- The Spurs announced the recall of Derrick White. He had 20 points and six assists Monday as Austin defeated Rio Grande Valley and advanced to the Western Conference finals.
Whether or not Kawhi Leonard is able to get back on the court for the Spurs at the end of the regular season or during the playoffs, it has been a tumultuous year for the star forward and his relationship with the franchise. Teams around the NBA have taken note of that apparent discord and plan to look into Leonard’s availability this offseason, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during an appearance on Outside The Lines (video link).
“I have already talked to several NBA general managers,” Windhorst said, per Ryne Nelson of SLAM. “At the end of this season, teams will call the Spurs and inquire about the availability of Kawhi Leonard.”
ESPN’s Zach Lowe echoed Windhorst’s report, tweeting that his colleague’s assertion is “100% true.” Lowe added that the “vultures are circling” in the hopes that the Spurs may consider moving Leonard around the time of the draft in June.
While teams hoping to land Leonard can certainly call the Spurs this summer, that doesn’t mean R.C. Buford and Gregg Popovich will seriously consider trading their franchise player. In fact, Windhorst said later in his Outside The Lines appearance that he still believes the most likely scenario involves the Spurs and Leonard coming to an agreement on an extension that keeps him in San Antonio long-term.
Nonetheless, the fact that teams believe they may have a chance to trade for Leonard is a story in itself. Reports of tension between the franchise and the star forward surfaced back in January, and have persisted since then. Spurs doctors have reportedly cleared Leonard to return from the quad injury that has nagged him all season, but Leonard’s own doctors haven’t given him the go-ahead. Popovich has acknowledged that the 26-year-old may not return this season, while the Spurs held a players-only meeting last month to discuss Leonard’s status.
Leonard, who is currently on track to reach unrestricted free agency in 2019, will be eligible for a Designated Veteran Extension between July 1 and the start of the 2018/19 season. A deal of that nature would extend Leonard’s contract by five extra years and pay him a starting salary worth 35% of the salary cap. Assuming the Spurs put that offer on the table, it’s hard to imagine him turning it down, but if either side balks, trade rumors surrounding Leonard may intensify.
Three teams in the Western Conference have clinched playoff berths, with the Rockets, Warriors, and Trail Blazers likely locked into the top three seeds, in that order. However, after those top teams, the race for the conference’s final five postseason spots remains hotly contested.
The Spurs (45-32) are ostensibly in the driver’s seat for the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage in the first round, but a late-season slide could still put their playoff spot in jeopardy. San Antonio has back-to-back road games against the Clippers and Lakers on tap this week, followed by home games against Portland and Sacramento, and a regular season finale in New Orleans. While it’s still possible that Kawhi Leonard could return for one or more of those games, the club isn’t counting on that.
While the Thunder (45-33) remain in contention for the No. 4 spot too, they’re also one bad week away from slipping out of the playoff picture, particularly since they hold virtually no tiebreakers against their Western competitors. You can probably pencil OKC in for a win at home vs. Memphis next Wednesday, but before that game, the Thunder will have to deal with the Warriors at home, and the Rockets and Heat on the road.
The Jazz (44-33) have won 27 of their last 34 games, but that hasn’t been enough to pull away from the pack in the West. A home-and-away set against the Lakers this week bodes well, but Utah will also have to host the Clippers and Warriors before finishing the season in Portland. Holding tiebreakers over the Spurs, Pelicans, and Clips could come in handy.
The Timberwolves (44-34) could badly use Jimmy Butler in their lineup down the stretch, and he’s still expected to be back before the end of the season, but his exact return date remains up in the air. Home-and-away games against Denver may ultimately decide Minnesota’s playoff fate, though the Wolves will also face a pair of lottery teams in the Lakers (road) and Grizzlies (home). Minnesota’s tiebreakers over the Thunder, Jazz, Pelicans, and Clippers look big now.
The Pelicans (43-34) have lost four straight games, putting their playoff spot at risk, but those losses came against four very good teams. They’ll have a chance to turn things around this week when they host the Grizzlies and visit the Suns. After that, the schedule gets tough again — the Pelicans close out by visiting the Warriors and Clippers before hosting the Spurs.
If any of those five teams falter, the Nuggets (42-35) and Clippers (41-36) will be ready to take advantage, though neither team has it easy down the stretch. In addition to facing Minnesota twice, the Nuggets also host the Pacers and Trail Blazers. The Clippers have one road game left in Utah, and will host the Spurs, Pelicans, and Lakers. The Nuggets and Clippers will also face one another in L.A. on Saturday.
