Brian Windhorst: “The Clippers have a great organization and they’ll be fine but interiorly, they’re hyperventilating right now. (…) I think Kawhi will give the Knicks a look.”
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
Brian Windhorst: “I think his decision will be staying with the Raptors, likely on a short deal, a one-plus-one deal which will let them bring the whole team back. Or look at the Clippers where he can invest in going forward.”
The Mavericks are considered favorites to land Celtics free-agent big man Al Horford, according to league sources, and the two Los Angeles teams are said to also have interest, though they both have their sights set on bigger fish like Kawhi Leonard.
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The Clippers remain the favorite among most league insiders to win the Kawhi Leonard Sweepstakes. But the swagger that emanated from Clipperland for much of the season about the ability of this long-suffering franchise to finally land an A-list free agent has been dialed down some. A hint of concern has inevitably creeped in as the start of free agency draws closer and the race to secure Leonard’s formal commitment becomes more real.
With the Raptors locked with the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 and a trip to the Eastern Conference finals at stake, the Carroll, Iowa, native called up a play he discovered from a DVD he bought in Ames and used a number of times while coaching the then-NBA Development League’s Iowa Energy. And like it did so many times with the Energy, the play worked, this time on an even bigger stage: Toronto star Kawhi Leonard knocked down a buzzer-beating jumper that gave the Raptors a stunning 92-90 win.
“Kawhi’s Game 7 buzzer-beater was the same exact play we used at the Energy — I’ll bet you, 10 times — to either win a game or send a game into overtime,” Nurse said in an interview with the Des Moines Register on Tuesday. “We’d pop Cartier Martin off that thing, and he’d bang that 3-ball (in) or go one-on-one like Kawhi did and make the play on that. That’s an old play I stole off a (longtime NBA coach and broadcaster) Hubie Brown DVD I got from Championship Books and Video in Ames, Iowa.”
