to sign the extension. Then the Spurs call the shots.

Those hoping for a trade are really underestimating how bad RC would get bent over in a trade tbh.

[goliath]

Plus, Spurs fans are spoiled. We’ve gone from basically Gervin to Robinson to Duncan to Kawhi with only a few losing season and none since 96. The hardest player to get, especially in a small market, is the franchise, top 10 player. I don’t think a lot of spurs fans recognize this because of our luck in getting them and them staying. People anxious to get rid of Kawhi for markel fultz or Brandon Ingram don’t realize that we could very easily turn into the Sacramento kings

[DPG21920]

Plus, Spurs fans are spoiled. We’ve gone from basically Gervin to Robinson to Duncan to Kawhi with only a few losing season and none since 96. The hardest player to get, especially in a small market, is the franchise, top 10 player. I don’t think a lot of spurs fans recognize this because of our luck in getting them and them staying. People anxious to get rid of Kawhi for markel fultz or Brandon Ingram don’t realize that we could very easily turn into the Sacramento kings

That’s a bit much for me. SA didn’t have Kawhi this year and didn’t turn into the SAC Kings. SA front office aren’t idiots and they draft well. That alone keeps them from being SAC.

[coachmac87]

LeBron is coming...

[daslicer]

Plus, Spurs fans are spoiled. We’ve gone from basically Gervin to Robinson to Duncan to Kawhi with only a few losing season and none since 96. The hardest player to get, especially in a small market, is the franchise, top 10 player. I don’t think a lot of spurs fans recognize this because of our luck in getting them and them staying. People anxious to get rid of Kawhi for markel fultz or Brandon Ingram don’t realize that we could very easily turn into the Sacramento kings

It will be a while before the Spurs contend again if they get rid of Kawhi but I still believe our FO is still good enough to build a good team much like Utah and Indiana. We'll probably have the same type of success as the two franchises I have mentioned.

[DPG21920]

Trade him to fucking Tijuana if he thinks he's going to get his supermax deal and then ask for a trade next summer.

Why? That would be great all things considered. If he gets that SuperMax and wants out SA will have a lot more options.

[goliath]

That’s a bit much for me. SA didn’t have Kawhi this year and didn’t turn into the SAC Kings. SA front office aren’t idiots and they draft well. That alone keeps them from being SAC.

Spurs record from January 1, 2018 21-23
Kings record from January 1, 2018 15-30

Not that far off

[goliath]

But granted turning into the kings may be a stretch. I agree our franchise is more stable than that. I meant more along the lines of a perineal lottery team where the 7-8th seed is something to celebrate

[SpursforSix]

Spurs record from January 1, 2018 21-23
Kings record from January 1, 2018 15-30

Not that far off

Lol.

it's pretty far off

[BillMc]

Bull crap we got LMA and lots of teams were after him

[rjv]

Spurs record from January 1, 2018 21-23
Kings record from January 1, 2018 15-30

Not that far off

that comparison really only works when you take the strength of schedule into account and i'm pretty sure not many teams had a harder schedule down the stretch than the spurs.

[baseline bum]

Why? That would be great all things considered. If he gets that SuperMax and wants out SA will have a lot more options.

The option to get stuck taking bad contracts when his deal is 35% of the cap, like ex pointed out above. Plus another year where you're not going to get a good draft pick since a healthy Leonard would guarantee 50 wins.

[Dex]

The option to get stuck taking bad contracts when his deal is 35% of the cap, like ex pointed out above. Plus another year where you're not going to get a good draft pick since a healthy Leonard would guarantee 50 wins.

Yeah, because that would really fucking suck to win 50 games again.

Still don't understand why everyone wants to rush back into the lottery after one down year which was cursed by injuries.

[Chillen]

Assuming Leonard is healthy it's probably best to kiss and makeup and try and sign LeBron this offseason to pair with Kawhi, LMA. If not healthy or he wants out trade him, offer LeBron the keys to San Antonio and roll from there.

[baseline bum]

Yeah, because that would really fucking suck to win 50 games again.

Still don't understand why everyone wants to rush back into the lottery after one down year which was cursed by injuries.

It would suck being a treadmill team for another year. Either he comes back to stay or all he's doing is holding back the rebuild being here for only one year, and there is no way this team wouldn't need a full rebuild after losing Leonard.

