Kawhi Leonard’s Return to San Antonio: 7 Questions Answered

[Uriel]

As real as any reasons we are privy to, it seems like the obvious seed of contention. PATFO wanted to structure his contract like Duncan's, by backloading his salary while Leonard wanted it upfront. Aldridge's extension impacted on Leonard's desire. When neither side relented, PATFO started using Leonard's then-recent slew of injuries to lowball him and then Unc responded by leaking their request for a trade. Remember that clip of Leonard gingerly mounting the airplane stairs? Was that staged as well?

There's also this factor to the equation:


https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com...227-story.html

His girlfriend was pregnant with his daughter the season he went for second DPoY, all-star and all-nba in a 67-win squad. Then, the season he became a first-time father, he went for mvp, finishing second in voting. He was checking all the requisite boxes for a supermax contract. This was also the season when Aldridge's request for a trade was made public. The season after that was the season leading into Leonard's supermax eligibility. So yeah, his goal seemed obvious to me and not getting it was a dealbreaker. And I think San Antone media knows it too but since Leonard never raised a public stink about the supermax, they followed suit and pursued other narratives, consequently saving the franchise some face.

You seem to know a lot about this. Are you speculating or do you have insider information?

[anon]

You seem to know a lot about this. Are you speculating or do you have insider information?

My man, can't you tell I have as much inside info as OP? The bulk of my post is public record. I followed the reporting and non-reporting on last season's debacle as much as any Spurfan, or any person who could digest news based on how the real world works for that matter.

[Fusternino]

I am fairly certain it had to do with the supermax and not the injury management component-I agree on that much.

[Hoops Czar]

So here is the turn heel

Well, the amount of backpedalling in this thread when it comes to blaming Kawhi and defending the patfo must feel like 100 slaps to the face while taking another in the rear.

[Tbirdy1012]

I don’t blame the org for not giving a supermax to a guy who just held out with a mysterious (and possibly degenerative) season long injury.

Maybe that makes me a loner on this forum, but with how everything went down last season, I’m okay with it. I’m sure the Spurs had a part to play in it all, but to say Kawhi and Co. handled it professionally and in a way that they deserved the benefit of the doubt is probably wrong.

But I don’t know any inside info unlike some here.

[bigfan]

Hey he was great but he's gone, him. Lets win another ring.

[Chinook]

Spurs might be right not to have offered the DPE. It's a really bad contract. Teams that just don't give a about money like GS and Houston can take them on, but it's a big deal for any club, no matter how great the star is. Leonard being hurt and only being a part-time defensive player nowadays makes it hard to earmark so much money for him, especially if you feel like he's going to degrade faster than normal. I know guys like John Wall have DPE deals, but dude is so overpaid that there is room for a guy to be way better than him and still not give appropriate value for his salary.

[Cryptic Parable]

If he wanted out to expand his brand, be more focal of the offense, whatever that’s one thing but to request a trade and specify a specific team this handicapping the front office and picking a rival this making fans even more angry if just inexcusable . If the Spurs wanted him to play last season and he genuinely felt he shouldn’t given that the Spurs have been erring on the side of caution for years is odd to me, if that’s what happened. 50-50 is still not excusing naming Lakers as his only destination and betraying the fanbase. Ask to be traded but don’t say you’ll only go to such and such and be with your teammates until it transpires. I guess though whatever happened would clear up a bunch of the holes we have in regards to Leonard. I wish him the best, hate how it ended because a Loenard.., White and Murray defensive lineup would have been a nightmare for opposing squads.

[ducks]

Tom Orsborn
Tom_orsborn
·
9h
Kawhi found a scapegoat for all that booing that went on at the AT&T Center Thursday night: "Media does a great job to stir people’s minds and influence them to think a certain way. So I already knew that was going to be by the way the media was.”

