Clippers Reportedly Hold A Strong Lead Over The Lakers To Get Kawhi Leonard


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As Kawhi Leonard reminds everybody of his dominance with the Raptors, there’s always a cloud that hangs over him. Is Leonard happy in Toronto? Right now it seems like it. He’s playing great basketball and the Raptors are winning, but everybody remembers his trade demand. Leonard didn’t want to go to the Raptors. He wanted to head home to Southern California, and if Leonard had a choice he would be playing for either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Clippers.

This scenario has played out hundreds of times before. A star is available and they want to go to Los Angeles. They list the Clippers as a courtesy, but at the end of the day, they always take the Lakers. Now that LeBron James is in Los Angeles while the Clippers are trying to discover themselves in a rebuild, the Lakers look that much more appealing.

But while nobody can truly get in Leonard’s head and see what he’s thinking, Tim Bontemps of ESPN says that Leonard is not thinking the way most stars feel about the two L.A. based teams.

The reporter wrote about Leonard on Monday and said it’s far from a sure thing that Leonard ends up with LeBron and the Lakers if he sticks with his original plan in free agency next summer.

A survey of several league executives this weekend had the Lakers trailing, even among Staples Center tenants, in the competition to get Leonard, with the LA Clippers universally being placed ahead of them. Rather than seeking to team up with James, the thinking is that Leonard would prefer to have control of his own team, which the Clippers would offer, while still giving him the ability to return to his native Southern California.

The Lakers explored a potential Leonard trade this summer, but the San Antonio Spurs’ asking price prevented a deal from ever coming close to fruition. The Clippers, meanwhile, have relentlessly pursued Leonard since the summer but didn’t have the assets necessary to get a deal done.

Now, this is a survey among executives across the NBA. They will always hear more than the average fan or reporter will, but they still don’t know everything. The only person that knows what Leonard is thinking about with his future is Leonard. The Lakers, Clippers, Raptors, and rest of the NBA can only guess as to what he might decide to do and try to set themselves up in a position to get him. What has to be frustrating for Lakers fans, though, is that they had the assets to get Leonard. Just like they had the assets to get Paul George.

This seems to be a theme with the Lakers. Since they are the Lakers brand it seems that they don’t think there isn’t a need to give up assets when a star becomes available in the trade market, since they are the Lakers brand that star will eventually choose the Lakers. That’s how it’s supposed to work, but that isn’t how it works at all. George already broke that trend by staying in Oklahoma City and now it’s possible that they’re behind the Clippers in acquiring Leonard.

Although, in the Lakers defense, Leonard wants a very unique situation. He reportedly wants his own team that he can have a stronger influence on. Not only does the average player not have that much of an influence over the Lakers, but with James in Los Angeles, there will never be anybody that has more important to the franchise than him. The Clippers though? Leonard would be the No. 1 guy for that franchise. Everything he wants and says would carry a strong weight. Far stronger than it would on the Lakers.

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