[TheDoctor]

Pretty sure the Spurs wouldn't be offering the supermax unless they felt reasonably confident he is (or can be) healthy. Obviously, they have no way of knowing for sure...but if they strongly suspected otherwise, they wouldn't throw nearly a quarter billion dollars at him.

If this report is accurate, then it's good news.Of course they’re confident/know he’s healthy, they cleared him months ago.

[coachmac87]

Yeah, because that would really fucking suck to win 50 games again.

Still don't understand why everyone wants to rush back into the lottery after one down year which was cursed by injuries.


Because they’re spoiled..and have no ideas what “losing” even means tbh....

They’re also cliffs jumpers who hate and criticize the FO on their moves/acquisitions yet want them to tank and expect the same FO to fix it.

Or they want the FO canned and move on..even though the replacements will probably be tied to the FO in some way...

[baseline bum]

Because they’re spoiled..and have no ideas what “losing” even means tbh....

They’re also cliffs jumpers who hate and criticize the FO on their moves/acquisitions yet want them to tank and expect the same FO to fix it.

Or they want the FO canned and move on..even though the replacements will probably be tied to the FO in some way...

I don't want a meaningless 50 wins just for Leonard to audition for his new team for one year. If it's 50 wins because he's healthy and staying longterm obviously I'd want that since Leonard is by far the biggest piece towards developing into a title team again.

[coachmac87]

Assuming Leonard is healthy it's probably best to kiss and makeup and try and sign LeBron this offseason to pair with Kawhi, LMA. If not healthy or he wants out trade him, offer LeBron the keys to San Antonio and roll from there.

LeBron would be really helpful for Kawhi brand...

Tbh I feel that’s why him and his team are enticed playing with him either in LA or SA

[BillMc]

Yeah, because that would really fucking suck to win 50 games again.

Still don't understand why everyone wants to rush back into the lottery after one down year which was cursed by injuries.

This. You think ST is dead now? 3-5 years of rebuilding and this place will be vacant. I mean one sub-50 win season in 20 years (one in which we still made the playoffs) and everyone is having conniptions. A half decade in the lottery? You guys will be thinking the '18 season was magnificent.

[BillMc]

Because they’re spoiled..and have no ideas what “losing” even means tbh....

They’re also cliffs jumpers who hate and criticize the FO on their moves/acquisitions yet want them to tank and expect the same FO to fix it.

Or they want the FO canned and move on..even though the replacements will probably be tied to the FO in some way...

This too.

Grass is greener effect.

[coachmac87]

I don't want a meaningless 50 wins just for Leonard to audition for his new team for one year. If it's 50 wins because he's healthy and staying longterm obviously I'd want that since Leonard is by the biggest piece towards developing into a title team again.

50 games and watching your team play in the playoffs isn’t meaningless...watching your team lose 50 games is.

As a Spur fan getting in the playoffs so frequently you should know anything can happen...you play to win the game.

Rebuilding in a small market is literally the hardest thing in sports...

If you came out and said you’d welcome the challenge of rebuilding and would like to see how the FO would handle it...maybe I can buy that..

But picking taking over “competitive ball” as a Spurs fan is asinine

[spurraider21]

Assuming Leonard is healthy it's probably best to kiss and makeup and try and sign LeBron this offseason to pair with Kawhi, LMA. If not healthy or he wants out trade him, offer LeBron the keys to San Antonio and roll from there.
so the best option is to keep kawhi and get lebron? nice.

[Mugen]

If they offer it, he's staying. Not even Uncle Fuckface is that stupid to reject a quarter of a billion dollars tbh.

[tbdog]

How they can they be hoping to offer the super max? Offer it or don't. Are they hoping he will accept it?

[BillMc]

How they can they be hoping to offer the super max? Offer it or don't. Are they hoping he will accept it?

Maybe they hope to offer it if Kawhl can prove he's healthy and all-in being the face of the franchise. If either of those are not the case, they probably won't be willing to pony up the full Supermax.

[coachmac87]

How they can they be hoping to offer the super max? Offer it or don't. Are they hoping he will accept it?

