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SAN ANTONIO – Amid a gulf of salary-cap space in Los Angeles and New York, the promise of glitzy pitches and powerful personas, the summer's most impactful recruiter promises to come with a muffled grunt, a shrug of his shoulders and hands so massive that they could snare the biggest free-agent star of them all.
San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard can sell Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge on something that Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson and Carmelo Anthony are unable: the chance to play with basketball's best burgeoning two-way player, to secure his standing within a Spurs monolith rumbling beyond the genius of Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili and into the second act of this generation's greatest basketball dynasty.
In a perfect scenario, the Spurs have a full understanding of the futures of Duncan, Ginobili and Danny Green when they walk into a 12:01 a.m. ET meeting on July 1 with Leonard and his agent, Brian Elfus, in Los Angeles. The Spurs will offer Leonard a full maximum contract extension, get a commitment and turn themselves toward prying Aldridge back to his Texas roots.
It is a testament to the regime of Portland general manager Neil Olshey, the commitment of owner Paul Allen, that the most credible threat to lose Aldridge comes out of San Antonio, the best franchise in sports. For everything Aldridge has been doing lately to sell people that he wants out of Portland, make no mistake: His forever changing moods will shift again and again, because that's Aldridge's nature. Portland can still pay Aldridge the most money, pitch him on Olshey's franchise-building a en and the chance to be rememembered as the greatest Blazer ever.
For all the promises of rebuilds that'll come out of the Lakers and Knicks, the Spurs' recruiting pitch promises to be far more substantive: Leonard pushing into his prime, a torturous 32 points in San Antonio's 100-73 Game 3 victory on Friday night delivering a deeper understanding of the promise of potential partnerships. So few players dominate without dominating the ball. Who wouldn't want to play with Kawhi Leonard?
In every way, Leonard is the perfect Spur, a creation some could swear had been hatched on GM R.C. Buford's basement workbench. He hates talking, shuns the spotlight and plays the game with an uncommon ferocity. Leonard has long arms, massive hands and the greatest defensive instincts in the game. He's worked so hard on his offense, stunning the Spurs with his capacity to expand his talents.
"He's worked on everything since he got here," coach Gregg Popovich said. "He wasn't a 3-point shooter, he was an inside guy."
The Spurs had Tim Duncan present Leonard with his Defensive Player of the Year trophy in a pregame ceremony. Afterward, Duncan was asked his impressions of how deeply the award touched his young teammate.
"Can anybody tell? I don't know."
Duncan handed him the trophy, and the idea would've been for Leonard to stand there, that trophy high in the air and let the love wash over him. Only he bailed. "I gave him the trophy, walked off and he was [following] behind me," Duncan said.
In every way, Leonard has followed Duncan. Most of all, he's made it possible for the dynasty to get its second wind, especially Duncan. He turns 39 on Saturday, and he's still one of the NBA's best power forwards. He made it easy for Duncan and Ginobili to grow older gracefully, made it easy for everyone – including Popovich – to stay the course, stay on the job and push longer together than they ever imagined possible.
"Having somebody who can support them has made us a better team, which then allows Pop to not have to overplay our older guys," Buford told Yahoo Sports on Friday night. "His development has made the rest of the group fit. And he's fit with them."
Leonard is a Southern California kid content with life in South Texas, with no desire to chase fame in a big market. He wants to chase championships, and understands sooner than later he'll need a supporting cast of his own.
For now, there's no scenario where Leonard plans to pursue offer sheets on the market, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
Leonard wants to be a Spur, and the Spurs are expected to come calling on July 1 with the max offer that they resisted delivering Leonard in the preseason, a move born out of preserving cap space to bring on a star free agent this summer.
The Spurs can't be sure how they'll proceed on July 1 until they know Duncan's and Ginobili's plans. Whatever they decide, the possibility of pursuing Aldridge on the recruiting trail could offer the Spurs the chance to do the only thing that they've never done in the NBA: Lure an All-Star free agent in his prime, beat New York and Los Angeles somewhere besides the basketball court.
For those who want to win, for those unimpressed with the empty promises of sideways big-market franchises, Kawhi Leonard ought to be July's most persuasive recruiter: all action, all the time.
Full article: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/why-kaw...084241791.html
Damn, posted 3 times in 2 minutes..
