Getty Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors celebrates his teams win over the Golden State Warriors.
The latest betting odds are out on Kawhi Leonard’s upcoming free agency. Speculation of Leonard’s free agency plans was a center of attention throughout his dominant playoff run and even upon winning the championship he was immediately bombarded with questions about his plans.
Leonard has remained silent on his front and no leaks have come out of his camp regarding his intentions. As a result, Leonard is a tough man to handicap and the latest odds represent just how unpredictable he can be.
Kawhi Leonard Lakers: Latest Free Agency Betting Odds on The Klaw
According to the latest odds, the Lakers are far from frontrunners for the services of Kawhi Leonard. Sitting behind the Raptors, Clippers, Knicks, and Nets it seems as if oddsmakers feel the Lakers have no chance to land the mercurial superstar.
The Raptors, the team which Leonard JUST won a ring with, is tied for the best odds with the Clippers – who have long been rumored to be pushing for (with reported mutual interest from) Kawhi. However, nothing new has surfaced on the Clippers front for months at this point and despite winning a ring with Toronto, Leonard has been extremely careful with the way he words his answers – possibly because he doesn’t even know himself.
While the Lakers and Nets are towards the back of the pile, there could be considerable value in either of the two. With Leonard such a wildcard, it isn’t unrealistic to think that the Lakers wind up being his home – he grew up in Southern California – nor so much is it that he heads over to one of the New York teams with another superstar in tow.
While the Raptors and Clippers are rightfully listed as favorites to land Leonard, his unpredictable nature gives the Lakers at +1500 some actual value.
Kawhi Leonard’s Historic Playoff Run
Even though he won the Finals MVP and has been talked about nonstop on major TV networks praising his historic playoff run, we all need to take ANOTHER moment and appreciate what Kawhi put together this year. Averaging an insane 30.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.7 steals, from a statistical standpoint alone Leonard had an unbelievable performance in the playoffs. However, the stats don’t necessarily do everything justice.
When the Raptors faltered or fell in a hole, Leonard was the one who gladly picked up the slack and willed his team to victory. Leonard hit the dagger three pointers to open the second half in a comeback effort against the Warriors in these very finals and who could forget his epic game seven buzzer-beater over Philadelphia?
Playing a hard-nosed unselfish brand of basketball, Leonard was more than willing to defer to the hot hand and take a step back on offense when necessary. For example, Kawhi didn’t score until his free throws at the final buzzer for the entire fourth quarter of the closeout game.
Leonard is a transcendent type of star with the ability to have a dramatic impact on the game without the ball. He also has the ability to take over a game and will his team to victory as needed, a combination you don’t see in any other MVP caliber superstar. He doesn’t need rhythm and a steady diet of 20+ shots a game to consistently get his numbers, Kawhi is a ruthless, efficient killer and does whatever is required to simply get the win.