Yes. That’s clearly whats meant in the article lol

[hater]

Sad but true that best thing for this shit team is still to resign Mute Cancer to a Cancerous max deal

Tbqh

No other superstar is even going to considering coming to this shit team qnd shit city imo

[baseline bum]

50 games and watching your team play in the playoffs isn’t meaningless...watching your team lose 50 games is.

As a Spur fan getting in the playoffs so frequently you should know anything can happen...you play to win the game.

Rebuilding in a small market is literally the hardest thing in sports...

If you came out and said you’d welcome the challenge of rebuilding and would like to see how the FO would handle it...maybe I can buy that..

But picking taking over “competitive ball” as a Spurs fan is asinine

So your gf tells you she's getting ready to fuck other guys and your response is baby you can still stay at my apartment for another couple of months.

[tholdren]

Sad but true that best thing for this shit team is still to resign Mute Cancer to a Cancerous max deal

Tbqh

No other superstar is even going to considering coming to this shit team qnd shit city imo

Cry more

[ceds]

Give this guy the supermax and lets go to war


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuTujMT94EM

[coachmac87]

So your gf tells you she's getting ready to fuck other guys and your response is baby you can still stay at my apartment for another couple of months.

Uh what?

That’s how you compare tanking for 50 losses to competing for 50 wins?

[sasaint]

Maybe they hope to offer it if Kawhl can prove he's healthy and all-in being the face of the franchise. If either of those are not the case, they probably won't be willing to pony up the full Supermax.

Kawhi will never be the face of a franchise. That's a part of the Spurs' conundrum. "Face-of-the-franchise" players (up till now) have always commanded a franchise's biggest investment. But the Spurs have to figure out how to make that investment in Kawhi and still get another "face-of-the-franchise" player while maintaining some kind of fiscal responsibility in a small market. It requires a new paradigm. The league has never seen a completely reclusive, reticent superstar before.

[baseline bum]

Uh what?

That’s how you compare tanking for 50 losses to competing for 50 wins?

That's how I compare holding onto Leonard for another year if he wants out. It's retarded to give him the supermax and a ticket out of town in a year.

[BillMc]

Kawhi will never be the face of a franchise. That's a part of the Spurs' conundrum. "Face-of-the-franchise" players (up till now) have always commanded a franchise's biggest investment. But the Spurs have to figure out how to make that investment in Kawhi and still get another "face-of-the-franchise" player while maintaining some kind of fiscal responsibility in a small market. It requires a new paradigm. The league has never seen a completely reclusive, reticent superstar before.

Don't disagree with you but Kareem and to a lesser extent our own Timmy were hardly extroverts, Of course, they had Magic and Manu/Tony to do the PR stuff. Not sure that's what you meant though....

[tholdren]

Kawhi will never be the face of a franchise. That's a part of the Spurs' conundrum. "Face-of-the-franchise" players (up till now) have always commanded a franchise's biggest investment. But the Spurs have to figure out how to make that investment in Kawhi and still get another "face-of-the-franchise" player while maintaining some kind of fiscal responsibility in a small market. It requires a new paradigm. The league has never seen a completely reclusive, reticent superstar before.

That has nothing to do with it. Youre confusing marketing with loyalty. Spurs just need to dump leonard, danny, murray. Theyre losing culture.

[spurraider21]

cant believe this guy straight up lost his age 26 season coming off an mvp caliber year

[ceds]

That has nothing to do with it. Youre confusing marketing with loyalty. Spurs just need to dump leonard, danny, murray. Theyre losing culture.

i know you want a trump kkk culture for the team.

Go join a jazz board tbh

[cd98]

i know you want a trump kkk culture for the team.

Go join a jazz board tbh

Don’t go on the Jazz like that. Utah was one of the few states where Trump was unpopular and Hillary thought she could win.

[coachmac87]

That's how I compare holding onto Leonard for another year if he wants out. It's retarded to give him the supermax and a ticket out of town in a year.

So what. You’re sour and basing emotions on your argument...

Giving Kawhi the super max will also give the Spurs most in return if they trade...which will help them do your “rebuild”? Or getting a good return which will allow them to compete? Not sure since you want them to just “rebuild”

[ceds]

Don’t go on the Jazz like that. Utah was one of the few states where Trump was unpopular and Hillary thought she could win.

