9:18pm: Leonard won’t make a decision tonight and may not announce his intentions for a few days, a source tells Jabari Young of The Athletic (Twitter link). Leonard plans to thoroughly review his options with his representatives before choosing one. Contrary to reports, Young states that Leonard hasn’t discussed a two-year deal with any of the three teams involved.
5:11pm: Cris Carter of Fox Sports 1 provides an update on the situation, emphasizing that Leonard hasn’t reached a decision and the Raptors, Lakers and Clippers all remain under consideration (Twitter link). He also cautions not to expect a quick answer.
4:39pm: Day four of the Kawhi Leonard Watch took an unusual turn today, as word leaked out that the private plane belonging to MLSE – the group that owns the Raptors – was bound for Toronto from Los Angeles.
While there was no official confirmation that Leonard himself was on board, Canadian news network CP24 captured video of the plane touching down in Toronto, with its occupants piling into a pair of SUVs and driving downtown to a hotel where president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri had reportedly been spotted earlier in the day — and where a crowd of Torontonians gathered hoping to catch a glimpse of the Finals MVP (video link via James Wattie of CBC Toronto).
We still don’t have any formal updates on whether Leonard will choose the Raptors, Lakers, and Clippers, but if Kawhi’s camp traveled to Toronto for its meeting with the defending champs rather than hosting the team in Los Angeles, that doesn’t seem like a bad sign for the Raptors’ chances.
ESPN basketball analyst Jalen Rose added some fuel to that fire today by declaring during an episode of Get Up (video link) that he has heard with “99%” certainty that Leonard will be re-signing with the Raptors on a two-year deal that would put him in line to reach free agency again when he has 10 years of experience and qualifies for a higher maximum salary.
While Rose has been right about Leonard in the past, he’s not typically a news-breaker, so it’s probably not safe to treat his latest report as gospel quite yet. Leonard’s camp has been tight-lipped throughout the process — until they make an official announcement or leak word of Kawhi’s decision to a trusted reporter, we’re not jumping to any conclusions.
Meanwhile, Danny Green‘s free agent decision will likely be impacted by Leonard’s, since the shooting guard has interest in running it back with the Raptors if his longtime teammate stays in Toronto. Green’s podcast co-host Harrison D. Sanford offered an update in the wake of Rose’s pronouncement, tweeting that the best offer that Green has received so far – in terms of years and money – has been from the Mavericks.
However, Sanford added that Green would strongly consider a return to Toronto – likely on a two-year deal – if Kawhi stays. Green also wouldn’t rule out going to the Lakers, according to Sanford, who notes that the Lakers’ offer could increase if they don’t land Leonard.
This is becoming ridiculous. Lakers missing out on so many good free agents and we might not even get the guy. I said it and I really wish they wouldn’t spread that money out but this is making ot to where they won’t be able to get any of those guys they couldn’t landed. AD, LeBron and Kuzma is enough and they couldn’t had s damn good squad around them but now they gotta go get a bunch of guys that are just ok or not that good. Crazy.
Guys don’t wanna be around LBJ you might as well get used to it
Your Delirious!!!!
No, he’s accurate. Sorry for you.
He’s gonna be 35 no Star is gonna wanna sign a long term deal to play with him.
AD might disagree with you
AD was a trade
AD forced his way to LA because that is where he wanted to be.
Ah well perhaps they goto the Lakers to play with AD then. Y’all just do your blind Hate, you’re not convincing anyone of anything though
Discounting AD makes for a lousy retort. But then your cause is hopeless.
Yeah then why would AD demand to be traded their? Why did Kevin Love only actor a trade to Cleveland once LBJ asked him to come? Why would Kawhi even entertain a meeting if he didn’t want to play with LBJ? Right now,LBJ are the only 2 current NBA posters to win a title with two different teams.
