Recent Lakers rumors have been about the team being linked to Kawhi Leonard. Have the Lakers tried to acquire him?
As the NBA Draft gets closer, there have been plenty of Lakers rumors surrounding the offseason plan. One of the players that have been linked to the Lakers a lot recently is Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs.
With Leonard’s desire to be traded from the Spurs and come to Los Angeles, there has been a lot of speculation about whether or not it will happen. Early on it appeared like the Spurs would be unwilling to trade Leonard to a rival in the Western Conference.
Recently, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Lakers and the Spurs have yet to talk about a potential Kawhi deal.
Spurs are willing listeners on Kawhi Leonard trade proposals, but haven't been proactive in chasing down offers, league sources tell ESPN. For now, make an offer and they'll add it to their board. Spurs and Lakers have had no dialogue on Leonard.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 21, 2018
Seeing the Lakers and the Spurs not engage in talks yet is certainly surprising, as Leonard reportedly wants to play in Los Angeles. However, Leonard doesn’t have any sort of power in a trade other than not committing to whatever team trades for him beyond next season.
The Lakers certainly have the assets to make a deal for Leonard, but they might not be willing to part ways with some of their young studs for a player that missed almost all of last year. The quad injury for Kawhi is certainly a factor that hasn’t been talked about much. Missing an entire season because of an injury usually waves a red flag.
However, when healthy, Leonard is arguably the best two-way player in the NBA. Also, he has accomplished quite a bit already in his career as an NBA Champion and NBA Finals MVP.
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With the NBA Draft just hours away, it will be interesting to see if the Lakers and the Spurs do talk about Leonard. As we get closer to the NBA Draft, there will surely be a lot of rumors surrounding Leonard.