Disgruntled Spurs superstar Kawhi Leonard gets shipped to Toronto but wants to join LeBron in L.A.

The Toronto Raptors have reached an agreement on a trade for San Antonio Spurs superstar Kawhi Leonard, but the disgruntled two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year reportedly has no desire to play north of the border, and would instead prefer to join LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Leonard, who has one year and $20 million left on his current contract, spent last season feuding with Spurs coaches and executives while nursing a somewhat mysterious series of injuries. He reportedly demanded a trade to his native Los Angeles – either with the Lakers or the rival Clippers – and according to an ESPN report on Wednesday, he plans on signing with the former next summer.

ESPN’s Chris Haynes wrote on Twitter, ‘Kawhi Leonard has no desire to play in Toronto, league source tells ESPN.’

The trade to Toronto could cost Leonard financially if he signs in L.A. in 2019

Kawhi Leonard, who has one year and $20 million left on his current contract, spent last season feuding with Spurs coaches and executives while nursing a somewhat mysterious series of injuries. The trade to Toronto could cost him financially if he signs in L.A. in 2019 

LeBron James's decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and sign a four-year, $153 million contract with the Lakers was undoubtedly the biggest of the off-season, but Wednesday's trade is a close second. During the recent NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, James met up with his now-former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue (left) 

LeBron James’s decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and sign a four-year, $153 million contract with the Lakers was undoubtedly the biggest of the off-season, but Wednesday’s trade is a close second. During the recent NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, James met up with his now-former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue (left) 

The trade to Toronto not only forces Leonard to wait a year before joining the Lakers, but it also denies him the chance to sign a new contract under the ‘Larry Bird exception’ – a clause in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement that allows free agents to ink a longer contract with higher annual raises for staying with their previous team rather than signing elsewhere.

So next summer, Toronto can offer Leonard a five-year, $190 million contract while the Lakers would be able to offer a four-year deal worth, at most, $141 million. Were he traded to the Lakers, Leonard could get that five-year, $190 million from them instead. 

And Leonard isn’t the only party upset with the reported trade.

The deal sends All-Star swingman DeMar DeRozan to San Antonio, even though he was reportedly told by Raptors executives during the recent NBA Summer League that he would not be traded this summer.

On Tuesday night, DeRozan shared some frustrations on Instagram.

‘Be told one thing & the outcome another,’ DeRozan wrote. ‘Can’t trust em. Ain’t no loyalty in this game. Sell you out quick for a little bit of nothing.’

DeRozan has three years and $83 million left on his contract, which includes an early termination option for the 2020-21 season. Center Jake Poeltl and a protected 2019 first-round pick would go to San Antonio in the deal while veteran guard Danny Green is being sent to Toronto.

The deal is risky for Toronto because, depending on what happens next summer, the Raptors may have given up their top scorer, DeRozan, for a one-year rental on Leonard.

DeRozan has led the Raptors in scoring in each of the last five seasons. He was key to Toronto winning 59 games and securing the No. 1 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs last season. But after getting swept in the second round by Cleveland, the Raptors decided massive changes were necessary – first the firing of coach of the year Dwane Casey, and now the trading of a superstar who once famously declared ‘I am Toronto.’

Leonard’s injury last season was described as right quadriceps tendinopathy, and the Spurs listed him as out on their injury reports for much of the year, citing ‘injury management’ – a designation that became a source of contention on the usually peaceful Spurs last year.

During the 2016-17 season, he averaged a career-best 25.5 points and was third in the MVP voting.

Both DeRozan and Leonard are scheduled to appear in Las Vegas next week at a USA Basketball training camp – one that will be led by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

James’s decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and sign a four-year, $153 million contract with the Lakers was undoubtedly the biggest of the off-season, but Wednesday’s trade is a close second.

The Golden State Warriors have won three of the last four NBA titles with James’s Cavs upsetting Steph Curry and Co. in 2016. The pairing of James and Leonard in Los Angeles could be the NBA’s best chance at challenging coach Steve Kerr’s Warriors for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and president Magic Johnson have also acquired veterans Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, and JaVale McGee on top of re-signing shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The team also boasts recent No. 2 picks Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram, although both could conceivably be traded to add more veteran players around James. 



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