Author Topic: Woj: Kawhi still focused on LA and Home. Values quality of life in free agency”  (Read 6015 times)

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Offline hpantazo

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He is going to LA and if u think he. isnt then u gotta be disappointed

Which LA team though? I feel the Clippers have the upper hand over the Lakers at the moment, and Jerry West always has a way of getting the players he wants

Offline Celtics4ever

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That TOR guy who was trolling us is going to cry a river when he walks on them.

Offline SHAQATTACK

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i hope the clippers land him.  That would be huge letdown for Lakers fans ....cry me a river


Never under estimate the whining Magic and Bron will do to get what they want .    It will be an epic battle of  Jerry West vs Lebron in landing Leonard .

I don't give Toronto maybe 1 in 3 chance of retaining him at best.  They will have to make the finals to have a decent shot at keeping him 

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im thinking Clippers..can they get him and Butler? if so Lebron will want out of his contract
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Online Phantom255x

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He's going to the Clippers, and teaming up with someone in the Butler/Kemba/Klay grouping. To me, it makes perfect sense. Kawhi apparently got ticked off when KD (I think it was him, correct me if I'm wrong) said Kawhi was a "system player and not an alpha" like 3-4 years ago. Yes, it was debatable, but it still ticked Kawhi off. He's now "the man" in TOR, and could still be "the man" in LAC, whereas if he goes LAL he won't be (he'll be in Lebron's shadow). If Klay leaves GSW I could see him going LAL, but maybe someone like Butler, Kemba or Middleton joins him, and I think LAC could work another trade if needed to land another 3rd wheel (or a very solid player) to put them over the top.
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Offline Boris Badenov

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He's going to the Clippers, and teaming up with someone in the Butler/Kemba/Klay grouping. To me, it makes perfect sense. Kawhi apparently got ticked off when KD (I think it was him, correct me if I'm wrong) said Kawhi was a "system player and not an alpha" like 3-4 years ago. Yes, it was debatable, but it still ticked Kawhi off. He's now "the man" in TOR, and could still be "the man" in LAC, whereas if he goes LAL he won't be (he'll be in Lebron's shadow). If Klay leaves GSW I could see him going LAL, but maybe someone like Butler, Kemba or Middleton joins him, and I think LAC could work another trade if needed to land another 3rd wheel (or a very solid player) to put them over the top.

Yeah, if anything the Raptors' success this year has just convinced him he can go anywhere and make his new team a whole lot better.

Online Phantom255x

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He's going to the Clippers, and teaming up with someone in the Butler/Kemba/Klay grouping. To me, it makes perfect sense. Kawhi apparently got ticked off when KD (I think it was him, correct me if I'm wrong) said Kawhi was a "system player and not an alpha" like 3-4 years ago. Yes, it was debatable, but it still ticked Kawhi off. He's now "the man" in TOR, and could still be "the man" in LAC, whereas if he goes LAL he won't be (he'll be in Lebron's shadow). If Klay leaves GSW I could see him going LAL, but maybe someone like Butler, Kemba or Middleton joins him, and I think LAC could work another trade if needed to land another 3rd wheel (or a very solid player) to put them over the top.

Yeah, if anything the Raptors' success this year has just convinced him he can go anywhere and make his new team a whole lot better.

To be honest, if you asked me to bet money and make a prediction, I'd say he stays in TOR. It's also possible this talk about going to LA (Lakers/Clippers) is just the media's ploy to add another star to a big market city (which is LA or NY, but I doubt NY is a legit option).
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Offline celts10

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Certainly seems possible but I don't know. I'm going to take a wait-and-see approach depending on how far Toronto goes this season. The media had Paul George as an automatic lock to go to LA yet he opted to stay in OKC.

Offline RJ87

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He's going to the Clippers, and teaming up with someone in the Butler/Kemba/Klay grouping. To me, it makes perfect sense. Kawhi apparently got ticked off when KD (I think it was him, correct me if I'm wrong) said Kawhi was a "system player and not an alpha" like 3-4 years ago. Yes, it was debatable, but it still ticked Kawhi off. He's now "the man" in TOR, and could still be "the man" in LAC, whereas if he goes LAL he won't be (he'll be in Lebron's shadow). If Klay leaves GSW I could see him going LAL, but maybe someone like Butler, Kemba or Middleton joins him, and I think LAC could work another trade if needed to land another 3rd wheel (or a very solid player) to put them over the top.

Yeah, if anything the Raptors' success this year has just convinced him he can go anywhere and make his new team a whole lot better.

To be honest, if you asked me to bet money and make a prediction, I'd say he stays in TOR. It's also possible this talk about going to LA (Lakers/Clippers) is just the media's ploy to add another star to a big market city (which is LA or NY, but I doubt NY is a legit option).

His uncle seems to have a lot of influence in his decision making. The more I think about it, I think the Clippers are the favorite. Let's not forget this all started because his team thought Jordan Brand undervalued him when he sneaker contract came up for renegotiation. I think he's going to go for the big splash and right now, that'd be going to an LA team and showing up Lebron.
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Offline nickagneta

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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?

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I hope he does go to the Clippers, for a host of reasons:

1.  It downgrades the Lakers in their own city;

2.  It gets another MVP candidate out of the East and weakens Toronto;

3.  It would make me feel a whole lot better about not trading for Kawhi.

I do think that Boston > Toronto, though, as a basketball city.  Regardless of what happens, I think that a combination of Danny / Brad / Kyrie / Smart / Horford / the fans would have convinced Kawhi to stay here.


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Online Roy H.

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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.


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Offline hwangjini_1

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So did he want to leave San Antonio because of the weather?
Have you been to both San Antonio and LA. Quality of life isn't just weather. San Antonio is horribly hot and other than the Riverwalk, it is a crappy small city. LA if you have money, and Kawhi will have a ton, is just a tremendous place to live. And I would say, being on the Pacific coast gives you much more geat weather than San Antonio.

Yeah that part in bold is the key thing. Otherwise, it’s a ****hole. All of the filth of a big city with none of the charm.
wow, accurate descriptions of two cities in a single thread! good job guys.
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Offline celts10

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I do think that Boston > Toronto, though, as a basketball city.

Absolutely agree, although Toronto certainly sounds like they have a very passionate fan base. Even KG and Pierce heaped praises upon the city, calling it one of the best environments to play in.

https://torontosun.com/2014/05/04/nets-kg-pierce-praise-raptors-fans/wcm/ba7d34f3-94cd-45c5-b2ff-f0c89c203825

Online Moranis

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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).
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