Even though the report is that San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard would prefer to be dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers, it doesn’t mean that will happen. As was the case a year ago with Paul George, other teams will undoubtedly engage in talks with the Spurs for the talented forward and they can trade him wherever they like.
The question with that is how much these other teams are willing to give up for Leonard, who can opt-out of his contract next summer. If a team believes he won’t re-sign with them, they would likely be unwilling to part with any premium assets.
Regardless there will be teams who will explore the possibility of trading for Leonard and one of those could be the Sacramento Kings, according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated:
Another team to watch in the Kawhi sweepstakes: Sacramento. Kings have talked to teams about the No. 2 pick, per sources, and desperately want an established star.
— Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixYS) June 15, 2018
That second overall pick would likely be extremely intriguing for the Spurs as they could add someone like a Luka Doncic, Marvin Bagley III, or Michael Porter Jr. in the draft. Whether the Kings’ current young players like Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic would interest the Spurs enough remains to be seen.
A team that has plenty of promising young talent already on the roster are the Boston Celtics. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Celtics would likely engage in talks with the Spurs on a Leonard deal as well:
If Kawhi Leonard does become available in trade talks, the Boston Celtics will be interested in probing the Spurs about a deal, league sources tell ESPN. Boston inquired about a trade prior to the February deadline, sources said.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 15, 2018
Anytime a big name comes up in trades, the Celtics always pop up as a potential landing spot and with good reason. They have a number of promising young players such as Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier in addition to multiple first-round draft picks that they have acquired over the years.
Needless to say, Leonard has added another very big layer of excitement to what was already a must-watch summer.
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