A Day Ending in Kawhi: NBA execs say LA Clippers more likely to acquire Leonard

A survey of NBA executives over this past weekend revealed that the LA Clippers are currently favored to land Kawhi Leonard in the offseason if he opts out of Toronto, even over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Every game where a possible top-tier free agent acquisition plays one of the Los Angeles teams, invariably discussion will commence over whether or not that player will end up with one of them. After the 9-1 Raptors laid waste to the Lakers in Staples Center without Kawhi Leonard, league executives seem convinced he will go to the Clippers, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reports.

It’s not news that the Southern California native has stated a larger interest in the Clippers than the Lake Show, and the Clippers have not been shy about their own interest in The Claw, to the point of firing commentator Bruce Bowen over negative comments about the star forward.

What’s interesting is how in recent weeks, experts have been in agreement over Leonard’s most likely destination. And now, according to the survey reported by Bontemps, the Clippers have been “universally placed ahead of [the Lakers]” in the Kawhi Leonard sweepstakes. At this point, at least in the eyes of the league’s dealmakers, the battle is between the Clippers and the Toronto Raptors, who are looking exceptional after ten games, with or without Kawhi on the court.

Paolo Uggetti of The Ringer summed up the push and pull rather well in this graf from the Raptors-Lakers aftermath:

"“I don’t think [Kawhi] wants to be in LeBron’s shadow. That’s a big shadow,” the Raptors fan said. He refused to give up his name, saying that he didn’t want anything he said to deter Leonard from staying in Toronto."

While the article takes the angle of a Lakers/Raptors tug-of-war over Leonard, ignoring the Clippers entirely, it’s telling that a common refrain among those invested, or at least interested, in where the All-Star goes is the expected disinterest in playing second to LeBron James. Furthermore, from what little Kawhi himself has said in the above, is that Leonard would “prefer to have control of his own team” while still being able to come home to SoCal.

Kawhi attended Canyon Springs High School in Moreno Valley, before transferring to Martin Luther King High School his junior year. Both high schools are in Riverside County, just east of Los Angeles County. He then attended San Diego State University for two years before entering the 2011 NBA draft. At 27, the majority of his life has been spent in SoCal, and it appears he’d like to return there.

The Clippers, much like in their dealings with the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes, have been engaged, aggressive even, but holding off on blockbuster deals that would require the loss of crucial assets. The thinking, speculation/common sense goes, is why give up Tobias Harris or Lou Williams when we have max slots to entice them in the offseason?

The Steve Ballmer / Jerry West / Lawrence Frank / Michael Winger front office appears perfectly willing to remain patient and not give up good assets or their draft futures unnecessarily. As other teams considered a playoff lock are realizing their windows are closing, the Clippers’ slow-and-steady approach, while nerve-wracking for their fans, appears to be placing them in the best position possible: capable of getting the free agents while having their pick of their very deep roster of role players.