Kawhi Leonard Discussion: “I’m A Snake Clipper Guy.”

...same as everyone who has a laptop, a blog and fancies themselves a reporter?

 

I think she beat Pliskova to advance at Wimbledon today. Saw it on the ESPN.

 

That is a crap offer, even with the picks. Covington is already 27, going on 28 this year, and he's what he'll always be: a very average 3 and D player. Dario Saric is a decent piece, but he's probably Tobias Harris at best. Those 3 picks are likely to be in the mid-late 20s every other year.

Honestly Ingram by himself is almost better than that offer. Ingram/Hart/Zubac/1st blows that offer away. And that's an offer the Sixers haven't even made apparently!

The Spurs are screwed.

 

The Spurs are idiots. They’re basically dealing with an Isaiah Thomas situation and they think they’re the C Bags and are going to get a Kyrie Irving, Jae Crowder, Nets 1st round pick type deal, and they aren’t. The league saw what happened with IT, that his mystery injury had hampered his play way more than anticipated, and they aren’t going to risk everything for that, especially teams in the East that don’t really NEED to risk getting him and now have a shot at the Finals anyway because LeBron is gone. Add to that that there wasn’t even the threat with IT that he wouldn’t sign with the team he was traded to, where there is with Kawhi, and the offers are even worse. Should have traded him before draft day.

 

AND Kawhi is demanding a trade to LA. There's almost zero value on Kawhi and the Spurs are asking for the world. You're right, should have traded him before the draft to the Clippers for Harris/pick.

 

I don't disagree, but that offer still sucks. And if Kawhi ends up in Philly, I'd be surprised if he didn't stay there.

 

Just for fun I've been perusing the Spurs Talk Forum Thread to see how Spurs fans are feeling about all this.

Some of them are still thinking they're going to get a massive return even after recent reports that the Sixers are basically out. In fact the Sixers are apparently trying to lure RC Buford away from the Spurs. I think that'd be a good move for him honestly as the Spurs are clearly a sinking ship. However, that'd mean the Sixers and Kawhi are probably not a good match, right?

Either way, it's pretty funny reading their responses to the recent offers. Reality is starting to sink in for them though. Kawhi has no value right now and any deal they take will likely be a bad one. If we offer them Deng/Ingram/pick at this point, it still might be the best offer they get.

 

I don't think any of this is likely to be wrong. I think the ancillary parts of Kawhi's life are making a huge impact on what he's doing right now. I think getting to a big market is crucial for him because he wants more money from shoes and all that.

Unfortunately, I agree with De Paula: that's not really Kawhi's personality at all. If he does get to a major market, he needs to hire a publicist team that can make him relatable. Who really is going out and buying Kawhi shoes? Nobody because he has the personality of a fish. If he wants to make that kind of money he needs to remake his image and right now all that his team is doing is hurting his image more and more.

 

In the end though, it seems like Kawhi's people are the ones making the calls since he refuses to come out and say anything to anybody. I think LA is a natural landing spot for him so he can come home and his people get their market so they can try to squeeze more out of Jordan Brand. I still believe his personality is an awkward fit here in LA though. Being a Laker kind of means playing the game off the court too. Look at Kuzma and Hart compared to KCP or even Julius Randle to an extent.

There's a lot of weird pieces to this that I think is also driving Kawhi's value through the basement. His uncle is apparently another Lavar Ball type of guy. All of this stuff with the shoes and needing a larger market. Is Philadelphia the kind of market that helps shoe sales? Is Boston? Why would either of them give up assets if they feel like Kawhi's people will drive him to LA? Then add in Kawhi's apparent health problems, and the Spurs are absolutely f***ed here.