Young: sources tell @ExpressNews that Kawhi Leonard wants to be traded from Spurs

[gambit1990]

was the matthew tynan tweet posted here already?

most ed up thing, if true, about this saga.

[Lostwingman]

I got receipts. Micheal wright doesnt.

No one here wants "receipts" for hemorrhoid cream.

[Lostwingman]

This is what happens with people who do not have both sets of parents growing up and hit s om and money

Man his dad died when he was 17, not 7. He got whipped by his Uncle as a damn near adult.

[J_Paco]

The 100x worse comment made by TP was not intended to be taken the way it was imo. I think Tony was somewhat making reference to him being much older, so if he could do it, Kawhi should be fine...it was said partially in gist. ..again, imo. Maybe it was frustration combined with some gist.

Either way, I don't blame TP in the least. Any normal prideful person would either address Tony's comment, or man up and play ball.

Exactly, team mates challenge one another. Leonard should never, ever had taken it personally.

Also, hindsight is 20 - 20. Had Parker realized that that comment would "destroy" the relationship he either wouldn't said it or rephrased it better.

[ducks]

you can be poor and re ed, look at yourself, tbh

My bank account has 7 figures in it thanks to the election

[toki9]

Ugly. I have a real agent and I think he would kick me to the curb faster than you can say Go before he would allow such a stunt to be pulled with an en y I was contracted with.
Agents have reputations too.

And this was one of the ponits Lowe and Woz made, that Kawhi's people don't really have a reputation to protect...and no history with any organization that could give them credibility...so even if a GM wants to trade for Kawhi, they don't know what to do and they don't know with whom they should be dealing...

[cd021]

Holding out in the NBA is rare. A player not playing for a playoff team and potential contender when he could is unheard of. Going from that to paying him $200+ million?

Has it ever happened? I've been a fan since '04 and it hasn't happened in that span.

[FireMicoHalili]

Has it ever happened? I've been a fan since '04 and it hasn't happened in that span.

Don’t recall anyone, though to be fair no one’s ever sure of the veracity of injury reports. Players intending to leave their teams still played out their contracts e.g. Paul George.

[ElNono]

My bank account has 7 figures in it thanks to the election

[SPURt]

My bank account has 7 figures in it thanks to the election

You had sex with Trump too? I can see why he’d pay men more than women.

[Down Under]

Can't wait to see Kawhi at training camp.

[ECOV]

Can't wait to see Kawhi at training camp.

When is it?

[Down Under]

When is it?

Sep 27

[Chinook]

My bank account has 7 figures in it thanks to the election

I had no idea you were Russian.

[spurraider21]

My bank account has 7 figures in it thanks to the election

you’re not supposed to count the cents dude

[SnakeBoy]

you’re not supposed to count the cents dude

Hey that adds up

[BillMc]

Full podcast notes:

— Spurs wanted sit-down early on to air everything out but were afraid to approach Kawhi’s team because they didn’t want to be perceived as trying to rush him back

— Mike Wright tells the late all-star game story and pins it right on Uncle Dennis. Said traffic was so bad they walked from the hotel to the arena.

— Kawhi’s group feels Spurs are too controlling, but Wright and hosts point out that Uncle Dennis has no frame of reference to compare to. Mike Wright concurs with a statement that Uncle Dennis is “clueless”

— Host says this is a lesson in everything not to do in handling a young superstar

— Host asks if this is, at its core, about lack of trust over the misdiagnosis. Mentions Kawhi also sought a 2nd opinion on his wrist injury in 2014 so this may be a long standing issue between player and team. Mike Wright thinks that’s the essence of it, but the major component is Uncle Dennis fanning the flames. Spurs admit they may have ed up injury diagnosis, but they can’t be sure because they lost control of rehab on Aug 8th. Wright mentions the rumor that Kawhi shopped around for doctors

— Spurs reps were in New York during rehab but had no say or input on rehab at that point

— It’s fair to question what’s going on from Kawhi’s side both from a management perspective and a medical perspective. Spurs were in the dark medically all year.

— There was a point last year when Spurs flew to New York but as soon as they walked in the building, Kawhi’s team “sequestered” him so the Spurs couldn’t see him. Wright said he shouldn’t tell that story but he thinks Kawhi is gone so it doesn’t matter

— What was impetus for Spurs handing over rehab in August? Kawhi felt the rehab exercises were hurting him worse. He went and got multiple opinions, then Spurs handed over rehab

— Spurs could not get a hold of Kawhi when he visited China. Spurs wanted to send team security, but everything changed for them when they couldn’t reach him in China

— Wright says Spurs gave Kawhi an inch by giving up control of rehab, and Kawhi took a mile. Host says of course every team would want to control their franchise player’s rehab. That’s not controlling to want to do that. Wright thinks Spurs were too accommodating in giving up rehab and Kawhi took advantage of them.

— The Spurs still don’t know what they want to do with him. Don’t know if they’ll keep him or when they’ll trade him

— Seems obvious that a path to reconciliation is the Supermax. But is there a guarantee Kawhi and Uncle Dennis won’t pull this again 3 months later? “It’s a band-aid on a gunshot wound.” Wright says too risky to offer a supermax now.

