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

[cd98]

Spurs have til today to accept the Lakers’ offer, if reports on social media are true. If the Lakers don’t push through with that threat, they’ll look awfully weak and lose leverage again. I’m sure they have another deal lined up though, a lesser one but one which makes them substantially better than they currently are (which isn’t saying much, really).

Naw, someone will just tweet that the Lakers never gave a Monday deadline. So much disinformation out there it’s hard to know what’s going on.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Yeah, i've brought it up before but pushing this along can have some serious ramifications on the CBA. Even when Vince Carter quit, he played out his contract and was just overall ty on the floor. Plus he wanted out because the front office wasn't committed to winning. Kawhi's group does not have the luxury of that spin.

I highly doubt that RC/Pop would let it get to that point but maybe ownership steps in and tells them to hold their ground. What's to stop a future Spurs player or any other NBA player from pulling this again?

Adam Silver would love Kawhi on the lakers and having another super team.
If anything I could see him encouraging the Spurs to trade Leonard.

[Dex]

Yeah, this seems like an awful lot of speculation around a quote from Stephen "Talks out of his A" Smith.

If Kawhi's camp really leaked this to try to increase leverage, they are dumber than we thought.

[Dex]

I also think that the Lebron move out West may incentivize East teams more, especially Philly. The East is wide open now that King James is gone. The time for them to strike is now.

[Clipper Nation]

Plus he wanted out because the front office wasn't committed to winning.

No he didn't. He wanted out because the Raptors didn't hire Dr. J as their GM like he demanded. Plus, his mother was Toronto's version of Kawhi's uncle at the time:

https://basketball.realgm.com/wireta...ns-the-Raptors

[dbestpro]

I'd send his to the Clips before the Lakers. Dividing the talent rather than allowing it to conjoin is a better solution for the Spurs while they build on the fly.

[Mr. Body]

Adam Silver would love Kawhi on the lakers and having another super team.
If anything I could see him encouraging the Spurs to trade Leonard.

If this was David Stern, he'd be out there in the media talking about how it's not right that the Spurs are not letting LA have their way. Silver is different.

[Strategic]

The Spurs from a basketball standpoint are screwed, and their era of contention dating all the way back to 1989 is over. There is no outcome that can prevent the end. What Kawhi is doing goes beyond basketball. If allowed to get away with it, it has huge repercussions on both the ownership and players and could herald the end of guaranteed contracts in the NBA.Do not trade him. Anywhere.They should keep their mouths shut, expect him to report to training camp, and see just how dumb and self-destructive he and his team are.

After the first paragraph, right on!

[KDKSpurs24]

Yeah, this seems like an awful lot of speculation around a quote from Stephen "Talks out of his A" Smith.

If Kawhi's camp really leaked this to try to increase leverage, they are dumber than we thought.

When I listened to it last night he made sure to say that he hadn’t heard it from Kawhi’s camp. He said it’s what some executives believed could be a possibility due to Kawhi’s personality.

[cjw]

Please, please happen and clog up that max space

[ceperez]

Adam Silver would love Kawhi on the lakers and having another super team.
If anything I could see him encouraging the Spurs to trade Leonard.

The league will make it happen for the ratings!

It is an entertainment business first and a professional sport second.

[cd98]

If this was David Stern, he'd be out there in the media talking about how it's not right that the Spurs are not letting LA have their way. Silver is different.

Didn't David Stern veto the Chris Paul trade between New Orleans and Lakers way back when...? I actually think neither would support Kawhi sitting. For one, some people here forget that the commissioner represents the owners and negotiates on behalf of the owners, not the players. The owners pay the commissioner's salary and sign him to employment contracts. Sure, Silver and Stern want a strong Lakers squad, but they don't want fans thinking the fix is in and they don't like lopsided deals that feed conspiracies. So they will take the owner's side to avoid the appearance of impropriety and to bolster the confidence of the owners. Plus, players not honoring their contracts is bad for the NBA business as a whole. That's not the image they want as the league gets more and more popular. They want people focusing on the game, not off the court circuses.

[SAGirl]

I still can't believe LeBron didn't tell Magic - trade for Kawhi this Summer or I'm not signing. He's got 4 years against the best team ever, when he's already 34, in a conference where they're not even the 2nd best team. Surely he must have told him to in get him now. Moreso, they met after PG signed with OKC, anything could happen - Clippers could even get a third team involved with a couple of young guys, Harris & a few first rounders to get Kawhi.

