The Sixers have “consistently remained atop the list of teams expected to land” Kawhi Leonard in a trade, Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post writes in his latest look at the Leonard situation. In Bontemps’ view, Philadelphia’s ability to acquire Leonard may hinge on the team’s willingness to add Markelle Fultz to an offer. If Fultz is on the table, it’ll be hard for another team to top the 76ers’ offer, says Bontemps.
Keith Pompey of Philly.com also revisits the Sixers’ interest in Leonard, writing that the team is confident it could convince the star forward to stay in Philadelphia for longer than one year if he’s traded. However, the 76ers are willing to walk away from the Kawhi sweepstakes if the Spurs‘ asking price remains high, as principal owner Josh Harris hinted on Monday.
“If the right situation comes where we can acquire someone that can really add value to our program and the cost of it isn’t prohibitive, then we’ll move forward and do that,” Harris said, per Pompey. “But if that doesn’t come along for whatever reason, then we’ll keep moving forward with our program.”
As Pompey details, the Spurs keep trying to “raise the ante” in Leonard talks, telling clubs that another team is offering more for the two-time Defensive Player of the Year. Pompey suggests that Robert Covington, Dario Saric, and Miami’s 2021 first-round pick would be a realistic package from the Sixers’ side, but notes that the Spurs are believed to be seeking three first-round picks in addition to those two players.
Here’s more on Leonard:
- Within his look at the Leonard situation, Bontemps writes that the Raptors have “generated buzz” as a potential destination for the Spurs star. ESPN’s Zach Lowe wrote last week about the possibility of Toronto being a wild-card team in the Kawhi sweepstakes, suggesting that they could offer a package centered around one of their All-Star guards, a young player, and a first-round pick.
- One aspect of the Leonard saga that frustrated the Spurs during the 2017/18 season was repeatedly believing he was on the verge of returning to the court, only to be informed he wasn’t coming back after all, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com. Dan Feldman of NBC Sports relays Wright’s comments on that subject from an appearance on the Back to Back podcast.
- Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports rounds up several of the Leonard rumors from the last week or so in an informative article.
This philly narrative is getting old. Lol no one wants to okay there, even with there full roster got owned by starless celtics. If sixers do give up that package that would be the most ignorant thing a team could do lol….because as of right now kawhi has only stated la as his choice (clippers or lakers) according to woj. So other teams that trade would have to expect he is a rental, this to me comes across as an attempt at leverage fron spurs.
Jabari young is a spurs writer and probably the closest spurs writer to get kawhi information from kawhi camp. He is open to staying in Philly. There team doctor is his doctor from New York and he is close to Brett brown.
And his uncle is in NJ/NY and has been pushing him to that area for a couple of years
A local beat reporter is exactly who a team would use to release info to try and spin a story
Kawhi would absolutely re-sign in Philly, if traded there. He’s comfortable with the former Spurs coach and their team doctor is Kawhi’s doctor. He will be the centerpiece of that organization, with two rising stars around him. They’re young and will contend every season with that roster as they grow up.
Giving up Saric, Covington, Miami’s pick, and one or two more firsts is an absolute no-brainer. They should be on the phone now, accepting the offer! You’d be an idiot not to do that for a top 3 all-around player in the world.
They said the brown argument is overrstated. He hasnt been around him since 2013. I really hope they do trade for him and him leave the following offseason. Tired of people trying to “hype” upa team that played half its games against lottery teams. 50 wins against rec league teams means little, got wiped by celtics. Celtics would be a 4/5 in the west.
After PG13 resigned with OKC, I’ll always believe there is a chance to bring a player back. A year is a long time in a basketball career, and whatever team would trade for him can give a long term sales job by bringing them into their inner circle.
Paul George proved he’s not a championship player. Lakers did not pursue him. They’d rather give that money to three veterans with proven playoff contributions, and pursue Kawhi as their second Max guy.
OKC gave him the max cuz they can’t get anybody else like that, and all star, great player, Etc.
That’s some good spin. It’s wrong. But it’s nice spin. The Lakers didn’t pursue George.
But it was because George signed a contract with his current team before La could even legally contact him… The Lakers had no control in the situation.
Not worth it, too much.
If I’m one of the teams interested in Kawhi, I just call the other teams interested and discuss simply pulling out of all negotiations until the Spurs realize they have no leverage. If everyone interested just says they’re not going to put up with the Spurs’completely delusional asking price, maybe the Spurs come calling at some point, realizing their mistake.
That’s called collusion and it’s illegal.
Not only is it illegal, its idiotic. You’re essentially trying to lower the price for one of your rivals to acquire a star player. That’s possibly the dumbest suggestion in the history of the internet. You’ve proven yourself qualified to work in the Kings front office.
Yea,just call up 1 of your competitors for him and tell them,”we don’t wanna give up this,so don’t offer that”…that might work
Philly has Embiid, Simmons and a bunch of average players. Saric and Covington are in the B to B+ range, but they’ve both peaked out. Who knows about Fultz? Seems like Sixers want to give up draft choices and the Spurs aren’t interested in a re-build.
How has Saric “topped out”? He’s been in the league 2 years. Nice try. Covington is what he is by now, agree there.
I’d be hesitant to give up Saric in a rental deal. He’s better than many think. He isn’t asked to do much in Philly.
Saric and Covington plus the Miami pick is plenty. That’s plenty of capital for 1 year guaranteed of Kawhi. Sign him to an extension first, then we can talk extra first round picks.
At least the myth surrounding the spurs has been shattered. They don’t even understand basic economics.
Damian Lillard on 3 years > Kawhi on 1. Trade for Lillard.
Lol Dame on 1 year > Kawhi on 3 years.
Anyway I wouldn’t give Dario or Fultz, just RoCo another player not named Simmons, Embiid, Fultz or Dario & a 1st round of Philly not Miami’s ’21. Then if San Antonio wants, great, if not let’s all move on, is getting really old all this Kawhi affair, really tired of all the updates, that are the same always, San Antonio asking ridiculous things & no team is dumb like them to offer it, so we stuck in a groundhog day here.
Don’t give them Saric, no way
I would wait until you see him play in a game.