Getty Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green of the Toronto Raptors sit on the bench reading the half time stats.
Fresh off his second NBA Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard now has to put his celebration on hold as he hits the free agent market as an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career. After an incredible playoff run that saw him at times carry the Raptors and will them to wins over the NBA’s elite franchises, Kawhi made a solid case for why he may not only be the best player in the free agency class – but arguably the best player in the NBA.
Leonard hasn’t tipped his hand to whichever way he is leaning in free agency and while many other free agents have numerous links and rumors associated with their plans, nobody in the media really knows what Kawhi plans to do. Thankfully, longtime teammate Danny Green shed a bit of light as far as what he has seen out of Kawhi.
Lakers News: Danny Green Offers Insight on Kawhi Leonard’s Free Agency
“It’s going to be a hard place to turn down.” 👀
@DGreen_14 says that seeing Kawhi out and doing things in the community is rare and a good sign for #Raptors fans that he might stay in Toronto.
MORE: t.co/V3oHLRajMO #HoopTalks
Citing the fact that not only did Kawhi win a ring with a team capable of keeping everyone in place but that the city of Toronto has fully embraced him, Green feels that the Raptors are a tough situation to turn down.
Not only that but Kawhi has actually started to become involved in the community, something Green says is pretty rare. While even Green, who was Leonard’s teammate in San Antonio, doesn’t have a full understanding of what Leonard plans to do this offseason, he did give the Raptors a “higher percentage for him to be here than to leave”.
This should be taken with a grain of salt as Kawhi himself hasn’t come out and said so much as a word on the subject. Leonard has done an admirable job deflecting his free agency questions in the wake of the Finals and the few reports that have leaked out (Woj) have been mostly discredited by other members of the media with MUCH more reliable track records surrounding Kawhi Leonard news (Cris Carter).
Lakers Free Agency Rumors
Aside from Kawhi Leonard, the Lakers have been linked to almost every big free agent name on the market. D’Angelo Russell – a former Laker – has seen his name recently come up in talks as a potential option as well as free agent big men Nikola Vucevic, Brook Lopez, and DeAndre Jordan.
Kyrie Irving is expected to take his talents to Brooklyn but most analysts feel the Lakers still have an outside chance to land the mercurial star whose free agency plans seem to change like the wind. Jimmy Butler was a name that saw a lot of traction right after the season, however, Butler’s name has surfaced less frequently in rumors as of late and with Philadephia expected to offer him a max contract, may wind up staying with the 76ers alongside Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.