ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne, in reporting on
Leonard’s possible attendance at Team USA’s minicamp, colors the Lakers as patient buyers: “So far, the Lakers are playing the longer game in trade talks, confident in the belief that Leonard wants to play with them and plans to sign in free agency in July 2019.”
The Lakers have to love where things are with Kawhi and the rest of the league.
Within ESPN’s report comes scuttlebutt that isn’t exactly good news for the Spurs who are still intent on getting the top value for one of the best players in the game.
According to ESPN, teams that are essentially in the market for Leonard aren’t putting their own respective prime players anywhere near a deal.
The Lakers find themselves essentially bidding with teams reluctant to put a best offer forward and a Raptors team that is betting on themselves to win the conference with the addition of a rejuvenated Leonard.
However, that scenario hardly means Leonard will enter Toronto, fall in love with its team culture and decide to stay for the long haul over becoming a free agent next summer.
The Lakers are pushing in this year’s chips on LeBron and a young squad to win now, betting that success this year will entice a player that, until recently, has purportedly desired to play for the purple and gold.
Clippers rumors aside, the Lakers are playing chess this summer with the Spurs and Kawhi Leonard.
Yes, they may indeed miss out on the all-star come next offseason much as they did with Paul George. But the only thing you can do at this juncture is take calculated risks, and giving up on Leonard now is remarkably simple math.
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