The NBA’s foremost insider Adrian Wojnarowski laid another patented ‘Woj Bomb’ Thursday morning with the news that the San Antonio Spurs are ‘fully engaged’ in trade talks with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics concerning Kawhi Leonard.
The Wojnarowksi report states that the Celtics have the assets that San Antonio covets the most. This is a bombshell of a report. The Kawhi saga has been on and off the past two weeks, with the initial reports being that the Spurs wouldn’t deal their franchise cornerstone. That has been completely shut down however. Now, R.C. Buford and Gregg Popovich seem intent on trading the two-time All-Star.
The return for Leonard will be bigger if he goes to Los Angeles as Leonard has expressed interest in staying in LA once his current contract runs out. However, the Lakers don’t have nearly as much to offer as Boston.
The Celtics can offer Jaylen Brown, Kyrie Irving or Gordon Hayward along with other players or picks. Brown would almost certainly be included in a deal, because the only player that is seemingly untouchable is Jayson Tatum. If the Celtics acquire Leonard, they would be acquiring one of the league’s elites, a bonafide stud.
They will need to give up a lot of good players and picks. But it is worth it? Leonard puts the Celtics on a level with the Golden State Warriors and could be the final piece to put the Celtics over the hump.
Leonard to the Celtics looked to be more of a fairy tale when the rumors first surfaced. But now, he is on the cusp of being dressed in green. And who stands in the way? One of the Celtics’ most hated rivals. Magic Johnson and The Los Angeles Lakers.
It will certainly be interesting. But Celtics fans will do what they have done since 2008. Trust in Danny Ainge.
2 Responses
It will certainly be entertaining to see what transpires. The biggest hang-up seems to be what Leonard wants to do long term. Would the Celtics trade away many of their considerable assets for a one year rental? As a Celtics fan, I hope not! But if Leonard was willing to sign for even 2-3 yrs, giving away those assets becomes much more palatable!
This is nonsense. Celtics are not going to give up so much for a guy who will be here one year and then head to Los Angeles. They are just trying to drive up the price for whomever trades for him.