There/accept/andKawhi. Oops
Wow a lot of people need to pull their head out of lbj’s ass
The guy will play for a team lose most of the meaningful games then move on to the next city the Lakers are just the next in line
Ask Kyrie Irving about lbj Love wanted to be a team mate when it happened he quickly wanted out
There is no one who signed that you really regret. A lot of them were pretty expensive multi year deals that the Lakers should have avoided. Still some decent guys out there that can be had on 1 year deals + the buyout market. A chance at Kawhi was worth it. Still going to have a solid roster
Seriously? You don’t think there has been a single free agent signed so far that would have benefitted the Lakers?
Of course some players could have benefited the Lakers. I clearly said the contracts they got dont make you regret sitting out early free agency while waiting on Kawhi. For example JJ Redick and Ariza. Good players but they weren’t going to use 13 million of cap space on them. Korver is about to be had for a 1 year cheap deal. Boogie and Danny Green are still out there. The gap between the role players that signed and whats left is not big
Kyrie…Kemba..Butler…Middleton…Russell…Horford
Out of all those guys Dlo is the only one who they might have given the same contract to. No chance they wpuld use their cap room to max Middleton or Horford. Kyrie wasnt coming
None of those players you listed are role players, except maybe Horford. Role players are still available, and y’all are making a big deal out of nothing. Lakers will be fine, regardless of where Kawhi signs.
Danny Green wants to get paid .. its either Toronto or Mavs
The Lakers are free to drop out of this process anytime. Kawhi owes them nothing at this point. Lakers’ convenience is not his concern.
Exactly. Lakers decided to go down this road, full well knowing the potential ramifications. Probably a miscalculation on the Lakers part, given that I felt Toronto would always present the best opportunity for Kawhi at the end.
Umm y’all realize the franchise isn’t complaining. Your insulting wanna be GMs for saying what they feel while doing the same thing. None of this has even a tiny bit of an effect on the Lakers out there patiently waiting and doing all they can to get KL, while still having plenty of options if he goes back to Canada
Lol the Lakers and LeBron haters are too funny. You clearly are letting your hate blind you. Get over it
And Laker fans (who are the worst in pro sports)think that a fading LBJ and a real good player like AD can somehow make them relevant again
Worst fans in pro sports? Nah! I would have to say Raiders, Cowboys and Yankee fans are the worst. Not necessarily in that order.
You’re right. If there is 1 team that I feel sorry for it’s the Lakers. What have you guys done right in the last 7 years….nothing! And just because your the Lakers Lebron and AD just fall in your lap. Heaven forbid you don’t have an elite player just choose you the first opportunity they get.
Okay but if they do manage to land Kawhi you’re going to eat your words. Lebron, AD, and Klaw would be better than any team in the league even with vets on minimum deals every where else. Can’t win the lottery if you don’t play sorry.
I FELT ALL ALONG THAT TORONTO JUST MADE TOO MUCH SENSE FOR KAWHI TO PASS UP!!! LETS GO RAPTORS!!!!!
Whether that happens or not kind of hard to go by Rose. Before they were any meetings any reports all he would say is he’s going back to Toronto. Not exactly the most reliable source. Even when there were reports he was considering other teams this guy would stick to his guns and say no way no how.
Until he is proven wrong what is wrong with standing firm?
Jalen Rose’s statement is believable. I, myself, believe that it would be reasonable for Kawhi to sign a 2-year contract with Toronto (is it possible to make year-2 a “player option”?). He gets his money plus a chance to win 1 more title for the Raptors or win a regular season MVP award. He will still be in his prime after 2 years, Lebron would be on the decline, then Kawhi can finally sign with the Lakers for a max money for 4-years or 5-years and he wouldn’t be playing in the shadow of Lebron by that time.
Gd pt, Kawhi could come onto the Lakers as a hero in a year or two after signing a 1+1, instead of just coming in as 1 of a big 3.
Also he could sort of avoid having to make such a big decision.
But who knows what Kawhi wants.
In 2 years Kawhi will be 30 & far away from been worthy of a max… He comes now or never!
I’ll bet it’s a 1+1, because Lowry, Gasol, Van Vleet, and Ibaka are all FA after next year and if they don’t stay after that, perhaps he won’t want to either.
