#KawhiWatch Has Boiled Down to Raptors Versus Lakers
As the basketball universe awaits the decision of the reigning NBA Finals MVP, the narratives have shifted to Los Angeles versus Toronto.
This truly has been a historic NBA Free Agency period thus far. All 30 teams collectively dished out over THREE BILLION DOLLARS on the first day alone. Max contracts are getting handed out left and right. 40% of the entire league was on the open market, which included at least a dozen of the top players looking to renegotiate their contracts or jump ship and land elsewhere next season.
In typical fashion, free agency has been uplifting for some and heartbreaking for others (I do feel for you Knicks fans). Overall, it’s also been very entertaining to watch play out. And like most followers, I’ve been keeping up with all the updates on my phone through Bleacher Report, NBA Twitter, First Take and of course, with the all-knowing Adrian Wojnarowski. The Woj Pod has been a daily listen for me since the opening of free agency on the evening of June 30th.
But here, let’s focus specifically on (arguably) the biggest name in free agency this summer and the guy who still has yet to make his decision about where he wants to play for the upcoming season. The Fun Guy himself, Kawhi Leonard.
As it’s been endlessly documented, Leonard is coming off an unbelievable comeback season after sitting out almost all of the 2017–18 season in its entirety. He was shipped to the Toronto Raptors last summer in an emotional blockbuster trade that sent Toronto’s then-superstar, DeMar DeRozan, to the San Antonio Spurs. Incredibly, the season ended with the Toronto Raptors as your 2018–19 NBA Champions.
This is exactly what makes Kawhi’s decision so compelling. Oh, and welcome to the phenomenon now universally known was #KawhiWatch.
No major superstar has ever come off a championship season and then left his current team. If Leonard leaves the Raptors in free agency, the move would be unprecedented.
Speculations and rumors have been circulating around NBA circles for the past week. Potential landing places, with varying degrees of likelihood, for Kawhi have included the Raptors, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, and both the Clippers and Lakers in his native California. While a couple of these teams quickly fell off the radar, there are still a couple in play.
The two teams from Los Angeles in particular, have become the most recent to occupy the limelight of #KawhiWatch. Here are some recent snippets about Kawhi’s affiliation to Los Angeles:
“Kawhi grew up in Cali. He grew up being a Lakers fan. Kobe was his favorite player. Every California kid dreams of being a Laker.”
“Cali is home for Kawhi. He wants to go back home and play for his childhood team.”
“Kawhi and LeBron have spoken to each other presumably. We all know how LeBron tries to recruit players to his current squad. LeBron has definitely made his case to Kawhi.”
“He has the chance to bring back Glory to the Purple & Gold!”
If Leonard joins the Lakers, who already have LeBron, and recently-added Anthony Davis on their roster, it will DESTROY the NBA and any chance of parity. If you plugged this scenario into the most current edition of NBA2K, ran a season simulation, the Lakers would automatically win the championship. There’s no doubt about it! A team with all three of those players would possess arguably 3 of the Top 5 players in the entire league. There would be absolutely no way of containing or stopping that trio, no matter what the rest of the roster looks like.
We can’t forget when Kevin Durant joined the Golden State Warriors three years ago. At the time, his move was declared by Stephen A. Smith, as well as other notable media members, as “The WEAKEST MOVE in NBA history!” If Kawhi officially joins this Lakers squad, the move would most definitely trump Durant’s move to the Warriors. The only detail that would make the situations differ would be the fact that the Warriors were just coming off a championship season.
With LeBron, Davis and Kawhi, we can imagine commissioner Adam Silver basically just handing them the Larry O'Brien trophy to start the season.
Personally, I don’t think Kawhi will move to the Lakers. He’s a competitor. He knows he can carry a team, just as he showed this past season with the Raptors. He even did it in his younger years in San Antonio, while Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili were on the back-end of their careers. Why would he join a team that already has two incredibly dominant players? It just doesn’t make any sense to me as to why he would do that.
But what we do know is that we don’t know what Kawhi is thinking. He’s the most stealth dude in sports. He’s not visible on social media like other players are. He’s not an inherently outspoken individual. All of his team meetings have been impressively kept under wraps.
As we enter Day 6 of #KawhiWatch, we still know… essentially, nothing.