A year ago, nobody thought that Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs would be in the spot they are now. Last summer they were coming off a Western Finals Conference appearance. Before Kawhi was injure on the suspicious Zaza Pachulia play, the Spurs were giving it to the Warriors. If my memory is correct, the Spurs were winning by 20 at one point against THE Warriors. But once Kawhi went down the air went out of the building and the momentum the Spurs had was lost for the rest of the series and they lost in 5 games. The offseason came and the problem has nothing to do with Kawhi. Lamarcus Aldridge requested a trade after 2 years into his contract. We all know how that went and how Aldridge signed an extension after talking to Popovich and came back strong this year to make 2nd Team All-NBA. But, once Aldridge signed that extension everyone was expecting the Spurs to really make a run this year.

As we all know, the Spurs season was drama filled because of this situation. This was the most not Spur like situation in the past 20 years. The Spurs are supposed to do things the right thing and be the model for the rest of the league on how to run a franchise. However, they provided the media plenty to talk about this year. The Kawhi talk really heated up in my mind after two things happened. The first was when Kawhi went and got a second opinion from a doctor that was not affiliated with the Spurs. This addressed that Kawhi did not trust the Spurs’ doctors and the injury was pretty serious. Second is when Popovich and Tony Parker came out and spoke publicly about Kawhi. Popovich wasn’t as serious because he said Kawhi had been cleared and it was just whether or not Kawhi was comfortable with his quad. But when Parker pretty much bashed him and talked about how Kawhi had no excuses not to be playing and he should be out there already really did not look good. Tony Parker, one of the most beloved Spurs ever, has never came out and talked about a teammate like this that I can remember. This really drew the line between the two sides. Kawhi felt hurt and betrayed by the organization. His people came out and started talking about how Kawhi wanted out of San Antonio. Everyone still wasn’t sure about this until Kawhi wasn’t with the team during the playoffs. Instead Kawhi was at a LA Dodgers game where he wants to go play for the Lakers. And, the cherry on top is Magic Johnson is a minority owner of the Dodgers. Coincidence? I think not.

Speed up to after the Finals and the beginning of offseason. The Spurs were still determined to to mend the tension between the two sides. Popovich reportedly went to talk to Kawhi and I didn’t hear any specifics from that meeting, but i don’t think it went well. Then teams start to call and inquire about trades for Kawhi. Reports said multiple teams were in the talks with an emphasis on the Lakers, 76ers, and Celtics. All three of these teams have a lot of assets to offer the Spurs for Kawhi. I’m not going to entertain another team going for Kawhi because I don’t think any other teams have the ability or the will to offer the Spurs anything better for Kawhi than these teams can. Here is the breakdown for each of these teams and who they can offer and if they should or should not trade for Kawhi.

The Lakers are the frontrunners for Kawhi. I say this because Kawhi has came out and said that he wants to play for the Lakers which gives the Lakers incentive to trade for him so they can offer him a better contract than anyone and sign him long term ASAP. The problem is figuring out a trade for Kawhi that they don’t have to give up too much. The four players in the mix are Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, and Josh Hart. In my opinion, I would not trade Ingram. I think his potential is not even close to being reached and he showed significant improvement from year one to year two. And with the way the NBA is played today, long and tall wing players who can shoot and make plays are at a premium. But maybe it makes sense to trade him for Kawhi who is arguably a top 5 player in the league when healthy. I think Kuzma and Hart are lock ins for the trade if it happens, but Lonzo isn’t. Obviously, this is because the Spurs don’t want to deal with Lavar, but I think the Spurs are happy with the young point guard of Dejounte Murray. In my opinion, the Lakers shouldn’t make this trade, but I see why they would, I think they should keep the young guys together and grow with LeBron and then sign Kawhi next offseason. On the other hand, the Lakers just got burnt by Paul George by not seriously offering a deal for him when he was in Indiana. They also have a guy named LeBron James and he isn’t getting younger. They can’t afford to waste years when he is on their team in his prime. This has good points for both sides, but I would not trade for him.

The 76ers are an interesting team in this mix. As we saw last year, they need more. Simmons and Embiid are young and need a star veteran to get them over the top. they have young players in Dario Saric, Robert Covington, and Markelle Fultz and some future picks that have been thrown around in trade talks about Kawhi. They came and said Fultz is untouchable. This means they believe in Fultz and think he is going to come back strong and ready to compete right away. However, I think the 76ers should push really hard for this trade to happen. In the NBA, your window for contending for championships is never as big as you think it is. You have to continue to get better and keep adding talent to try and win a title. People say that the 76ers have Simmons and Embiid for years to come and they are good long term, but they have to try and win now. Embiid’s career could end in a couple of years with another injury and you never know what else can happen. And if you give up players that aren’t the two or three players at the center of your core then why would you not do it. If I were the 76ers, I’d be going all in for Kawhi Leonard if I were the 76ers.

Lastly, we have the Celtics. As we all know, the Celtics have a plentiful amount of assets they could offer for Kawhi. Nobody would be able to put a better deal on the table than the Celtics if the Celtics were really all in on Kawhi. They could offer Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, and some picks. And that is why I wouldn’t trade for Kawhi. They have a great collection of young and veteran players and a team that is 7-8 players that have a good amount of talent. I don’t see why they would jeopardize that for a guy who might leave after one year. I think the Celtics are in a good place right now and can compete for a title without Kawhi. I would stay away from this trade if I were the Celtics.

The thing that I think has been lost in this whole situation is Kawhi himself. Everything that we have heard about him has come from “his camp” instead from him. I know that Kawhi has never been one for the spotlight and never speaks out, but I don’t think Kawhi has thought about this purely himself. I think some of the people that Kawhi has surrounded himself with have really talked in his ear and persuaded him. The Spurs is the perfect fit for Kawhi in theory. The team that tends to stay out of the media has the star player that never speaks. But somehow that didn’t work. And I don’t see how this is the biggest red flag of all. If he can’t make it work with the best coach in the league then who is he going to work with? Along with his quad injury, I think Kawhi has a lot of questions to answer in his near future. In the meanwhile, we will wait to see who he is playing for next year. A lot of people believe this will drag on until training camp opens up in September. This could be another blockbuster trade in the summer like what happened last year with Kyrie. No matter what happens, this should have an ending that will impact the upcoming NBA season.