There was a rumor from nebulous source that lakerfan credits as an anonymous insider who said when LeBron saw that the Lakers were going to have to give up a ton of assets for Kiwi, he made things easier for the Lakers by telling them to hold on to the assets and wait. He was going to sign anyways and didn't want them to throw the farm. Take it fwiw. It wouldn't surprise bc at one point there were rumors that the Lakers wanted Murray together with Kawhi, which has to be a LeBron request (since he loves Murray).

[Mr. Body]

Didn't David Stern veto the Chris Paul trade between New Orleans and Lakers way back when...? I actually think neither would support Kawhi sitting. For one, some people here forget that the commissioner represents the owners and negotiates on behalf of the owners, not the players. The owners pay the commissioner's salary and sign him to employment contracts. Sure, Silver and Stern want a strong Lakers squad, but they don't want fans thinking the fix is in and they don't like lopsided deals that feed conspiracies. So they will take the owner's side to avoid the appearance of impropriety and to bolster the confidence of the owners. Plus, players not honoring their contracts is bad for the NBA business as a whole. That's not the image they want as the league gets more and more popular. They want people focusing on the game, not off the court circuses.

The league owners vetoed the Paul trade, not Stem. You know Stern wanted that so bad.

[Clipper Nation]

Didn't David Stern veto the Chris Paul trade between New Orleans and Lakers way back when...?

Stern's not dumb. Even though he was the Lakers' biggest fan, he still wasn't going to let the team he owned get ripped off by them.

Sure, Silver and Stern want a strong Lakers squad, but they don't want fans thinking the fix is in and they don't like lopsided deals that feed conspiracies.

Then maybe they should stop rigging games and allowing deals like the MVPau trade.

[Marcus Bryant]

Not smart for Leonard to get this rep. Easy for owners to take the stance that if players don't want to honor contracts that owners don't want to have to either. This is what player and team options are for.

[Mr. Body]

There was a rumor from nebulous source that lakerfan credits as an anonymous insider who said when LeBron was that the Lakers were going to have to give up a ton of assets for Kiwi, he made things easier for the Lakers by telling them to hold on to the assets and wait. He was going to sign anyways and didn't want them to throw the farm. Take it fwiw. It wouldn't surprise bc at one point there were rumors that the Lakers wanted Murray together with Kawhi, which has to be a LeBron request (since he loves Murray).

It would suck of LeBron stabbed Pop in the back after all that mutual respect.

[DPG21920]

Please, please happen and clog up that max space

Yup - if Randle gets close to his market value (at least 15M plus, probably closer to 18M) it’s a great development as long as it’s more than one year.

[dbestpro]

Julius Randle went, in one season, from a cap casualty to legitimately valuable role player. It seems that wasn’t enough to convince the Lakers to make him feel wanted, though, according to NBA.com’s David Aldridge. This would be quite a disappointing development in an offseason that’s already seen the Los Angeles Lakers miss out on Paul George. Here’s what Aldridge had to say about what he’s heard regarding talks between Randle and the Lakers: “Julius Randle has made it clear that I don’t think he really wants to be back there, so are you putting money into a guy that doesn’t really want to be back there?” – via Silverscreenandroll.com

[Marcus Bryant]

There was a rumor from nebulous source that lakerfan credits as an anonymous insider who said when LeBron saw that the Lakers were going to have to give up a ton of assets for Kiwi, he made things easier for the Lakers by telling them to hold on to the assets and wait. He was going to sign anyways and didn't want them to throw the farm. Take it fwiw. It wouldn't surprise bc at one point there were rumors that the Lakers wanted Murray together with Kawhi, which has to be a LeBron request (since he loves Murray).

This is the last card Leonard's camp has, threat of holdout. At this point the Spurs will call his bluff.

[Spurs da champs]

Yup - if Randle gets close to his market value (at least 15M plus, probably closer to 18M) it’s a great development as long as it’s more than one year.

It's probably just gonna be one year. KCP has taken one year contract again after getting traded out of Detroit for wanting a big contract. Everything is going the Lakers way so far.

[dbestpro]

It would suck of LeBron stabbed Pop in the back after all that mutual respect.

Pop thought the kumbaya liberal stance would help when everyone knows liberals eat their young.

[DPG21920]

It's probably just gonna be one year. KCP has taken one year contract again after getting traded out of Detroit for wanting a big contract. Everything is going the Lakers way so far.

KCP is not Randle.

[Ice009]

Randle has already had a bad injury in his rookie year, I doubt he'd take a 1 year deal. Even if he takes a multiyear deal, the Lakers can still trade him at a later time.

[Spurs da champs]

KCP is not Randle.

Randle wet himself over news of Bron signing with Lakers tho.