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Fake news.
San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard will not play Thursday against the New Orleans Pelicans, according to a source close to the situation.
Yahoo! Sports first reported the news that Leonard wouldn't play.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...leans-pelicans
Fake news.
Don't mind it, especially if they don't intend to trade Kawhi. If Leonard is a Spur next year, the team's draft pick is relatively important, as the mid-teens could see a number of decent players fall.
Or Pop may have meant what he said when he said Kawhi wasn't coming back. Like that wasn't him threatening to take the choice out of Kawhi's hands -- that was him actually doing it.
Pop met with Kawhi this morning (after meeting with the real team yesterday to tell them he was meeting with Kawhi this morning) and told Kawhi to just sit the rest of the year. Boss moves by Pop after realizing Kawhi wasn't going to be ready.
Also not a good sign for those thinking Kawhi has any future in SA, IMO
2017-18: The year Kawhi held the Spurs Hostage
What does Pop do?
Shoots the hostage
quelle surprise
Maybe Pop wants to go to the Lottery. After watching the Spurs trainwreck, it's obvious they need some low picks to try and reconstruct this roster.
I guess it wasn't Leonard's decision afterall.
Whether he plays or not it was pretty clear we werent doing anything this year. I applaud the effort of the guys on our current roster but they just dont have the talent to get it done. We need to rebuild a little bit and come back with a healthy Kawhi next year.
not only the opportunity to get a player that can contribute immediately, it could also be the first time the spurs would have a viable draft pick to package as part of a trade. so, regardless IF the spurs don't get into the playoffs that draft pick is a solid consolation.
No need to have him come back now that this season has officially become a train wreck.
Chances are he probably would've started experiencing more discomfort and then have to miss time again.
Pop better not have made this decision. If Kawhi wants to play and your doctors cleared him months ago then he should play. I'd love to see the meltdown after Kawhi leaves when he says "I really didn't like that Pop didn't let me play after I got healthy".
Although it probably went like this:
Pop: Do you still fell discomfort?
Kawhi: Yes, it's hard to explain. But I still would like to play.
Pop: We suck anyways so just sit the year out.
If the Spurs got, say, the 13th-overall pick, I'm not moving that for anything realistic if I'm PATFO. You're talking about the seventh-highest draft pick in team history. It's not something you give up as a consolation prize to Cleveland for Lebron, an expiring like Walker or a salary dump.
Kawhi in that case. You don't sit out months unilaterally then demand everything gets done on your schedule. Hopefully, if Kawhi really were to feel that way, PATFO knows it already and will deal him. This injury has been a dark cloud over the team for far too long. It's contributed to the collapse almost as much as the lack of talent has.
If you don't feel healthy despite what the doctors say then you sit out especially before you get your supermax contract.
Effort?
They have been playing like es ever since Pop said Kawhi isn't coming back.
Even if I were to agree with that, it doesn't mean that once you do feel healthy that everyone has to jump to attention and give you what you want. In your scenario, Kawhi put his future over team (rather, he decided to not trust the team even though they are the only ones who could give him his supermax), so why would the team not try to move on with what they have? I firmly believe that if Kawhi had blinked out of existence to start the season, leaving the team with no memory he was ever there, they'd still be the third seed right now. They've been in position to win a ton of games and just collapsed recently. Before Kawhi came back, they were getting those clutch wins against Minny, Toronto and Boston. They'd still have their struggles, especially with their other injuries, but they wouldn't have dropped so many games by being out-executed down the stretch.
Actually, they played really well immediately after Pop closed the door -- that was the Cleveland game. They've been playing like es since Kawhi's camp leaked that he was planning to come back.Effort?
They have been playing like es ever since Pop said Kawhi isn't coming back.
I'd move the 13th pick in a second for Walker. They'd obviously only do something like that with both the intent and confidence in being able to re-sign him. They need to maximize the prime of Leonard and hoping to strike gold with a middling draft pick doesn't do that.
If ownership is unwilling to pay the luxury tax (which they may only have to do in '19-'20) for a team with a championship ceiling, they might as well sell the team.
He decided to trust his body over the team doctors. That doesn't mean he doesn't trust the team.
Because what we have isn't enough. You move on with Leonard because then the Spurs have a much better chance at getting to the playoffs and then going as far as possible.
The team could just as easily have done worse without the existence of Kawhi. Good chance the idea of one of the best players in the league returning is going to push motivate the team to stay afloat in the hopes that Kawhi would eventually return to a decent situation.
Yes, it does. He's deciding to not play pursuing a contract that only the team could give him. What's the real downside if Kawhi got more hurt? The Spurs wouldn't supermax him? Well guess what they could well not do now...
That was someone Leonard didn't give a about until after Pop called him out. It's not a coincidence that Kawhi's leg magically felt better right after Pop said the team was moving on. As far as anyone other than Skip Bayless has said, Kawhi hasn't actually healed more in the last few months.Because what we have isn't enough. You move on with Leonard because then the Spurs have a much better chance at getting to the playoffs and then going as far as possible.
I doubt it, especially in the situation you've laid out where Kawhi is holding himself out for a supermax but then also willing to walk away because the Spurs weren't willing to play him exactly when he wanted to. That suggests a Kawhi who just didn't want to play for the Spurs anymore and only wanted to protect his image when he went against Pop's statement about closing the door right after the team had a statement win to back it up. If that Kawhi were to exist, his teammates know who he is and are likely not too keen on having him back. Remember, this is a Leonard who objectively spent a long time away from the team and then had a few games where he seemed to force the "team spirit" angle. One way or another, things aren't all right in the locker room.The team could just as easily have done worse without the existence of Kawhi. Good chance the idea of one of the best players in the league returning is going to push motivate the team to stay afloat in the hopes that Kawhi would eventually return to a decent situation.
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