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

if kawhi felt he needed to leave because he was not getting the supermax, fine
if kawhi wanted off the spurs because the holt family is racist, fine
if kawhi wanted off the team about parker is a jerk and LMA is a diva, fine
if kawhi wanted to go to LA because of family, brand or money, fine
if kawhi wanted out of SA because he doesn't like the smell of enchiladas, fine

but be a professional - sit down with PATFO and say you want a trade and why
be a good teammate and cheer from the bench if you are physically able
be not a dumbass and hire a real PR firm to help you communicate with the public and manage the crisis you helped create

[offset formation]

if kawhi felt he needed to leave because he was not getting the supermax, fine
if kawhi wanted off the spurs because the holt family is racist, fine
if kawhi wanted off the team about parker is a jerk and LMA is a diva, fine
if kawhi wanted to go to LA because of family, brand or money, fine
if kawhi wanted out of SA because he doesn't like the smell of enchiladas, fine

but be a professional - sit down with PATFO and say you want a trade and why
be a good teammate and cheer from the bench if you are physically able
be not a dumbass and hire a real PR firm to help you communicate with the public and manage the crisis you helped create

And yet, none of those may have been true nor have had anything to do with why he left. Or all of them could have been. This whole thing was so strange. And continues to be so.

And you nailed it. Nice post.

[Proxy]

wondering if there might've been something to pop taking kawhi over to chip specifically... was just those 3 talking at the end iirc?

[Chinook]

wondering if there might've been something to pop taking kawhi over to chip specifically... was just those 3 talking at the end iirc?

That's what it looked like. Definitely there was something to that, but it would be weird to try to clear the air if it was a beef between Chip and Leonard. My guess is that the two are close. , I'd assume Leonard's close with most of the staff, given how much time he spent in the gym. Chip worked with Leonard a lot on that shot early on, though.

[Spurs Homer]

Tom Orsborn
Tom_orsborn
·
9h
Kawhi found a scapegoat for all that booing that went on at the AT&T Center Thursday night: "Media does a great job to stir people’s minds and influence them to think a certain way. So I already knew that was going to be by the way the media was.”

He sounded like that piece of Trump blaming the media for his crimes!

[Proxy]

That's what it looked like. Definitely there was something to that, but it would be weird to try to clear the air if it was a beef between Chip and Leonard. My guess is that the two are close. , I'd assume Leonard's close with most of the staff, given how much time he spent in the gym. Chip worked with Leonard a lot on that shot early on, though.

yeah... I was kinda trying to get a read on anyone in their post game interviews when they were asked about the crowd's reaction to Kawhi, but none of them are going to say anything, just hunches based on their body language. Disappointed I couldn't find an interview with LMA, remembering his 'Kawhi's got to do what's best for him' comment.

The only thing I could conjure up with Chip was some similar thing to TP and Manu's questioning of Kawhi's injury or him not being with the team. If Chip was with Leonard in the gym so often then maybe him hiding in NYC pissed him off... who knows. But yeah, totally agree with you, would've been weird to try and clear the air at the end of the game.

Then again, maybe Dennis being in the stands was the best chance they had to communicate. I did chuckle when Pop turned to the camera men and told them to 'give us a moment' thinking of how much restraint it took him to not just say ' off.'

[Mr. Body]

I've also thought it was because the FO was looking to lowball him and his camp wasn't taking it well. Of course that's rough. The franchise is shrewd/chintzy in its financial dealings and always will be. They recognize (Booker/Wall/Wiggins/etc) that the wrong deal can hamstring a team badly. They also have shown a history of taking care of their players down the line. Kawhi and his camp never recognized this, or refused to, and took offense.

I don't have an issue with them taking offense. I don't have an issue with the team not wanting to pay out a supermax. Honestly, any team that does is idiotic. It's a horrible decision even for a top player.

[objective]

if kawhi felt he needed to leave because he was not getting the supermax, fine
if kawhi wanted off the spurs because the holt family is racist, fine
if kawhi wanted off the team about parker is a jerk and LMA is a diva, fine
if kawhi wanted to go to LA because of family, brand or money, fine
if kawhi wanted out of SA because he doesn't like the smell of enchiladas, fine

but be a professional - sit down with PATFO and say you want a trade and why
be a good teammate and cheer from the bench if you are physically able
be not a dumbass and hire a real PR firm to help you communicate with the public and manage the crisis you helped create

100% agreed.

He didn't even have to cheer from the bench. He could have just looked distracted with occasional half hearted claps while looking off into the distance. But be there after it's obvious there was no more return that season.

