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Tim BontempsESPN
LOS ANGELES – When Kawhi Leonard grew up in Southern California, he was surrounded by Los Angeles Lakers fans. His adolescence coincided with the Kobe Bryant regime and his family – as so many others in Riverside and in other parts of the Inland Empire where he had grown up – was full of dedicated followers of the purple and of gold.
Leonard, however, was not one of them.
"I was not at all," Leonard said Saturday. "My family was, but I was not.
"I loved Allen Iverson, I was a fan of A.I, so I did not like the Lakers."
It was a disposable sentence at the end of a brief superficial post-practice interview – an interview to which, like just about every session of this type, Leonard worked diligently to finish as quickly as possible . But it was also a little window on the state of mind that Leonard used when he had gone from high school star status to doing his job 100 km east of Los Angeles and becoming the best player in both directions of the sport.
This mindset is also to be watched: for the next eight months, Leonard will evaluate his choices as to where he will continue his career after obtaining unrestricted free-agent status for the first time next summer.
He should leave the Lakers, which the Toronto Raptors clubbed Sunday night by a score of 121-107 with Leonard sitting with a sore left foot, worried about what Leonard will decide.
For two years, the Lakers have kept their dry powder on the trade market. Rather than sacrifice one of their young kernels – Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart – to continue an exchange for someone like Paul George or Leonard, the Lakers just sat down, let them grow and hope The combination of a young pool of young talents and bright Hollywood lights will be enough to once again attract the power of the stars to Los Angeles.
This proved to be enough for the biggest star of all, LeBron James, to join the Lakers on July 1st. But George missed the opportunity to play alongside James this summer, choosing to sign back with the Oklahoma City Thunder at the start of free agency. And even though there is plenty of time for things to change, there is a sense within the league that Leonard will do the same next summer.
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A survey of several league leaders this weekend revealed that the Lakers were lagging even among the tenants of the Staples Center in the fight to win Leonard. Rather than trying to team up with James, it is thought that Leonard would prefer to have control of his own team, which the Clippers would offer, while giving him the opportunity to return to his native California, Southern California.
The Lakers have explored a potential trade with Leonard this summer, but the price demanded by the San Antonio Spurs has prevented an agreement from materializing. The Clippers, for their part, have relentlessly pursued Leonard since the summer, but do not have the assets necessary to conclude an agreement.
Toronto, however, eventually sent an All-Star (DeMar DeRozan), a young talent (Jakob Poeltl) and a first-round pick in San Antonio for Leonard and Danny Green. And now that the Raptors must spend a season recruiting Leonard to stay north of the border, they have every confidence in their ability to convince him to stay here next summer.
A source of optimism comes from the fact that the Thunder's chief executive, Sam Presti, was able to stick to George – although George openly declared he wanted to play for the Lakers, Oklahoma City being one of the smallest markets in the world. the league and the Thunder having lost in the first round of the playoffs of last season. But the biggest source of optimism is what Toronto has to offer to Leonard if he decides to stay.
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Kawhi Leonard shows his strength as he walks towards the driveway, gets soiled and always ends the lay-up.
Ironically, Toronto's best selling pitch on the court for what he can do is that Leonard does not even play Sunday night. After getting stuck feet late in Friday's victory in Phoenix, the Raptors played their game safely with their star and sat against the Lakers – only to finish the first quarter 42-17 and win easily. It was the perfect opportunity for the young Toronto line-up to make a name for themselves – not forgetting a back-to-back game by Serge Ibaka, who scored 20 points in the first quarter and finished with 34 points and 10 rebounds. Kyle Lowry continued his hot ride. start of the season with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 15 assists.
The Raptors have an alignment teeming with long, bouncy athletes, a consistent unit whose positions are deep, with long-limbed players that allow freshman Nick Nurse to play as he pleases. . Meanwhile, Lowry earned double-digit markings in eight of Toronto's first ten games and also seems comfortable with leading the team. The result was that Toronto started a 9-1 start after Sunday's win, tied with the Golden State Warriors for the NBA's best record until the third week.
It's still early, of course, but the Raptors seem to be claiming they were announced before the start of the season – and Leonard, who has an average of 26.1 points, 7.6 rebounds , 3.4 assists and 2.0 interceptions in seven games, is back Form MVP level from before last season, when he was bothered by tendinopathy in his right quad.
The Toronto sales pitch will also extend off the field. At the opening night in Toronto, Leonard was the last to receive a massive ovation from supporters of the Scotiabank Arena. This kind of story will be mundane over the next few months, as Raptors fans try to convince him to make the decision they're hoping for. he will be. And with the ability to offer him unlimited access to one of North America's big cities from a marketing standpoint – not to mention a whole country – Toronto hopes to convince Leonard that it would be a great deal to stay on track. financial.
Raptors president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster lead this flexible and adept front-office that has not only paved the way for Leonard, but has also enriched Toronto's talent pool, which should allow to the Raptors to remain a factor at the top of the East for years to come. When next summer arrives, there is no doubt that they will present Leonard with a plan explaining how they plan to do it.
Whatever the way things are going this season, no matter the performance of the Raptors or Leonard's assimilation to Toronto's vibrant cultural scene, it's worth remembering that it's all about from a man who grew up in the heart of the Lakers territory against his hometown team and his family, and to Allen Iverson.
Kawhi Leonard has never been afraid to be a contrarian. This could make it difficult for the Lakers to convince him to join them next summer more difficult than they imagined.
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