Author Topic: Woj: Kawhi still focused on LA and Home. Values quality of life in free agency”  (Read 5996 times)

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Offline 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.
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.


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Offline footey

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If this story is true, wonder if it will have a negative impact on team morale.

“Why should we care about Kawhi if he plans on bolting no matter what?”

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?

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.
TP.

Offline 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).

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. 
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Offline 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.
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.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2018, 10:36:54 PM by Roy H. »


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Offline nickagneta

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At different times in history Boston's most popular sport bas been all of the 4 major pro sports. Right now, Boston is just a gigantic sports city. The fans go nuts over all 4 teams and if each sport listed all their teams by how dedicated, knowledgeable and rabid their fanbase is, Boston probably puts all 4 of their teams in the top 3-4 in each sport. The four best basketball cities in the NBA are Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles

Toronto is nowhere near as good a basketball city as Boston.

Offline LarBrd33

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https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1073982751609622529

The acquisition of Kawhi Leonard by the Toronto Raptors has gone extremely well, but they remain nervous about their odds of re-signing him in 2019.

"They can't change the geography. They can't change the weather in Toronto. Those were always be things against them in this," said Adrian Wojnarowski. "Home and L.A. has been the focus for Kawhi Leonard through all of this."

Wojnarowski also added that quality of life will also be a priority for Leonard and that his prior championship changes the equation for some players.

Leonard previously sought a trade from the San Antonio Spurs to one of the two Los Angeles teams.

The Los Angeles Clippers have been sending Lawrence Frank to an inordinate number Raptors' games and have been treating Leonard's impending free agency almost like a college recruiting process
Heard some podcast where they theorized the kind of fallout Kawhi re-signing in Toronto might cause - specifically that it could result in a series of some of the most bonehead trades ever... the next time a star becomes available (like Anthony Davis), you might see some crazy team with no chance of re-signing him offering up half their team under the belief "well Paul George stayed and Kawhi stayed... so maybe Anthony Davis will learn to love Sacramento"...  Here's hoping Kawhi bails so that it scares off some of our competition in the Davis trade market.

Offline celticsclay

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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).

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.

This is my take as well. Even the younger players that study the game realize the history of Boston. I’m also not understanding how Toronto has a similar vibe to LA.

Offline tazzmaniac

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https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1073982751609622529

The acquisition of Kawhi Leonard by the Toronto Raptors has gone extremely well, but they remain nervous about their odds of re-signing him in 2019.

"They can't change the geography. They can't change the weather in Toronto. Those were always be things against them in this," said Adrian Wojnarowski. "Home and L.A. has been the focus for Kawhi Leonard through all of this."

Wojnarowski also added that quality of life will also be a priority for Leonard and that his prior championship changes the equation for some players.

Leonard previously sought a trade from the San Antonio Spurs to one of the two Los Angeles teams.

The Los Angeles Clippers have been sending Lawrence Frank to an inordinate number Raptors' games and have been treating Leonard's impending free agency almost like a college recruiting process
Heard some podcast where they theorized the kind of fallout Kawhi re-signing in Toronto might cause - specifically that it could result in a series of some of the most bonehead trades ever... the next time a star becomes available (like Anthony Davis), you might see some crazy team with no chance of re-signing him offering up half their team under the belief "well Paul George stayed and Kawhi stayed... so maybe Anthony Davis will learn to love Sacramento"...  Here's hoping Kawhi bails so that it scares off some of our competition in the Davis trade market.
Badly managed teams really don't need any incentive to make bonehead moves.  I am surprised that the Bulls aren't mentioned more in AD trades since that is his hometown. 

Offline Androslav

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Breaking news!
Kawhi values the quality of life.
Amazing piece of information.
Woj really bombed us this time.
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Offline Briantir

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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).

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 Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. 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.

Offline 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).

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.
I was meaning vibe in that Toronto is a gigantic international city with top level fashion, entertainment, film, etc.  It is diverse, huge, etc.  Much closer to LA in that regard than Boston is.  And I'm not sure I'd use things like franchise value or television ratings to show much of anything.  I mean the Knicks have a hefty lead in franchise value and they haven't landed a major free agent in years and are a terrible team.  History doesn't matter much either to players, they only care about the here and now and in that Toronto ranks as well or better than Boston in things like playoff series wins, regular season wins, etc.  The last 5 years, Toronto has been the better team and that weighs far more than a title a decade ago.
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Offline 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.
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.


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Offline Ogaju

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Lakers cant sign everyone, can they?

Offline Briantir

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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).

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 Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.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.