Agreed King, I see him doing the Durant 2 year deal with the second year as a PO…then I would guess he heads out after next season
Davis, James, Kuzma and 12 scrubs? Not gonna get you out of the West.
Davis, James, and 13 scrubs**
Davis-James-Kuzma with Marcus Morris, Danny Green, JR Smith, KCP, Kyle Korver, Javale McGee, Alex Caruso, Horton-Tucker, Rondo & say Stanley Johnson / Furkan Kormaz?
Maybe pursue Pau Gasol? Even with Leonard, there’s still a ton of guys out there looking for veteran minimums. Just got 2 good ones Jared Dudley & Troy Daniels.
Yes, Gasol & Korver are on their way to LA. And don’t forget JR and Melo, too. People keep forgetting about Melo.
Are you actually saying signing Gasol, JR Smith, and Melo would be a good thing?
For Lebron & the Lakers, IT IS. Lebron has AD & that makes the Lakers confident that they just need to sign experienced role players who can mesh with Lebron. That’s what THE LAKERS BELIEVE. Doesn’t matter what you or I or the rest of America believes. As for Lebron, history will tell us that he prefers: a)his basketball friends to play with him; b)veterans who will adjust their games to mesh with his; c)players who will defer to him; and d)experienced players who can shoot from the perimeter & beyond.
Iguadala will sign with the Lakers once he is bought out by the Griz
yeah. you def seem like an insider considering you can’t even spell his name.
Iggy is not getting bought out. The griz are either trading him or keeping him on the team til the deadline.
Yes it will!!!
If he stays in Toronto, I think Vince Carter will join him for what he announced will be his last season. That way Vince could claim membership in the four decade club for both the NBA and the Raptors. I’d like to see him finish his career as a Net, but it’s a possibility.
Raps don’t necessarily need Vince or the side show he would create. We are focused on defending our title. We can have a Vince night and retire his number when he retires…
Vince can still shoot the rock
He can, but so can many other players who won’t also bring the distractions that Vince might bring.
“We”? Is that you Drake?
Vince has been a consummate professional his entire career. He wouldn’t be a side show lmfao.
Bro y’all ain’t defending a dmag thing if KL doesn’t decide to bless you with another year. When he leaves you will be on here saying he is the devil to, y’all proved your super low quality fan base.
Lakers getting played again. They missed out on all the big FAs. Don’t worry, Boogie still needs a job. So does Lebron leave if they miss the playoffs again?
In other breaking news, it’s probably not safe to treat the gospel as gospel quite yet.
Jalen not typically being a news breaker (or a reporter of any kind) makes it more likely that what he’s saying is accurate. He has no reason to fabricate or overstate what he’s heard, to the public, anyway. He can only lose or tie.
Meaning he ain’t got connections like that. See what you want though right
I don’t think Kawhi to Toronto was ever really in doubt. Just makes too much sense to do a short deal with the Raptors then re-enter the market, and hey, maybe the Lakers have settled in to a better place by next off-season and he can sign then (at a much higher total dollar amount). And LeBron is farther declined by then so Kawhi is definitely the alpha dog. Win-win for him. He can retire in his home town.
What Jalen Rose suggests is going to happen makes the most sense. By doing that Kawhi would maximize his earnings and would be able to sign with the Lakers when LeBron’s contract is up at which point the Lakers will need a new guy to pair up with Anthony Davis.
you’re better than this trade rumors
The site is actually called “hoopsrumors” Were you expecting no hoops rumors?
“Cris Carter of Fox Sports 1 provides an update on the situation, emphasizing that Leonard hasn’t reached a decision”
You’re REALLY stretching the definition of “update”
But what does Kendrick Perkins report?
I mean are we really surprised. Leonard has gone to epic epic lengths to hide himself and his personal life from social media which in it of itself is impressive. We know he has a girlfriend who is supposedly his wife. We know he has one kid who is 3 years old and he might have a 2nd born last year. However, the knowledge of his family and there whereabouts plus where they live how they live and who they live with is about as good of info as we have about where Kawhi will decide to play.