— Co-host says Kawhi’s people really screwed this up. Contrasts him to Lebron in saying that Lebron is not a fool, but Kawhi is being a fool and being played. Ultimately it’s on Kawhi because he has the power to change it

— Wright says the Spurs are going to do what’s best for them regardless. It’s not about what Kawhi wants for them anymore.

— Wright says the Ingram/Kuzma/Hart/Picks package was accurate but he heard Spurs asked for 4 picks and not 2 picks and 2 pick swaps

— Wright said Spurs just want Kawhi alone in a room and can’t get it. Everything is going through Dennis and Spurs aren’t sure what really comes from Kawhi and what’s just Dennis

— All agree it’s just a bad idea to mix family and business

— Host asks if Kawhi is staying off the court because he’s worried teams will be scared off that his level of play has dropped or he’s still injured? Wright said it’s gone off the rails and no one knows. He thinks Kawhi should keep the Uncle on the payroll but just not be represented by him.

— Wright doesn’t think anything gets done anytime soon because the Spurs don’t want to trade him. Both sides in a bad spot

— How much did Pop’s comments contribute to Kawhi’s unhappiness? (Host mistakenly thinks Pop made the “100 times worse” comment). Wright says comments were not meant to be critical of Kawhi. Tony’s ultimate message was “be positive.” Wright was standing there and knew it was going to get exaggerated. Kawhi’s taking offense to that and using that as a reason to want a trade is just an excuse

— Wright says he talked to a high ranking Spurs official 2 days ago and that person did not know the context of the “100 times worse” comment. He knew the quote but had never watched the interview in its entirety for context

— Might be tough to sell vets on Kawhi returning because Kawhi and his team kept giving false dates as to when he’d return. It would be this game, then that game, then that game. Moving target. That’s what led to Ginobili comments. After series with GSW previous year, vets thought the team could be compe ive for a ring and Kawhi said “ it.” Then Kawhi shows up for picture day, leaves before shootaround, and they basically don’t see him again

— Wright knew it was over when Kawhi requested trade. Before that, team thought they could fix it. Wright wonders if Pop would have been able to focus more on repairing the relationship had he not been dealing with aftermath of wife’s death.

— All Kawhi had to say from the beginning is “I don’t want to play in San Antonio.” Instead it’s a littany of excuses for why he wants out. Spurs went out of their way to protect him. How many media markets can your star player go 2 months without making a comment? Once Spurs couldn’t protect him anymore he started looking bad. Wright doesn’t see a reconciliation

— Co-host suggests team promises to trade Kawhi, but explains to him that he has to restore his value by playing. They’ll update him on trade talks every week. Wright says they may not be able to even get to that conversation. He says all the reports about Uncle Dennis are not exaggerations. He can’t even tell most of the stories of the various wild an unorthodox things Uncle Dennis has requested

— Wright says Kawhi wants the Clippers, but he thinks a dark horse team will wind up with him. Clippers are a mismatch as a trade partner. Wright wants him to go to LA though and experience that media so he knows how good he had it in San Antonio. Skipping interviews is not an option in LA. 10x more reporters focused on him, and wait until “Lonzo’s Daddy” says something about him. Will he think the team betrayed him when they don’t protect him from the media like the Spurs did?

Many, many thanks for taking the time to right that up. Really informative (if depressing that it's come to this).

[cutewizard]

But, yes, Kawhi's group is very reactionary and unprofessional. One could imagine a scenario where they approached the Spurs quietly and indicated that Kawhi would eventually want out of SA with Pop nearing retirement, but that they would work with the Spurs to ensure they got good value in return, but that they would want the supermax, or something close. Win-win, basically. Instead taking everything public, attempting to appear hardass has led to this situation where the Spurs can't move him because nobody's offering jack, because you have totally destroyed your client's trade value due to the trade demands and attempting to pressure the Spurs to make a trade now. Even if the Spurs were willing to trade you just lost your client whatever portion of the supermax the Spurs were willing to extend you.

Great post good Sir. Thanks.

[FireMicoHalili]

One gets the sense his group isn’t done yet. Won’t be surprised Woj and Shelburne tweet out something inflammatory the next few days.

[-21-]

Well it's obvious Pop doesn't want to trade him.

Despite every media reporter affirming they would be surprised to see him in training camp, I wouldn't. It doesn't seem like the Spurs yet know which way this is going to go but their intention is to keep him.

Yeah, maybe Pop thinks he could talk to Kawhi 1-on-1 during training camp or early in the season. That is, if Kawhi shows up. It's the smart thing to do and is worth a shot I guess. If that does't work then that's when you trade him. Technically, the Spurs have till Feb to trade him. Honestly though, I just want this whole thing to end as soon as possible.

[-21-]

One gets the sense his group isn’t done yet. Won’t be surprised Woj and Shelburne tweet out something inflammatory the next few days.

Just curious, who is Mico Halili?

