Woj: Kawhi still focused on LA and Home. Values quality of life in free agency”

[BringToughnessBack]

Raptors should trade him to the Clippers for Alexandre, Harris, Jerome Williams and future 1st... plus whatever else you can extract

this way clippers can sign him to that 5 year max and pretty much guarantee he will be with the team for years to come

This move would deplete the Clippers of talent when they could just wait till FA hits.... Problem though is the other LA also has capspace and will have a better chance at a championship with Lequeen on board... Will Leonard be willing to play second fiddle to LeWhine or go to the Clippers and be the Alpha.

Just so many questions in the upcoming off season.
Toronto would hope bringing in a championship will make KL stay because right now, that might be the only way they could convince the Claw to stay... ECF won't cut it because KL has been in those situations before.. But heck a championship might change his mind about staying.

Why would winning a title in Toronto make a difference? Kawhi has already won a title. Another title in a different city will just convince him he can win a title anywhere so why not go home and live in LA as a multi multi millionaire?

I guess the incentive for Kawhi would be to bring the gang back together.  Sometimes, a championship team gels so well that people make decisions that they otherwise might not.  We're seeing that to a small degree with the Red Sox, where guys like Pearce and Eovaldi could have probably maximized their earning potential more than they did.  On the flip side, Kimbrel is headed to the highest bidder, and Joe Kelly ended up in LA, so who knows?

But, I tend to think you're right.  Just like winning a title in Cleveland freed Lebron up to do whatever he wanted legacy-wise, winning a title with a second franchise would secure Kawhi as one of the greats of his era.  At that point, it's pretty fair to focus on whatever he wants, whether it be money, personal comfort, exposure, or money.

Aren't the Celtics behind the Patriots and Red Sox in interest level and at times even the Bruins capture the city more than the C's?  I get the Leafs will always rule Toronto, but the Raptors are a firm 2nd ahead of the Jays (and their CFL team).

Being third in Boston is the equivalent of being #1 in a lot of other cities. The Celtics don’t lack support. 

The Celtics are NBA royalty. The Raptors are still celebrating division championships.

Neither do the Raptors though.  They have basically sold out every game for years.  Toronto is a bigger and nicer city than Boston.  It is a huge international city with all of the trappings of an international city (fashion, entertainment, commerce, diversity, etc.) that just aren't at that level in Boston (not saying Boston is a bad city, but Toronto is just bigger and nicer).   Neither is home for Kawhi, but Toronto is much closer to the LA vibe than Boston is, so it has that going for it.  And that town loves the Raptors.

As I said, “as a basketball city”.  Look at history. Look at franchise valuation. Look at television ratings.

And, Toronto isn’t particularly close to LA in terms of vibe.

Have you been to Toronto, spent a significant amount to of time there? Toronto is probably in the top 5 in terms of largest market in the NBA lol the city itself I thi think is the third largest in North America.

There's a reason DeRozan was cheesed when he got traded he loved living in Toronto.

I don't buy this Woj **** or any of this bs the media feeds people remember before the season began the Celtics were supposed to be the best and win 65 games lool.

 The only thing that has come out of kawhis mouth is his health is most important. That's it the LA talk was when he wanted to be traded but that ship has long passed.

In terms of quality of life I've been to LA and Toronto both are big time cities and If you are rich you will enjoy everything. Toronto has higher tax but the Canada is a lot safer to raise a family like kawhis dad died in LA got shot, does he want to subject his daughter to that?

There's a lot of factors going in winning, health, money, shoe deal, family, ownership relationship... Masai Ujiri is a hands on President he doesn't have his pppl talk to the players he does the talking himself and he's one hell of a dude building schools in Africa with Obama he has some pretty powerful friends.

Nobody knows what Kawhi will do from his play it looks like he's bought in Toronto because the man is the MVP right now in my opinion. Let's just wait until July and don't trust the media guys they are all idiots.

Yes, I’ve been to Toronto. It’s a very nice city, but it’s not close to LA.

 If the climate all Kawhi cares about then maybe he'll leave who knows...

 In the summer around mid May Toronto gets hot really hot 25+ Celius and honestly experiencing four seasons him and his family might like the snow..

 Honestly though who cares as of right now even if it is a one year rental it was totally worth it DeMar would never have been able to get them to the finals let alone compete for the Chip, Masai is a ****ing genius Danny pulled that robbery of picks on Brooklyn but he's never made a gamble move one that could make or break you and give credit to Masai he's got balls of steel and that's the mentality that defines your organization for Kawhi that's appealing he knows they believe in him and trust him and his judgment a player can't ask for more from a head office honestly. A players life is a lot different then people realize we just only look at the basketball side but little things matter a lot it makes a difference in their lives these guys aren't machines they are normal people like us too.

Last I checked, having best record does not mean they will make finals and I will say this as well, Raptors will not be in the finals this year. Suns and Jazz used to have great regular season records as well many eons ago and they too always came up short. Raptors will be in the hunt but once again they will fall short.

He is as good as gone in offseason. I would bet on that as well.

[Briantir]

Raptors should trade him to the Clippers for Alexandre, Harris, Jerome Williams and future 1st... plus whatever else you can extract

this way clippers can sign him to that 5 year max and pretty much guarantee he will be with the team for years to come

This move would deplete the Clippers of talent when they could just wait till FA hits.... Problem though is the other LA also has capspace and will have a better chance at a championship with Lequeen on board... Will Leonard be willing to play second fiddle to LeWhine or go to the Clippers and be the Alpha.