The guy likes being off the radar
IF he wants to stay off the radar he’d go to LAL which sounds odd, but if he stays in Toronto he is the Alpha the Raptors are Kawhi Kawhi is the Raptors. If he goes to LAL Davis or Lebron can be the guy who fields all the bullshit while Kawhi politely deflects shows up and does what he does…
I know that sounds weird, but if I’m the LAL that’s where I’m going with my proposal, you can be the guy but you got two other guys who can fill up the media fill up the fans fill up the world with whatever’s needed. You also have a guy in Lebron who knows and understands that twitter it disappears the world it disappears when its time to go because its time to win.
I’d bet Lebron hates all the fanfare and following and publicity that his son gets and he even stated that he regrets naming him Lebron Jr. because all it does is escalate everything. I’d be willing to bet that he loves his son but he wishes his first and last name were different and the two could communicate in private with Lebron attending his already high profile teams just as a fan
Somewhat valid. But in LA there is obviously about 3,000 times as much of a media crush as there is in Toronto.
All valid points but if things go wrong in Los Angeles for a couple of games all of the cameras are going to be on LeBron not Leonard. This can divert a lot of attention from him. If things go bad in Toronto for a stretch big media will be up his butt
Yeah but the heat will be up 10000 times in Toranto this year after the chip too
Kawhi needs to come back to Toronto simply because if he doesn’t, his championship will always have that asterisk on it. People saying he only won because GS was hurt, etc. The best way to shut them up is to come back and do it again next season.
Beat them again when they are hurt, and no KD? Seems legit.
Nobody will remember that injury stuff; maybe in Nor.Cal. No asterisk. Title series scheduled, title series contested, titlist emerged.
Plus he’s been having rings.
The fact the owners of Toronto came back without a signed contract if you are a Toronto fan I would take it as a bad sign.
The belief is that the Raptors flew Kawhi’s group to Toronto for the meeting, since Ujiri and GM Bobby Webster were spotted in Toronto before the plane landed.
Find it funny everyone who obviously hates the Lakers trying to come up with logical reasons why he will resign with Toronto. When have you ever seen a player get the pitch from the home team and not sign it right then and then later decide to stay with the team? This is all a bad sign for Toronto.
Drake arriving late night for part 2 of the pitch
Jalen also said last year with 100% certainty that LBJ would not sign with the Lakers!
It seems like Rose does not want Los Angeles natives to sign with the Lakers almost as if he has some ax to grind.
NBA insiders; “Leonard has not made a decision as of yet but all three teams are still in the running“. Fans; “it’s a no brainer he’s resigning with Toronto“. That funny moment when these people apparently know what Leonard is going to do but yet he doesn’t.
A 1-2 year deal for Kawhi is what I was generally suspecting leading into this. I never saw the Lakers as a possibility until yesterday when so many players that could have fit them signed elsewhere, but I still think the Clippers and Toronto make the most sense. That type of deal fits Torontos timeline, as they probably will need to reset in another year or 2, if they get the chance to run it back
I would honestly be shocked if he signs a 1+1 it was pointed out he was laboring at times in the playoffs most likely because if his quad. The injury in his quad if it is tendonsis means death of the tendon aka overuse and the injury comes back and comes back and comes back…
He is signing a full max for $ insurance and whatever else…It give him whatever he needs team be damned. If he stays mostly healthy great we all know what were getting. If the tendinosis keeps rearing its ugly head he could get screwed or the team that signs him could.
He’s going to LA because thats where he wants to live he’s taking his guaranteed money and he’s going to ask for it again at age 32 if he’s still healthy in which case he’d make over 500m in his career
the 1+1 risk is a dumb move for him just in the regards that a current contract locks in 160m the 1+1 locks in 60m. Another 1+1 locks in 90m. The supermax following is locking in more guaranteed dollars. If he just chose a team that he wanted to play on for the next 10 years. He could make almost the same amount of money with almost the same but more guaranteed dollars if he signed a 4 year max at his age.