Im guessing she didn't win @ Utah though...too much throlden redneck mormon culture

either way trading him to a jazz board would do wonders for this forum

[ElNono]

Maybe he just needs a :cry heart to heart :cry with Poop

[phxspurfan]

Spurs are going to offer the Supermax

Probably at 12:01 tbh on Sunday, July 1st.

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2018/04/key-2018-nba-offseason-dates-deadlines.html

[ElNono]

Lock his ass up in a contract then trade him to HIV in 2-3 years or less if his health/athleticism starts declining tbh.

[K...]

Did anyone see this shit is based on no sources? Like not even a secret source, just, the spurs will unless they don't....

[baseline bum]

So what. You’re sour and basing emotions on your argument...

Giving Kawhi the super max will also give the Spurs most in return if they trade...which will help them do your “rebuild”? Or getting a good return which will allow them to compete? Not sure since you want them to just “rebuild”

You're just wasting a season letting Kawhi audition for a new team on top of rewarding him for it. All so you can match a $38 million 2019-20 salary in trade instead of the $20 million 2018-19 salary. It's the difference between only having to take Marcus Morris' affordable contract to make a Kawhi for Tatum + Brown trade go through vs having to take Horford's ridiculous albatross to make the deal happen next summer. You think winning teams are going to trade their superstar for our disgruntled bitch? New Orleans is going to burning up RC's phone line to send Anthony Davis? The Spurs are still going to lose bigtime in any trade they do. You never get equal value trading a superstar who wants out. Another cancerous year out of a Leonard who wants out sounds horrible. Only way it makes sense to have him play in a Spurs uniform next year is if it's because he plans to be here long term.

[coachmac87]

You're just wasting a season letting Kawhi audition for a new team on top of rewarding him for it. All so you can match a $38 million 2019-20 salary in trade instead of the $20 million 2018-19 salary. It's the difference between only having to take Marcus Morris' affordable contract to make a Kawhi for Tatum + Brown trade go through vs having to take Horford's ridiculous albatross to make the deal happen next summer. You think winning teams are going to trade their superstar for our disgruntled bitch? New Orleans is going to burning up RC's phone line to send Anthony Davis? The Spurs are still going to lose bigtime in any trade they do. You never get equal value trading a superstar who wants out. Another cancerous year out of a Leonard who wants out sounds horrible. Only way it makes sense to have him play in a Spurs uniform next year is if it's because he plans to be here long term.

Ok and how would you or the Spurs know that’s case without offering him the max??

You’re not making sense. You want to trade Leonard now at his lowest value and even admitted you’re making an emotion decision by not paying him cause it’s “rewarding” him. Focusing on fucking over the player over the team...

And you don’t want to compete...you want to accelerate a rebuild..something you literally haven’t experienced in 20 years..

[baseline bum]

Ok and how would you or the Spurs know that’s case without offering him the max??

You’re not making sense. You want to trade Leonard now at his lowest value and even admitted you’re making an emotion decision by not paying him cause it’s “rewarding” him. Focusing on fucking over the player over the team...

And you don’t want to compete...you want to accelerate a rebuild..something you literally haven’t experienced in 20 years..

Oh fuck off with your emotional talk. You only offer him a supermax contract if you think he's committed to the franchise long term and if the team doctors are confident he's not the next Brandon Roy. Last thing the Spurs need is another cancerous year out of Leonard. I want to not put off an inevitable rebuild if he wants out and I don't want the Spurs taking more Gasol contracts if Leonard pouts and forces a trade next summer.

[exstatic]

Pretty sure the Spurs wouldn't be offering the supermax unless they felt reasonably confident he is (or can be) healthy. Obviously, they have no way of knowing for sure...but if they strongly suspected otherwise, they wouldn't throw nearly a quarter billion dollars at him.

If this report is accurate, then it's good news.
Did you even read the story? It some marketing guy who invented Go Spurs Go speculating that they will. He has all the cred of TSpence.

[sasaint]

Don't disagree with you but Kareem and to a lesser extent our own Timmy were hardly extroverts, Of course, they had Magic and Manu/Tony to do the PR stuff. Not sure that's what you meant though....

"Hardly extroverts" doesn't come close to describing Kawhi. He is Kareem/Tim on steroids. Moreover, you have identified the two nearest comparables that I could identify - and neither of those guys would have gone completely AWOL like Kawhi did this season.