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- Asked on Sunday for the latest on Kawhi Leonard‘s status, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said there has been no word on the star forward since he headed to New York last week for rehab purposes. “I don’t know when he and his group are going to feel like they are ready to go,” Popovich said, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “If I knew, he’d be here. When he and his group feel he’s ready, then he’ll be ready.” Leonard has already been ruled out of San Antonio’s Tuesday game against the Clippers (Twitter link via Jeff McDonald of The Express-News).
With just six games left in the season, Kawhi Leonard has returned to New York in search of a solution for his right quad injury, reports Adrian Wojnarowski and Michael C. Wright of ESPN.
Leonard, who has been in New York since Monday, is meeting with doctors outside the Spurs organization to figure out why he hasn’t been able to recover from a quad problem that has limited him to nine games this season. No one is sure when he plans to rejoin the Spurs, and Wojnarowski notes that team officials are losing hope that he will be able to play either in the regular season or the playoffs.
Leonard took a similar trip to meet with his own doctors prior to the All-Star break, but this latest trip comes in the wake of a players-only meeting March 17 to address his status. Wojnarowski has described the meeting as confrontational, but several players denied that. Members of San Antonio’s staff have joined Leonard in New York and are getting regular updates from him.
The 26-year-old, who finished third in last season’s MVP voting, has established himself as one of the top two-way players in the league. He is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and was named MVP of the 2014 Finals. His absence has obviously affected the Spurs, who are fighting for a playoff spot at 44-32, three games ahead of the ninth-place Clippers and Nuggets.
Rumors have been swirling that Leonard’s relationship with the team has soured heading into an offseason where he will become eligible for a super max contract extension worth roughly $217MM over five years. If no extension is reached, he can opt out of a $21.3MM salary and become a free agent next summer.
A Spurs team that has been without Kawhi Leonard for most of the season has nonetheless been able to remain in playoff contention. LaMarcus Aldridge has been largely responsible for that — once labeled a bust of a free agent signing, Aldridge has stepped up as a clutch leader for San Antonio, Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express-News writes.
“He’s basically carried us and everybody else him with his talent and everybody else with their heart,” head coach Gregg Popovich said. “The game goes along, goes along, and then you realize that his heart is as big or bigger than anybody’s.”
Aldridge, in his third season with the Spurs, is also in the midst of his best season since departing from Portland. In 66 games, he’s averaging 23.1 PPG 8.4 RPG, and 2.1 APG. Without Aldridge’s production, the Spurs — who recently fell out of playoff contention — would likely not still be in the hunt. His coaches and teammates recognize and appreciate his productivity in a time of need.
“We are not the most talented team in the league,” veteran Manu Ginobili said. “He is the one with the real resources.”
Check out more Southwest Division notes:
- Rudy Gay escaped from the Kings to join the Spurs and chase a championship. San Antonio is in the postseason picture and Gay, who has played in just one playoff series in his career, wants to help the team, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News writes. “I don’t know how they do it, to be honest,” veteran Tony Parker said of players who annually miss the postseason. “I’ve been in eight conference finals, so it’s kind of weird all those guys. But [Rudy Gay] got a great opportunity now with us and we will try to make the most out of it.”
- Injuries to both Chris Paul and James Harden have given Eric Gordon an opportunity to be the Rockets‘ fill-in starting point guard. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle relays that Gordon likes the opportunity the injuries created for him. “I like it that way,” Gordon said. “It expands my game more. To me, it’s tougher to determine what I’m going to do when I have the ball in my hands more. If you’re a good playmaker and a good scorer and you have the ball in your hands more, you have a chance to do good things. I do pretty well when I’m the backup point guard.”
- Dorian Finney-Smith served as a starting shooting guard for the Mavericks in order to get both him and Doug McDermott into the lineup, Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News writes.“If you don’t start [Finney-Smith] at 2 or McDermott at 2, then somebody’s going to get really screwed on minutes,” head coach Rick Carlisle said. “And we need to see both of those guys play because they’re both good players.
Yesterday, Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News relayed that the original narrative about the Spurs‘ players only meeting regarding Kawhi Leonard being tense was not accurate, writing that Leonard even received support from some teammates who urged him not to return until he feels healthy enough to do so.
Today, Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio-Express News seconded his colleague Young’s reporting, with quotes from Spurs’ veterans Danny Green and Tony Parker. Green, who tweeted a strong denial to the alleged tense nature of the meeting, said “(the report) was incorrect, wrong, false. I guess that’s the only way to put it. There was a meeting. That’s probably the only thing that was true in the article. Nobody in (the meeting) was frustrated or took it the wrong way. We were communicating like adults.”
