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SAN ANTONIO – In private, officials of San Antonio Spurs admit without delay that they are not innocent in this fiasco.
But the club's painful decision of finally accepting Kawhi Leonard's trial sank on Wednesday. framing at a depth in a transition period that worked hard to stay ahead.
Even before San Antonio switched from Leonard (and Danny Green) to Toronto in a move that involved DeMar DeRozan, several signals They said the 21-year-old Spurs qualifying for the playoffs in a row could to be in danger. President and Executive Co-CEO Julianna Hawn filed for divorce from former President and CEO Peter Holt last December, although she told a local television channel that the franchise was safe. and that she would not be sold. The mainstay of the franchise, Tim Duncan, who has largely contributed to the club's culture of disinterest, retired in 2016. Tony Parker, the veteran baseball player, has signed this offseason with the Charlotte Hornets. And uncertainty surrounds the future of guard Manu Ginobili, as well as coach Gregg Popovich.
Popovich's wife, Erin Popovich, died in April and it is unclear how long she intends to lead the Spurs. Sources say this offseason represents the best exposure of the team of coach Popovich, who, although he has been largely absent, has remained involved in the daily affairs of San Antonio since that day. 39, he recently promoted the assistant coach Becky Hammon in place of James Borrego, who was hired as a coach of the Charlotte Hornets in May
That brings us back to Leonard, who was once the only transition period the most important San Antonio since the 90s.
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The Leonard, the franchise employed the only player I could build a complete list to stay competitive. San Antonio hoped that Leonard would serve as a bridge for the next era of the Spurs
But an injury, a lack of communication, a potential misdiagnosis and bad feelings about everything made that one player asked Popovich to be changed. for the second low season followed. (LaMarcus Aldridge asked to be changed last summer, but a face-to-face meeting with Popovich softened the relationship.)
Despite being eligible to receive a super-maximum extension of Spurs of $ 221 million this summer, Leonard wanted to leave San Antonio for several reasons. He felt betrayed by the team for handling the quadriceps injury that allowed him to play nine games last season – in addition to Leonard's team believes the Spurs were also hurting diagnosed the wrist injury – and also for the resistance found by the franchise to seek external opinions. Not to mention what appeared to be a public questioning by members and sources of the organization, the attacker had been medically allowed to play since December.
There were constant references from Popovich to Leonard and his "group," comments Mordant Parker, who said his break in the quadriceps of the previous season was "100 times worse," as well as the meeting of players with Leonard in March, in which the attacker felt ambushed by his teammates at the request of Popovich.
"I do not know when he and his group will feel ready to leave," Popovich said in April. "When he and his group feel ready, then he will be ready."
Danny Green will also leave; In return, DeMar de Rozan, Jacob Poeltl and a selection of Draft arrive
In the minicamp, the star of the Spurs, Kawhi Leonard, could show the state of his recovery and meet Gregg Popovich, coach of San Antonio and Team USA
The French base talked about what was an unexpected change in the NBA in an interview for the San Antonio Express News.
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The franchise also contained ill-will, but considered that Leonard was so important that he was ready to work during difficult times to find a solution. The Spurs did not like to entrust the control of Leonard's medical situation to outside doctors and were upset by the treatment of the situation by the representatives of the attacker – it was Uncle Dennis Robertson – who, like Leonard, has excelled in the communications department, sources said.
More than once, Popovich begged Leonard to allow him to announce to the media that the attacker would be forced to leave the season due to the injury, according to sources they know the situation . As he thought that he would eventually come back, Leonard declined each time and left Popovich with questions that he could not answer to the media. Popovich just did not know.
Leonard left the team twice the previous campaign to rehabilitate himself in New York – with members of the Spurs Rehabilitation Team – to work with the external medical staff of the attacker The Spurs still believed that the relationship was worth saving, and Popovich traveled to Southern California before the NBA draft to meet Leonard as a first step toward reconciliation.
"Kawhi and his family they mean a lot for the organization and for the community," said Spurs director, RC Buford, night project. "Although none of us would want us to be where we are, we will do what we can to build a better relationship with him and explore our options.But the first would be to do what we can to keep Kawhi in our group. "
As this backstage option, San Antonio must go ahead with what he recovered from Wednesday's change: DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a first-round pick of 2019, while the Spurs are entering a more important transition period in the history of the franchise.
Buford always knew that these days would come, with or without Leonard. We are sailing together, "Buford told ESPN last March, asked about the coming period." Our consistency comes from the people we have had who have dedicated their time and experience to our organization. It is evident by our players, our staff, the people who direct and promote our business operations.
"There are many successions that occur in this part of the history of our franchise, and we have all focused on it, not just this year, but for many years." [19659025]
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