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(Shams) Kawhi Leonard wants out of San Antonio

Discussion in 'NBA Dish' started by jacoby, Jun 15, 2018.

  1. Nook

    Nook Member

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    You are right. Leonard should play and represent his country... so when the season starts he will have no excuse for not playing.

    On a side note I think there is a decent chance that Leonard ends up liking Toronto and signs for 190 million. I think he has a very good chance of winning the MVP and getting lucrative endorsements and becomes the darling of Canada.
     
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  2. Deuce

    Deuce Context & Nuance

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    As an NBA fan, I hope he stays in Toronto and stays East. Boston, Philly and now Toronto. Would be nice to see the East built back up again for competitive reasons.
     
  3. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Contributing Member

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    A perfect FU trade for San Antonio.
     
  4. Nook

    Nook Member

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    [​IMG]

    Would you **** with this guy? He looks like one of the Nazi doctors that carried out the final solution and then fled to Brazil where he lived out his life drowning disabled toddlers in the toilet.
     
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  5. Deuce

    Deuce Context & Nuance

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    These are some good reads on the Spurs/Kawhi situation.



     
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  6. Senator

    Senator Member

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    More of an "F" us trade. Derozan ain't doing anything other than leading you to the 18th pick in the draft. With Kawhi you always have a chance in a top heavy league. Letting it disintegrate was San Antonio's problem, likely due to inexperience with anyone other than choir boys over the last 2 decades.
     
  7. TEXNIFICENT

    TEXNIFICENT Member

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    Kawhi hadn't won squat since Duncan retired. Besides they offered him $219 million.
     
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  8. omgTHEpotential

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    If he leaves Toronto, he'll get a 140M instead of the 220M that he would've gotten with the Spurs. That's 80M on the table to go play the 2nd fiddle to LeBron.
     
  9. omgTHEpotential

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    Toronto, such a welcoming city. Might be Harden's 2nd choice behind Houston.

    [​IMG]
     
  10. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    David Robinson: Kawhi Leonard's Spurs exit 'one of the oddest situations I think I've seen'

    With Kawhi Leonard now officially a member of the Toronto Raptors after San Antonio's surprising swap to acquire DeMar DeRozan last week, Spurs legend David Robinson revealed how difficult it was to communicate with the former Finals MVP during their time together in San Antonio.

    "He really, he's a hard guy," Robinson said Monday on ESPN's The Jump with Rachel Nichols. "He's just quiet. He doesn't ... I've reached out to him several times and just never hear anything back from him.

    "I think the whole time he's been here [in San Antonio], I've talked to him maybe a handful of times, and I can count on one hand how many words he's really said to me. So he's just a quiet guy, and I think that that's made it difficult, I think, for all parties to really understand each other in this process."

    Robinson said he is still perplexed by Leonard's exit.

    "I mean, it's one of the oddest situations I think I've seen since I've been in pro basketball. He's a hard guy to understand. He's a hard guy to read."

    Robinson found it curious that the Spurs -- who were among the early adopters to resting healthy players to save them for the long haul -- would change course and force Leonard to play if they felt like it could harm him.

    "San Antonio, we obviously have a reputation for taking care of our players, almost too much, I mean, people criticize us for sitting guys down," he said. "Now all of the sudden, you know, we've got a guy who says he felt pressure to play. Which is, you know, tough. I mean, what can you do? We typically don't risk our players' health. But if a guy's not happy, he's got to go somewhere where he can play, and I think [coach] Pop [Gregg Popovich] and [general manager] R.C. [Buford] and our team did a pretty good job of kind of meeting our needs for the future. I think we'll move on from here. I think we're pretty happy with the deal and we'll continue to grow and get better."

    Leonard, who is being advised by his uncle, Dennis Robertson, has yet to issue any sort of statement since the trade. However, he did pose for a photo with some of Toronto's top brass over the weekend.

    "Has anybody spoke to Kawhi about this?" Robinson retorted when asked whether he has had any dialogue with Leonard. "You know, I mean, I talked to his uncle. I mean, does that count?"
     
