There are sure to be more than a handful of teams that try to sign Kawhi Leonard when the NBA Finals MVP becomes a free agent this summer, but the sweepstakes may already been down to just two.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on “Get Up” Tuesday morning that the Los Angeles Lakers have very little chance of signing Leonard, both because of their financial situation and because Leonard does not want to be the third guy behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Rather, Wojnarowski notes that Leonard is “focused” on the Clippers, and he will likely choose between them and the Toronto Raptors.
"Kawhi Leonard's focus [is] on Los Angeles, but it's the Clippers not the Lakers."
—@wojespn pic.twitter.com/AbOpm0aJ0E
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) June 18, 2019
“The Clippers are poised to be able to lure him away from Toronto,” Wojnarowski said. “This will be a Raptors-Clippers fight down the end. He may take meetings with more teams, but it’s not certain he’d even take a meeting with the Lakers right now.”
The Raptors held their championship parade on Monday, and even one of Leonard’s teammates did everything he could to have the fans pressure Kawhi into staying. It was initially believed that Toronto would only be getting Leonard as a one-year rental after they acquired him in a trade with the San Antonio Spurs, but winning a championship may have changed that. Leonard’s reported lack of interest in playing for the Lakers may explain why they are said to be targeting a different top free agent after trading for Davis.
