Kawhi Leonard Trade Rumors: Lakers Currently Spurs Star's Top Destination
San Antonio Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard reportedly would like to be traded and has the Los Angeles Lakers atop his wish list.
On Friday, Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express-News noted Leonard wants to be traded. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN then reported the 2014 NBA Finals MVP would favor a deal to his hometown of Los Angeles, with the Lakers ahead of the Clippers as his preferred landing spot.
The updates come after a rumored meeting between Leonard, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich and team legend Tim Duncan to possibly discuss the star's future with the organization.
RJ Marquez of KSAT reported all three of the Spurs stalwarts have been spotted in New York City recently, though the team hasn't confirmed any interaction.
Leonard is coming off a forgettable 2017-18 season with San Antonio. He appeared in just nine games because of a lingering quad injury, and his extended absences, which included leaving the team to rehab in New York, seemed to draw the ire of Popovich.
"You'll have to ask Kawhi and his group that question [about his availability]," Popovich told reporters in April. "So far, they say that he's not ready to go, so we can't do anything until that happens…and then we would have to decide what's going on from there. But that's the first thing that has to happen."
Last month, Ramona Shelburne and Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com reported the situation caused the Spurs to grow "worried that Leonard's group has an ulterior motive to fray the relationship and get Leonard traded to a larger market such as Los Angeles or New York or Philadelphia."
Leonard is one of the NBA's top players when healthy. He was named to the All-NBA First Team each of the previous two seasons and also won the Defensive Player of the Year Award twice.
The Lakers have incentive to pursue a deal quickly.
Acquiring a player of Leonard's caliber would make L.A. a much more attractive option for the summer's top free agents. The group is headlined by LeBron James and Paul George, both of whom have been linked to the storied franchise throughout the season.
A core of James, Leonard and George would give the Lakers the firepower to potentially challenge the Golden State Warriors for supremacy in the superteam era.
