Is it possible that the San Antonio Spurs would trade the 2014 NBA Finals MVP? After failing to reach an extension before the season started, Kawhi Leonard has said to be looking for a max contract, but the Spurs have been hesitant to dish out that kind of money.
If there is one team that is great at evaluating talent, it is the Spurs. Their teams are built from the ground up and all of their players are a product of excellent coaching and a first-class organization. Players on the the Spurs usually put the team above everything else, but is Leonard crazy for wanting a huge pay day? I don’t think so, Leonard is a great all-around player, but he isn’t a franchise player.
Leonard is a promising young talent, but he’s never going to be the captain of the team like Tim Duncan and Tony Parker.
The Spurs know that Leonard isn’t of that caliber yet and that is why he is most likely going to hit the open market when the season. It is difficult to imagine Leonard leaving the Spurs after this season, but who knows, he might receive an offer that the Spurs can’t match.
Despite being a restricted free agent at the end of the season, who says that Spurs can’t try and shop him now?
If the Spurs don’t have any intentions of signing Leonard to a max contract, then they should get some draft picks, pieces and do what they do best: develop new players. If Leonard was traded, it would sound shockwaves through the NBA. This isn’t the type of thing that the Spurs usually do with their top talent, but why not get compensation for a player before he hits the open market? The Spurs never said that they don’t want to bring back Leonard; I’m sure that they do, but it all comes down to money at the end of the day.
Will the Spurs trade Leonard? Who knows? But it should be something that they look into if they have no plans of giving him a huge contract.
Vinny Lanni is a New York Jets writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter or add him to your network on Google.
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