[baseline bum]

Did you even read the story? It some marketing guy who invented Go Spurs Go speculating that they will. He has all the cred of TSpence.

:lol

[coachmac87]

Oh fuck off with your emotional talk. You only offer him a supermax contract if you think he's committed to the franchise long term and if the team doctors are confident he's not the next Brandon Roy. Last thing the Spurs need is another cancerous year out of Leonard. I want to not put off an inevitable rebuild if he wants out and I don't want the Spurs taking more Gasol contracts if Leonard pouts and forces a trade next summer.


So you want to quit trying to compete for championships? Got it.

[baseline bum]

So you want to quit trying to compete for championships? Got it.

You're an idiot

[BillMc]

"Hardly extroverts" doesn't come close to describing Kawhi. He is Kareem/Tim on steroids. Moreover, you have identified the two nearest comparables that I could identify - and neither of those guys would have gone completely AWOL like Kawhi did this season.

Agreed. And Timmy was only a recluse to the media, his teammates all loved him. No one seems to know Kawhi even after all these seasons.

Kareem, an introvert, forced a trade to LA after being the face of the franchise for the Bucks and leading Milwaukee to 1 title. Hmmmm.... let us hope our "introvert" doesn't take a similar path.

[coachmac87]

You're an idiot

You’re waiving the white flag..

[DPG21920]

My hope is restored!!! Kawhi is staying!!

[ducks]

Leonard thread

[spurs10]

Glad that's settled. Does this mean LeBron is coming too?

[cjw]

You're just wasting a season letting Kawhi audition for a new team on top of rewarding him for it. All so you can match a $38 million 2019-20 salary in trade instead of the $20 million 2018-19 salary. It's the difference between only having to take Marcus Morris' affordable contract to make a Kawhi for Tatum + Brown trade go through vs having to take Horford's ridiculous albatross to make the deal happen next summer. You think winning teams are going to trade their superstar for our disgruntled bitch? New Orleans is going to burning up RC's phone line to send Anthony Davis? The Spurs are still going to lose bigtime in any trade they do. You never get equal value trading a superstar who wants out. Another cancerous year out of a Leonard who wants out sounds horrible. Only way it makes sense to have him play in a Spurs uniform next year is if it's because he plans to be here long term.

If you don’t like what the Celtics are offering in a S&T a year from now, you tell them to pound sand and Kawhi can walk to a team with cap space (which there won’t be many of) and you’ll take cap space back in an environment where there isn’t all that much of it and it’s pretty valuable. Too bad Mills and Gasol are on the deals they’re on.

Also, Horford’s deal may look like an albatross just based on stats, but he’s been outstanding this postseason and is the reason they took two against Lebron, beat Philly and probably why they made it out of the first round. Efficiency is off the charts and he’s defended well.

If I get a trade like Horford + Brown + Tatum for Kawhi + dump Gasol or Mills’ money, it’s not a terrible outcome. Pretty sure Brown and Tatum is unlikely to be on the table though.

I’d rather get a pick than Brown too, as it would be under cost control two additional years. The third pick in the draft gets expensive pretty quickly.

[spurs10]

If you don’t like what the Celtics are offering in a S&T a year from now, you tell them to pound sand and Kawhi can walk to a team with cap space (which there won’t be many of) and you’ll take cap space back in an environment where there isn’t all that much of it and it’s pretty valuable. Too bad Mills and Gasol are on the deals they’re on.

Also, Horford’s deal may look like an albatross just based on stats, but he’s been outstanding this postseason and is the reason they took two against Lebron, beat Philly and probably why they made it out of the first round. Efficiency is off the charts and he’s defended well.

If I get a trade like Horford + Brown + Tatum for Kawhi + dump Gasol or Mills’ money, it’s not a terrible outcome. Pretty sure Brown and Tatum is unlikely to be on the table though.

I’d rather get a pick than Brown too, as it would be under cost control two additional years. The third pick in the draft gets expensive pretty quickly. Getting cap space back is very valuable and unless his contract gets extended he'll be on a loaner deal to anyone and we won't get anything substantial. That's why I think an extension will be on the table.