This all comes down to whether he wants to risk it all and play for the raptors for a year or 2 or if he just wants to come to the LAL get his guaranteed $ and most likely another guaranteed max barring catastrophe decline/injury at 32 years old.
I would recommend to Toronto presenters to not even mention their own timeline. To Kawhi that would be a sign of them using him. What can he do but look at signs.
What if KL planned this all along. He waits it out knowing he’s going to sign with Toronto. Meanwhile, he substantially reduces Lakers and Clippers threat as a competitor because they hold back, don’t get anything, and have to sign min salary guys. Meanwhile, KL goes back to Toronto and Green resigns. They are mostly the same team. Warriors are not, Lakers are better but not what they could be. Clippers are no better. It’s possible.
It’s possible, but highly unlikely. It’s not like the Raptors are division rivals with any of those three. The only way they would meet any of them in the playoffs is in the Finals.
By your line of thinking, it would have been smarter for Kawhi to announce he is re-signing quickly, so the Lakers or Clippers could have focused their money on Durant, Kyrie, and Kemba to keep them away from Toronto actual division rivals in the Nets and Celtics.
But of course all of this conspiracy nonsense is just that, nonsense. It’s a fun fiction, but don’t ever take it seriously.
if the Lakers get him why bother watching ,they will win it all bad for basketball if he goes to the lakers
Actually it won’t be that much of a lock. Three of the top five player, all missing very significant time over the past two years. All while playing for a team that has no picks going forward and one blue chip young guy, only able to sign vet mins. With that said I think KL will goto the Lakers it’s where he wants to live it’s his childhood team it’s 3 of the 5 best players playing together and it’s a fully guaranteed five year max (2 years in TO would be a giant risk for his Health)
No one finds it odd that Jalen Rose a former Toronto raptor is so certain he signing with Toronto. Funny no one has mentioned this the guy used to play for Toronto and no one thought for a second this is not inside sources this is him thinking with his heart.
On biased reporters are reporting not to expect a quick decision. Did anyone ever think he wants to wait until he can talk to Anthony Davis. Davis becomes a Laker on July 6 and he wants to know what his plans are before making any long-term commitment to anyone. The problem is everyone on here for some reason hate the Lakers and wants to believe no way Leonard is considering them even though his own people have said they are one of the teams in consideration. Also I find it funny everyone is willing to take Rose word as gospel that no way he’s not leaving Toronto, the former Toronto Raptors starlet that sink in ever think the guy is not going by sources but by his heart. Road is also the same guy last year he said “he is 100% sure LeBron James will not sign with the Lakers”sounds like he has some extra grind. The truth is we apart for a few years now how Leonard wanted to play in California odds are the Lakers or clippers are probably ahead of Toronto in his mind. Then there was also someone posting on social media Leonard with a Lakers uniform photo shopped on him and those photos were wiped by his sister and his uncle his agent who is been pushing him to stay in Los Angeles. These are all facts not opinions that maybe some people need to remember before shooting off at the mouth when they say “no way he’s leaving Toronto“ also if it was such a slamdunk he staying he would have resigned on July 1 this tells me the two Los Angeles teams are very serious considerations.
No way he is leaving toronto
Also, AD can call him whenever he wants, does not need to wait until July 6
Something about a starlet sinking in, IDK
Is Danny Green just literally the world’s greatest teammate or is there some legit reason why the guy doesn’t shoot more? Like his shooting % (especially 3-pt %) is insane and I would think he could score closer to 20PPG (or at least in the 16-18 pt range) if he was more of a focal point of a teams offense. But throughout his entire career he’s never averaged more than 10 shots a game. I don’t watch him particularly closely (I’m a Celtics fan) but still… it just seems like he could do so much more if he wanted to. Even like Korver or Reddick score way more than him and % wise it just seems like he could do so much more!
Kawhi has now stepped into the “ Thin Skin” Durant mode as of now. Dude make up your mind and sign already. What a Prima Donna he has become. Make sure you check with your uncle 10 times make sure it is ok with him. GET A LIFE.
Imagine really thinking this way.