NBA Trade Rumors: Could Kawhi Leonard Still End Up With the Boston Celtics?
Sometime soon, the San Antonio Spurs will have to make an important decision regarding their current franchise player Kawhi Leonard.
Will they offer him a super-max deal that can pay him as much as $219 million over the course of five years or will they finally relent on their long-standing position that they will not trade him and start seriously considering offers from other teams?
Making things tough for the Spurs is that they really don't have full control of this situation.
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The ball is in Leonard's court, and he will be the one to say whether he still feels that he has a future in San Antonio or if the ship has already sailed on that.
For the Spurs, losing Leonard could be a devastating blow.
Outside of LaMarcus Aldridge, Patty Mills and Dejounte Murray, the Spurs don't really have plenty of guys under contract long-term who also project to be impact players. Furthermore, of that trio, Murray is the only one who still has his prime years ahead of him.
As the Spurs showed this past season, they can still be a playoff team without Leonard in the fold, but even then, they were still never really perceived as a threat to make that much noise in the Western Conference.
The Spurs need Leonard to build around, and without him, they may have to start from scratch.
But that's precisely why a new revelation included in a recent article from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski is so interesting for the Spurs as it hints that there could be a way for them to get out of their current predicament in relatively good shape.
According to league sources spoken to by Wojnarowski, the Spurs received a trade offer for Leonard this past season, and it came from the Boston Celtics. Obviously, the Spurs declined that offer, but it's worth wondering if they would do so again if this situation with Leonard continues to drag on.
The Celtics are known to always be in pursuit of stars to their growing collection of talented players, and considering how terrific Leonard played when he was healthy during the 2016-17 season, it's no surprise that the Boston-based franchise is interested in trading for him.
The Celtics also have all kinds of assets to trade in a potential deal for Leonard.
If the Spurs want an established player under contract, the Celtics could offer them Gordon Hayward, and if the Spurs want someone with significant upside, Jaylen Brown could be the centerpiece of a deal as well.
Plus, per Real GM, the Celtics still own plenty of additional draft picks that they can include in a deal for Leonard to further entice the Spurs to sign off on the move.
The Celtics could easily blow away any other team's best trade offer for Leonard.
If the Spurs eventually decide that parting with Leonard is the best move for them, the Celtics will be the franchise best equipped to swing a deal for him.
For now, the Spurs will continue trying to determine if they can move forward together with Leonard, but the Celtics will likely be keeping a close eye on the situation.
