NBA Rumors: Philadelphia 76ers May Be Looking to Speed Up the Process by Trading for Kawhi Leonard
Though it ended with a disappointing 4–1 second-round loss to the Boston Celtics, it's hard to describe the Philadephia 76ers' 2017–18 season as anything other than a rousing success.
After years of dwelling in the NBA's proverbial cellar, the 76ers finally started to reap the fruits of their controversial rebuilding plan known as The Process.
The Process draftees Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons emerged as franchise cornerstones for the team and forwards Dario Saric and Robert Covington settled in to roles as important supporting players.
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The 76ers are now in that fun phase of an NBA team's life cycle where they are going from young upstarts to burgeoning contenders.
Realistically speaking, it may still take a year or two of development before Embiid, Simmons and the other 76ers turn into legitimate title contenders, but apparently, the members of the team's front office want to speed that process up a bit.
In a recent article, Philly.com's Keith Pompey passed along some information shared by sources who revealed that the 76ers have shown interest in potentially trading for the San Antonio Spurs' Kawhi Leonard.
The 76ers being interested in acquiring Leonard is easy to understand.
While the 76ers do have some good wing players on the roster, adding Leonard to the rotation could take them to the next level.
Leonard's the type of player who can help out on offense by simply spotting up at the corners or occasionally cutting to the rim for some easy finishes. Leonard has also improved his ball handling significantly in recent years, meaning he could take over the playmaking duties whenever Simmons needs to take a break.
Defensively, Leonard would give the 76ers another stout wing defender who is capable of shutting down or at least slowing down the elite perimeter players in the NBA.
The 26-year-old forward would fit in perfectly with the 76ers, and if the franchise can indeed acquire him via trade, then they should look to do exactly that.
Helping the 76ers' cause is the possibility that Leonard may have a desire to leave San Antonio.
Speaking recently to Bleacher Report's Ken Berger, a Western Conference executive said that "Kawhi wants out."
Still, it's far from guaranteed that Leonard will be a member of the 76ers by the start of next season.
For one thing, the Spurs are still reportedly interested in convincing their star player to remain in San Antonio long-term.
On top of that, in that same Bleacher Report article linked to above, it's indicated that the Los Angeles Lakers have interest in acquiring Leonard and that the forward himself may also want to join that historic franchise.
This could mean that the 76ers' best shot to acquire Leonard and to keep him in town long-term may be through trading for him this summer and showing over the course of next season that he belongs in Philadelphia.
This upcoming offseason is going to be an eventful one, and for the 76ers, it has a chance to be a franchise-altering one as well if they can somehow add Leonard.