Just so many questions in the upcoming off season.
Toronto would hope bringing in a championship will make KL stay because right now, that might be the only way they could convince the Claw to stay... ECF won't cut it because KL has been in those situations before.. But heck a championship might change his mind about staying.

Why would winning a title in Toronto make a difference? Kawhi has already won a title. Another title in a different city will just convince him he can win a title anywhere so why not go home and live in LA as a multi multi millionaire?

I guess the incentive for Kawhi would be to bring the gang back together.  Sometimes, a championship team gels so well that people make decisions that they otherwise might not.  We're seeing that to a small degree with the Red Sox, where guys like Pearce and Eovaldi could have probably maximized their earning potential more than they did.  On the flip side, Kimbrel is headed to the highest bidder, and Joe Kelly ended up in LA, so who knows?

But, I tend to think you're right.  Just like winning a title in Cleveland freed Lebron up to do whatever he wanted legacy-wise, winning a title with a second franchise would secure Kawhi as one of the greats of his era.  At that point, it's pretty fair to focus on whatever he wants, whether it be money, personal comfort, exposure, or money.

Aren't the Celtics behind the Patriots and Red Sox in interest level and at times even the Bruins capture the city more than the C's?  I get the Leafs will always rule Toronto, but the Raptors are a firm 2nd ahead of the Jays (and their CFL team).

Being third in Boston is the equivalent of being #1 in a lot of other cities. The Celtics don’t lack support. 

The Celtics are NBA royalty. The Raptors are still celebrating division championships.

Neither do the Raptors though.  They have basically sold out every game for years.  Toronto is a bigger and nicer city than Boston.  It is a huge international city with all of the trappings of an international city (fashion, entertainment, commerce, diversity, etc.) that just aren't at that level in Boston (not saying Boston is a bad city, but Toronto is just bigger and nicer).   Neither is home for Kawhi, but Toronto is much closer to the LA vibe than Boston is, so it has that going for it.  And that town loves the Raptors.

As I said, “as a basketball city”.  Look at history. Look at franchise valuation. Look at television ratings.

And, Toronto isn’t particularly close to LA in terms of vibe.

Have you been to Toronto, spent a significant amount to of time there? Toronto is probably in the top 5 in terms of largest market in the NBA lol the city itself I thi think is the third largest in North America.

There's a reason DeRozan was cheesed when he got traded he loved living in Toronto.

I don't buy this Woj **** or any of this bs the media feeds people remember before the season began the Celtics were supposed to be the best and win 65 games lool.

 The only thing that has come out of kawhis mouth is his health is most important. That's it the LA talk was when he wanted to be traded but that ship has long passed.

In terms of quality of life I've been to LA and Toronto both are big time cities and If you are rich you will enjoy everything. Toronto has higher tax but the Canada is a lot safer to raise a family like kawhis dad died in LA got shot, does he want to subject his daughter to that?

There's a lot of factors going in winning, health, money, shoe deal, family, ownership relationship... Masai Ujiri is a hands on President he doesn't have his pppl talk to the players he does the talking himself and he's one hell of a dude building schools in Africa with Obama he has some pretty powerful friends.

Nobody knows what Kawhi will do from his play it looks like he's bought in Toronto because the man is the MVP right now in my opinion. Let's just wait until July and don't trust the media guys they are all idiots.

Yes, I’ve been to Toronto. It’s a very nice city, but it’s not close to LA.

 If the climate all Kawhi cares about then maybe he'll leave who knows...

 In the summer around mid May Toronto gets hot really hot 25+ Celius and honestly experiencing four seasons him and his family might like the snow..

 Honestly though who cares as of right now even if it is a one year rental it was totally worth it DeMar would never have been able to get them to the finals let alone compete for the Chip, Masai is a ****ing genius Danny pulled that robbery of picks on Brooklyn but he's never made a gamble move one that could make or break you and give credit to Masai he's got balls of steel and that's the mentality that defines your organization for Kawhi that's appealing he knows they believe in him and trust him and his judgment a player can't ask for more from a head office honestly. A players life is a lot different then people realize we just only look at the basketball side but little things matter a lot it makes a difference in their lives these guys aren't machines they are normal people like us too.

Last I checked, having best record does not mean they will make finals and I will say this as well, Raptors will not be in the finals this year. Suns and Jazz used to have great regular season records as well many eons ago and they too always came up short. Raptors will be in the hunt but once again they will fall short.

He is as good as gone in offseason. I would bet on that as well.

Suns and Jazz lol first of all who did those teams come up short against? Spurs led Tim Duncan... Lakers led Kobe... Or the Jazz losing to Michael Jordan in the finals lool.

 There's no team in the Eastern Conference with that level of talent the best player in the conference is Kawhi Leonard I would even argue he's better in Toronto then he was in San Antonio the man looks like a prime Michael Jordan, and could win MVP and Defensive player of the year this season which last I checked was done by the GOAT himself. Kyrie is good but did he win finals MVP? Did he lead the Cavs to the finals four straight years? No it was LeBron ... LeBron is the one who beat the Raptors not the Celtics not Bucks not the 76ers... Unless injuries take into affect Raptors should absolutely make the finals and have a suckers chance at beating Golden State. Boston doesn't have the top end talent to compete sorry unless Kyrie goes goat mode all hope is lost... I'll be shocked if Raptors are not in the Conference Finals.