[mystargtr34]

you’re not supposed to count the cents dude

Lol

[nym]

It's interesting that Jabari and the people who normally leak out Kawhi's side info have yet to say anything about thw Michael Wright podcast.

Also, I would love to know what it running through the heads of other players (and front offices) right now. Many already talk about Kawhi being a different type of cat that doesn't speak but to add this lunacy on top of it is probably more than some would want to deal with.

Many could be (rightfully) thinking that if something like this is happening to PATFO who are legendary for being one of the best in the biz how is it going to go down with others? And this goes beyond PATFO needing to adapt and treat modern day players differently than in the past (which they do the days of Timmy are long gone). This is straight up disrespect for the organization. But players are their people need to understand that while things are changing and they can be more empowered there are good and bad ways of doing business. Impact (and Dennis) is doing it the extremely bad way. People trying to follow the LeBron James and Klutch model going to get their feelings hurt because not everyone is going to be able to pull that off.

Good for Kawhi if he wants to take his brand and career to the next level. I'm sure people always giving Pop & the system credit for his rise is something his side has used to get him to turn on PATFO but a simple conversation (or a series of them) could have remedied that. Pop has called him the best and given him his kudos before. Spurs PR and PATFO could easily have changed that narrative, if given a chance. It's always been said he doesn't talk much. That lack of communication is likely a huge part of this debacle. Spurs can't fix problems they don't know exist. If he is unhappy with the Spurs talk that ish out like adults. Either try and fix it and if not and come to an amicable agreement. To go about this way is crazy. Especially in light of Pop having just buried his wife in the last couple months. The optics on this are bad for Kawhi.

And for the record, trying to play the race card on someone like Pop isn't going to work, at least not to the extent his camp may think, because he has been so outspoken about stuff in the past. Using the race card will be obvious that its literally their last ditch effort to try to drag Spurs.

[Skoobz]

Don't know if this is posted in this thread, but check out the utter childish bull Leonard and his crew pulled.


https://deadspin.com/report-kawhi-le...1827375550/amp

I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’m gonna say it because Kawhi is about to be outta there. There was a point during his rehab process in New York that some of the Spurs brass went out to see him in New York. As soon as those guys arrived to the building, Kawhi’s people grabbed him and sequestered him to another part of the building. And so the Spurs’ people couldn’t even see him.

[venitian navigator]

It's interesting that Jabari and the people who normally leak out Kawhi's side info have yet to say anything about thw Michael Wright podcast.

Also, I would love to know what it running through the heads of other players (and front offices) right now. Many already talk about Kawhi being a different type of cat that doesn't speak but to add this lunacy on top of it is probably more than some would want to deal with.

Many could be (rightfully) thinking that if something like this is happening to PATFO who are legendary for being one of the best in the biz how is it going to go down with others? And this goes beyond PATFO needing to adapt and treat modern day players differently than in the past (which they do the days of Timmy are long gone). This is straight up disrespect for the organization. But players are their people need to understand that while things are changing and they can be more empowered there are good and bad ways of doing business. Impact (and Dennis) is doing it the extremely bad way. People trying to follow the LeBron James and Klutch model going to get their feelings hurt because not everyone is going to be able to pull that off.

Good for Kawhi if he wants to take his brand and career to the next level. I'm sure people always giving Pop & the system credit for his rise is something his side has used to get him to turn on PATFO but a simple conversation (or a series of them) could have remedied that. Pop has called him the best and given him his kudos before. Spurs PR and PATFO could easily have changed that narrative, if given a chance. It's always been said he doesn't talk much. That lack of communication is likely a huge part of this debacle. Spurs can't fix problems they don't know exist. If he is unhappy with the Spurs talk that ish out like adults. Either try and fix it and if not and come to an amicable agreement. To go about this way is crazy. Especially in light of Pop having just buried his wife in the last couple months. The optics on this are bad for Kawhi.

And for the record, trying to play the race card on someone like Pop isn't going to work, at least not to the extent his camp may think, because he has been so outspoken about stuff in the past. Using the race card will be obvious that its literally their last ditch effort to try to drag Spurs.

If they try to use the race card they are finished, and they knoew it...Jales Rose just tryed some time ago and was immediately silenced.
Pop image is too much higher than Kiwhi's and his group to be compromised by someone that has just behaved like an obvious fraud...
I think that once the Kiwhi's group decided to go "personal", like tha way they talked of Pop and R.C. being "fools", then the organizaion thought it was the time to initiate to backfire...not against the player but against all this bull his "group" has talked by media about the entire narrative...

Now the line is different...and the evidence and public perception, despite all then tactics and bull we heard and see in these months by espn mainly, are obviously in the sense that the real story has just benn told the way it is by Wright...

Now his "group" can see that if they only pretend to go "personal" again against the f.o. they risk a backfire or holocaustic proportions...expecially now that has emerged that the entire Leonard family, his Mom included, is beiyng paid by the society that control Kiwhi's p.r....

I just hope his group realize that is time to retire and give up...or give Kiwhi some different advice...after all, till some time ago, Kiwhi was considered the perfect Spur. And imho he knows that the organization till now has treated him well...