For his part, Parker neither affirmed or denied the original report, essentially telling Spurs’ reporters that what happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. “You should know better that I can’t talk about that. That’s private stuff, locker room stuff. We always talk as a team, but you know we can’t talk about that.”
Interestingly however, Orsborn writes in another, related story that Parker contrasted his quadriceps injury from last season with Leonard’s injury this season in a thought-provoking manner, saying “I’ve been through it. It was a rehab for me for eight months. Same kind of injury, but mine was a hundred times worse, but the same kind of injury. You just stay positive.” Parker also spoke highly about the Spurs’ medical team, while Leonard received a second opinion from outside medical professionals.
11:37am: Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News provides a few more details on the Spurs’ players-only meeting, writing that Leonard’s veteran teammates wanted to know if he planned to play this season, and whether he’d return in time to help them with their playoff push. Leonard was “caught off guard by the meeting” but “stood his ground,” writes Young, adding (via Twitter) that the conversation wasn’t “tense,” as ESPN’s report suggested.
According to Young, Leonard received support from some teammates, who urged him not to return until he feels healthy enough to do so. The meeting, which lasted for about five or 10 minutes, ended without a clear update or timeline on Leonard’s status, Young notes.
For what it’s worth, Danny Green tweeted a response to Wojnarowski’s story, saying that it “couldn’t be any more incorrect.” My guess is that Green is pushing back specifically against the idea that the Spurs are pressuring Leonard to return.
11:21am: The Spurs held a players-only meeting following Saturday’s win over Minnesota in an effort to implore Kawhi Leonard to return to the lineup, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
According to Wojnarowski, veteran guard Tony Parker “quarterbacked” the meeting, which saw several Spurs players expressing frustration and confusion over an apparent divide between Leonard and the team that has generated tension within the organization. Wojnarowski adds that Saturday’s conversation was described as “tense and emotional at times” by league sources.
Leonard, who has missed all but nine games this season due to a quadriceps injury, was reportedly cleared by team doctors to return from that injury, Wojnarowski reported a month ago. However, the star forward has not felt comfortable enough from a health standpoint to play, and hasn’t received medical clearance from his own doctors. According to Wojnarowski, Leonard remained “resolute” during Saturday’s meeting, insisting that he had good reason to remain sidelined.
League sources tell Wojnarowski that Leonard has impressed teammates and coaches in 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 workouts as of late, and there was a belief that he’d be able to return sometime in mid-March. According to Woj, Leonard has targeted games within the last week as possible return dates, but ultimately hasn’t felt confident enough in his health to play.
The Leonard situation has been one of the most bizarre storylines of the NBA season, with whispers of tension between the Spurs and their star player plaguing the typically stable franchise for much of the year. Reports have suggested that both sides still anticipate a long-term union – Leonard will be eligible for a long-term extension this offseason – but that no longer appears to be the lock it once was.
Spurs players, including Manu Ginobili, told reporters on Wednesday that they need to move forward as if Leonard won’t play again this season.
Despite some rumblings that Kawhi Leonard would return to action last week, the Spurs star remains sidelined due to the quadriceps injury that has plagued him all season. While Leonard hasn’t been ruled out for the season, his Spurs teammates say they’re operating as if he won’t be back, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com.
“He is not coming back,” Manu Ginobili said of Leonard. “For me, he’s not coming back because it’s not helping [to think Leonard is returning]. We fell for it a week ago again. I guess you guys made us fall for it. But we have to think that he’s not coming back; that we are who we are, and that we got to fight without him. That shouldn’t be changing, at least until he is ready for the jungle.”
Ginobili isn’t breaking any news here — he’s simply expressing the sort of mindset that the Spurs need for their last 11 games as they push for a spot in the playoffs. Patty Mills expressed a similar sentiment, suggesting that while the Spurs “obviously hope to get [Leonard] back” but have “got to move on” from thinking about it.
As Wright notes, Gregg Popovich and sources within the Spurs organization have maintained that the team will err on the side of the caution with Leonard, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that we won’t see the veteran forward again this season. San Antonio is expected to offer Leonard a lucrative extension this offseason, so his long-term health is the club’s top priority. Still, a source tells Wright that Leonard is feeling “much better” and there’s still optimism that he’ll return to the court down the stretch.
Given how tight-lipped the Spurs have been on Leonard’s situation, it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if Leonard played within the next game or two, but it also wouldn’t be a shock if he doesn’t return until 2018/19. For now, as Ginobili and Mills explained, the Spurs will prepare for each game as if Leonard won’t be available.