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As Kawhi Leonard leads the Toronto Raptors through the postseason, questions about his long-term future with the organization remain a significant topic of conversation.
During Wednesday’s episode of The Jump on ESPN, Brian Windhorst explained the difficult position Toronto is in as it prepares to negotiate with Leonard this summer.
“A lot of people in the NBA think Kawhi is out of [Toronto],” he said. “It’s not because of anything the Raptors did. Kawhi kind of wants to be on the West Coast. The difficulty is that he doesn’t really articulate his feelings to people.”
One of the worst-kept secrets leading into NBA free agency is Leonard could be swayed by a west-coast team.
Per B/R’s Howard Beck, rival executives around the league believe Leonard “likes” the Los Angeles Clippers.
After the dust settled on Leonard’s trade to Toronto last summer, ESPN.com’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Clippers were “emerging as a front-runner” to sign the three-time All-Star with their two max slots available.
The Clippers were one of the NBA’s most pleasant surprises in 2018-19. They are in the playoffs after going 48-34 in the regular season. Their 31-point comeback win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of the Western Conference quarterfinals was the largest postseason deficit overcome in NBA history.
All of this speculation will be contingent on Leonard opting out of his $21.3 million salary for next season, per Spotrac.
In the meantime, Leonard will lead the Raptors into Game 3 of their playoff series against the Orlando Magic Friday. He was dominant in a 111-82 Game 2 victory with 37 points.
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