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  11. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    Kawhi Leonard, Joel Embiid among NBA's best sneaker free agents

    Kawhi Leonard will have a new team in more ways than one in 2018-19.

    The former San Antonio Spurs star, who was traded to the Toronto Raptors, has been a Jordan Brand endorser since coming into the league, but industry sources say that the company is going to let Leonard walk when his contract expires later this year. Extension talks between Leonard and the Nike subsidiary stalled earlier this year after Leonard turned down a four-year, $22 million extension.

    That will make the former Defensive Player of the Year and Finals MVP the most accomplished player in a sneaker free-agency market that will include multiple All-NBA talents looking for new shoe deals this summer.

    Most expiring sneaker deals are structured to run through Sept. 30, with players often allowed to take meetings with outside companies on a new deal up to 60 days in advance -- which means this year's class could be meeting with sneaker companies as early as next week.

    Those meetings will include stateside staples like Nike, Adidas and Under Armour; the Chinese trio of global companies in Anta, Li-Ning and Peak; and an added batch of brands re-engaging on the pro stage this year. Longtime athletic companies like Puma, New Balance and AND1 are all looking to sign NBA players again and return to the hardwood at the game's highest level.

    Kawhi Leonard | Currently with: Jordan

    Much like the uncertainty that dominated his final year with the San Antonio Spurs, Leonard represents something of an enigma for sneaker companies, who'll have to sign him without having seen him on the court since January.

    Industry sources say most brands aren't worried about his return from a right quad injury that saw him appear in only nine games this past season, and expect him to return to form on the court. There is, however, cause for concern about his prior lack of interest in endorsement deals and commercials, and his reluctance to play in flashy sneakers that can help draw attention to a brand's new launches.

    Jordan featured Leonard in its Gatorade-affiliated "Like Mike" campaign at the start of last season to little fanfare -- he's likely best known in the marketing world for his deadpan expressions in local San Antonio grocery store ads. In an era where players can single-handedly flex their star power and promote products on social media, Leonard has also shown little interest in his online presence. His last tweet (of just four total) was three summers ago; he has no Instagram account.

    While Leonard's trade sent him from one of the NBA's smallest markets to one of its largest, it also sent him to a different country, which could complicate things from a marketing perspective, on top of the existing questions about Leonard's level of interest in being a pitchman. Would a new company be able to get the historically reserved Leonard to jump in on the arena entry trend, with a series of made-for-social-media-styled outfits that have helped to raise the star power of players around the league? And even if it did, would fans find a sudden pitchman persona contrived and forced, given Leonard's longtime disdain for promotional appearances and public attention?

    Like most dynamics currently surrounding the embattled All-NBA forward, there's no sensing where exactly his head is at, though the coming months should provide some resolution for all involved.
     
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  12. GIGO

    GIGO Member

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    Not sure if this has been posted yet. My bad if it has.

     
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  13. GIGO

    GIGO Member

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  14. Ziggy

    Ziggy QUEEN ANON

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    Embiid will be interesting to follow. Nike hasn't paid big for big men, they don't sell, they didn't covet Shaq. They didn't do much to retain KG or Duncan. Nike didn't give AD his own shoe but Kryie, PG and Giannis have signature shoes.
     
  15. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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  16. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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  17. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

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    Hour podcast, but still a concise history of the past year from Michael Wright (covers Spurs for ESPN). Good listen.

    This is the podcast that somehow became a thread in the GARM about Harden. But it is all about the Kawhi saga.

     
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  18. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

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    So, he really isn't going to do a post-trade, welcome/player-introduction press conference. Toronto must be all about making the introvert feel comfy, but it does rob Danny Green of that common courtesy presser.

    Guess it will happen on media day of camp.
     
  19. mrm32

    mrm32 Member

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    This was a very interesting pod. What really caught my attention is that this whole debacle probably stemmed from Kawhi waking up one day and realizing he was a top 5 superstar in this league and he was not being treated like one by the Spurs or his sponsors.
     
  20. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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