[Proxy]

Cool, so I guess the LMA will want to stay

[SnakeBoy]

Oh fuck off with your emotional talk. You only offer him a supermax contract if you think he's committed to the franchise long term and if the team doctors are confident he's not the next Brandon Roy. Last thing the Spurs need is another cancerous year out of Leonard. I want to not put off an inevitable rebuild if he wants out and I don't want the Spurs taking more Gasol contracts if Leonard pouts and forces a trade next summer.

Still doesn't make sense. I'd rather have a good team for a year and who knows Leonard could change his mind if that was the case. Your acting like a rebuild is a quick thing so let's get it over with but it could take a decade or more. Rebuilding isn't a given so put it off as long as possible. How long have the lakers sucked now and they aren't a small market team.

[duncan2k5]

That has nothing to do with it. Youre confusing marketing with loyalty. Spurs just need to dump leonard, danny, murray. Theyre losing culture.

Culture like the cocky warriors who are gonna win another ring?

[duncan2k5]

Told you so... Spurs are gonna offer Kawhi will accept

[venitian navigator]

I hope that if they are gonne offer him the max will be with the same Embiid's rules...that's 'cause we can not repeat the experience of been bound to the will or caprice of his agent nor the one of his pseudo medical staff...

[Robz4000]

Did you even read the story? It some marketing guy who invented Go Spurs Go speculating that they will. He has all the cred of TSpence.

Uhhhh if tspence says something is going to happen it's going to happen. Only one I might believe over him is wojtek.

[jermaine]

That "Mask off" video made me wanna cry. It felt like thinking about a good girlfriend you lost an you don't know how or where things went wrong.

[spurs50_]

Could be wishful thinking on my part, but aren't Super Max contracts going to be a thing of the past in a few yrs?

[benefactor]

Told you so... Spurs are gonna offer Kawhi will accept

Did you even read the story? It some marketing guy who invented Go Spurs Go speculating that they will. He has all the cred of TSpence.

[Killakobe81]

That "Mask off" video made me wanna cry. It felt like thinking about a good girlfriend you lost an you don't know how or where things went wrong.

Which video?

[superbigtime]

Hard to envision Kawhi giving a succinct statement and saying 'I love SA.' That guy Aguilar is right though, that's pretty much all it would take.

[YGWHI]

Did you even read the story? It some marketing guy who invented Go Spurs Go speculating that they will. He has all the cred of TSpence.The article's title is quite misleading...The guy is just talking about PP actions to repair his public image, there isn't a word about a supermax offer.

[DPG21920]

The article's title is quite misleading...The guy is just talking about PP actions to repair his public image, there isn't a word about a supermax offer.

There is; it’s a side note but it’s in there.


Still, the Spurs hope to meet with Leonard and his representatives soon in a bid to mend fences and pave the way for Leonard to come to terms on a five-year $219 million supermax contract that he will be eligible to receive starting July 1. If attempts to patch up the relationship fail, the Spurs will be forced to explore trading a player coach Gregg Popovich once labeled “the future face of the franchise.”

That part does appear to be from Tom, not the PR guy.

[YGWHI]

That part does appear to be from Tom, not the PR guy.
Get it now. Thanks! :tu

[Russ]

That part does appear to be from Tom, not the PR guy.

It is so "unsourced" there's no telling where (if anywhere) it's from.

[rjv]

It is so "unsourced" there's no telling where (if anywhere) it's from.

i think orsbourne is his own source in this case. whether it's reliable or not is another thing. but, then again, what has been reliable news regarding leonard all year?

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Did you even read the story? It some marketing guy who invented Go Spurs Go speculating that they will. He has all the cred of TSpence.

I don’t think there’s a single credible article out there on the Kawhi issue. Kawhi should be nicknamed Loch Ness at this point.

[MultiTroll]

I don’t think there’s a single credible article out there on the Kawhi issue. Kawhi should be nicknamed Loch Ness at this point.
Lets start a thread where we can just make shit up and speculate like the paid media does.

[rjv]

Lets start a thread where we can just make shit up and speculate like the paid media does.

i think ST has already done that. many times. only difference is our so called beat writers get paid for their BS.

[Stabula]

Fuck that. Dude is growing a fucking bone in his quad why would you sign him to a quarter of a billion dollars?

[K...]

What's weird is the headline, if you want to offer him the max, ok do it, you're the Spurs unless the headline meant Spurs hangers ons, then yeah it's true