Kawhi Leonard Wants Out of Spurs: Lakers Currently Top Destination, Reports Say
Kawhi Leonard, 2014 Finals MVP and All-Star small forward for the San Antonio Spurs, is reportedly having his camp look at the possibility of forcing a trade away from his current team. The Los Angeles Lakers is also supposedly the top ranking destination he wants to move to, according to reports from league sources.
Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express was among the first to break the news that Leonard wants to get out of the Spurs. In his tweet on Friday, June 15, he teased that more information is expected to come out over the next few days as well.
Known ESPN source Adrian Wojnarowski then followed up with the bombshell that should Leonard wish to move out of Texas, California will likely be his chosen destination.
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"San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard has Los Angeles — preferably the Lakers — at the center of his preferences for a trade destination, league sources tell ESPN," Wojnarowski tweeted sometime later on Friday.
That also implies that should a Lakers deal prove to be impossible to work out, the Los Angeles Clippers is also another favorite destination for the two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
Kawhi Leonard is currently in the last year of his ongoing contract with the Spurs, one that he spent the last season mostly on the sidelines following a spate of injuries. In the 2017–2018 season, Leonard was only able to enter nine games and was relegated to rehab in New York for a lingering quad injury.
Lack of communication with the team and the Spurs' renowned coach, Gregg Popovich, is now being seen as part of the reason for Leonard reportedly asking to be traded out. Earlier this April, Popovich put Leonard in the hot seat when the coach asked by reporters about Kawhi's injury situation.
"You'll have to ask Kawhi and his group that question [about his availability]," Popovich said, as quoted by the Bleacher Report.
