Kawhi Leonard: Raptors trade could be ‘attractive’ despite Lakers desire – NBA insider

That is according to NBA insider Nick Wright.

LeBron James’ switch to the Western Conference opens up the chance for the Raptors to pounce in the East, with the Cleveland Cavaliers expected to fall away leaving Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers as their two main competitors.

And that could see Toronto willing to break up the team that carried them to No 1 spot in the East last year by sacrificing one of their two All-Star players, most likely DeMar DeRozan.

According to recent reports from ESPN, the Raptors are the new leading candidates to reach a trade agreement with the San Antonio Spurs for their want-away superstar. 

A healthy Leonard is considered an MVP candidate and would represent an upgrade on their current roster, according to Wright.

But there is no guarantee that two-time Defensive Player of the Year Leonard would be consistently available after playing just nine games last year.

Leonard is also reportedly intent on moving to Los Angeles in the summer of 2019, meaning Toronto would be banking on getting the best of the 27-year-old’s services in just one year before he departs via free agency for the Lakers or the Clippers.

Yet Wright told Fox Sports show First Things First that he believes a move to Canada is viable.

“Because of the contracts the Lakers have and because they didn’t sign guys to multi-year deals, they got guys to one-year deals and they don’t have a lot of mid-priced veterans, there’s no practical way to make a two-team trade – Kawhi Leonard going to the Lakers – work,” Wright explained.

“The Clippers, even though they have the contracts to make it work, don’t have the assets. The Lakers could make it work come late-December once you can trade away those one-year players. 

“It’s one thing to get to Los Angeles immediately and it’s another thing to get there a year from now. I’ve been saying all along, I think he’s going to end up a Laker but now even if the Spurs and the Lakers agree on compensation, there needs to be a third team involved to let the cap machinations work. 

“[Brian] Windhorst says the [Brooklyn] Nets don’t have the cap space all of a sudden, the [Chicago] Bulls signed Jabari Parker to $20million – they don’t have the cap space to help make it work, that’s one of the reasons you’re hearing Toronto come back into the fold. 

“They can make it work. If the Spurs like DeMar DeRozan, that’s also an attractive win-now proposition. 

“If you’re the Raptors, even if you think it’s just a rental, you can say, ‘Does Kawhi Leonard plus Kyle Lowry and our young pieces make us the favourites in the East? We won 59 games last year without Kawhi Leonard, he’s better than DeMar DeRozan.’ 

“You understand why Toronto, even if its just a rental, that would be an attractive piece. That’s something that I thought had a close-to-zero per cent chance two weeks ago. 

“Now as it becomes tougher and tougher for a trade to the Lakers or the Clippers to be consummated without another team helping out, I think you have to open up to the fact Toronto could be legitimately, actually, in this game right now for Kawhi.”