Tim Bontemps: Kawhi Leonard will sit out tonight in Chicago, the Raptors announce. Leonard has yet to play in both halves of a back-to-back this season.
Kawhi Leonard Rumors
All NBA Players
Position: F
Born: 06/29/91
Height: 6-7 / 2.01
Weight:225 lbs. / 102.1 kg.
Salary: $23,114,066
Born: 06/29/91
Height: 6-7 / 2.01
Weight:225 lbs. / 102.1 kg.
Salary: $23,114,066
Ryan Wolstat: While we don’t expect to see Kawhi in the back-to-back finales, Nick Nurse did say today that C.J. Miles could return for Orlando-Atlanta portion and Norm Powell is ahead of schedule. Green, Ibaka, VanVleet a bit banged up so wonder if they’ll play tomorrow.
Eric Smith: Ibaka and Green will start. Kawhi will too. And though he didn’t say it…safe to assume Lowry and Siakam will start as well. Nurse not sure yet about Kawhi for tomorrow. “We’ll see”
General manager Bobby Webster accompanied the team on its four-game swing, presumably for the front office to take every and any opportunity to get to know him better. With one of the stops being in L.A., it would also be prudent to be around to monitor with whom he might cross paths, as well, but Raptors players and executives downplay the idea that they’re in any way anxious about fighting off Leonard’s other suitors. Lowry said he will not make a point of trying to convince him to stay. “I don’t ever do any of that stuff,” he said. “My teammates are my brothers. Above anything else, I want them to do whatever makes them happy.”
Adds point guard Kyle Lowry, who wasn’t happy about seeing his friend DeMar DeRozan get traded for Leonard: “He’s a really cool guy. He’s a good man. A fun guy. And he does talk to his teammates.” One Eastern Conference executive insists Leonard never deserved to be viewed any other way, but being in conflict with one of the league’s most successful franchises—and coaches in Gregg Popovich—put him in the crosshairs of anyone who had to pick a side to blame. “The San Antonio mafia is real,” the executive said. “When the Godfather (Popovich) speaks, they’re coming for you. He’s the nicest kid in the world and all of a sudden he’s an evil villain? He’s not an angry kid. He’s a sweetheart.”
There’s a growing trend of players steering themselves to other teams ahead of free agency, à la Butler, George and Leonard, a movement some have called “Pre-Agency.” “It just doesn’t feel right,” said George Karl, who coached Denver eight years ago when Carmelo Anthony forced his way off that team to the New York Knicks. “I’m not sure Jimmy Butler’s happy with what he’s feeling right now. I’m not sure Kawhi Leonard feels good about what happened. I’m not sure Melo enjoyed what he did.”