A player wanting out for any reason, even a bad reason, is fine. But do the bare minimum of professionalism.

[Proxy]

[Kawhi_6rings]

This is the Spurs' super bowl. Just another game for the Raps, tbh..

KACHOKE SUCKS

[SpursDynasty85]

I've also thought it was because the FO was looking to lowball him and his camp wasn't taking it well. Of course that's rough. The franchise is shrewd/chintzy in its financial dealings and always will be. They recognize (Booker/Wall/Wiggins/etc) that the wrong deal can hamstring a team badly. They also have shown a history of taking care of their players down the line. Kawhi and his camp never recognized this, or refused to, and took offense.

I don't have an issue with them taking offense. I don't have an issue with the team not wanting to pay out a supermax. Honestly, any team that does is idiotic. It's a horrible decision even for a top player.

A lot of what you say here makes sense. Blindly paying the supermax is dumb but it is still an option/tool to use to compete. I think the Spurs might've relented if Kawhi was more of a Patty and Manu type where he would literally take the responsibility of the team winning first on his shoulders and continue their culture and legacy for the future. I think Pop an Robinson mentioning this in the media hinted at this fact.
In the end it looks like the Spurs made the right choice if the Supermax was the hangup. Kawhi is not good enough to pay that much money because it seems his quad may not be 100%, he has no leadership skills outside of being a gym rat, and his developmental curve weighted towards isolation basketball. We got less talent in return but we made up for it in team chemistry and quality character in our personnel this year. This probably made the Spurs better in the long run than just paying him the Supermax and Kawhi accepting. Still tough tough decisions and man was it painful to watch that drama last year.

[daslicer]

I've also thought it was because the FO was looking to lowball him and his camp wasn't taking it well. Of course that's rough. The franchise is shrewd/chintzy in its financial dealings and always will be. They recognize (Booker/Wall/Wiggins/etc) that the wrong deal can hamstring a team badly. They also have shown a history of taking care of their players down the line. Kawhi and his camp never recognized this, or refused to, and took offense.

I don't have an issue with them taking offense. I don't have an issue with the team not wanting to pay out a supermax. Honestly, any team that does is idiotic. It's a horrible decision even for a top player.

The Super Max is evil and a mistake the owners made in the last CBA by including it. The supermax is going to make it impossible for teams to build contenders since you are going to have 1 player eating up most of cap which will result in a team consisting of a superstar and a bunch of G-leaguers.

[Chinook]

Danny's such a weird, touchy guy.

[Chinook]

The Super Max is evil and a mistake the owners made in the last CBA by including it. The supermax is going to make it impossible for teams to build contenders since you are going to have 1 player eating up most of cap which will result in a team consisting of a superstar and a bunch of G-leaguers.

The super max is awful, but what's really hurting it is how the cap isn't growing anywhere near as fast as folks believed it would. $46 Million in 2024 or whatever would be fine with a $150-Million cap. But there's a legit risk that the cap is near $110 Million once the current TV deal expires and everyone has to deal with the reality of cable's decline once again. Then what do you do to build a contender, especially if you have a second max player making near $40 Million at the same time?

[timvp]

if kawhi felt he needed to leave because he was not getting the supermax, fine
if kawhi wanted off the spurs because the holt family is racist, fine
if kawhi wanted off the team about parker is a jerk and LMA is a diva, fine
if kawhi wanted to go to LA because of family, brand or money, fine
if kawhi wanted out of SA because he doesn't like the smell of enchiladas, fine

but be a professional - sit down with PATFO and say you want a trade and why
be a good teammate and cheer from the bench if you are physically able
be not a dumbass and hire a real PR firm to help you communicate with the public and manage the crisis you helped create

100% agreed.

He didn't even have to cheer from the bench. He could have just looked distracted with occasional half hearted claps while looking off into the distance. But be there after it's obvious there was no more return that season.

A player wanting out for any reason, even a bad reason, is fine. But do the bare minimum of professionalism.

Well said.

[Fusternino]

Was it Rudy or Messina? Rudy rather explicitly said after the season Kawhi was just looking for a bigger market. Maybe Pau since he's already on record having issues with Dedmon. Maybe Messina had a cultural disconnect a la Blatt?