The continuing absence of Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs lineup has been an ongoing source of tension for the team. It appears that other NBA teams have noticed, and may try to turn that into an opportunity to pry the star forward away from San Antonio.
According to a report from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, “several NBA general managers” have told him that there is increasing interest in Leonard around the league.
“At the end of this season, teams will call the Spurs and inquire about the availability of Kawhi Leonard,” Windhorst said on Outside the Lines. “And the fact that that would even happen is a dramatic shift that none of us could have foreseen coming.”
Still No Date for Leonard Return
That report comes as Leonard continues to miss time with a right quadriceps injury. The ailment dates back to the offseason, and Leonard has only played nine games all season, the last of which came on Jan. 13.
That absence has reportedly stoked tensions among Spurs players. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski recently wrote that some of Leonard’s teammates were imploring him to return to the lineup in a players-only meeting after a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in March.
But Leonard has insisted that he needs more time to recover, while also saying that he hopes to get back on the court before the end of the regular season. In recent days, he has continued to do rehab work in New York with his own team of doctors, leaving teammates and Spurs officials in the dark when it comes to his timetable for returning to the lineup.
“I don’t know when he’s going to feel, he and his group are going to feel like they’re ready to go,” San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich told reporters before his team’s game Sunday against the Houston Rockets. “If I knew, he’d be here.”
Spurs Hanging on for Playoff Position
While Leonard’s absence threatened to derail the Spurs’ season, the team has come up big in recent days to solidify their playoff position. San Antonio has won seven of their last 10 games despite injuries to Leonard, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Rudy Gay and others.
The Spurs are currently tied for fourth place in the Western Conference with a record of 45-33. That puts them in contention for home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
However, they are also only two games ahead of the ninth-place Denver Nuggets with four games to play, so San Antonio still has work to do simply to clinch a playoff spot. The Spurs remain a fringe championship contender at most sportsbooks, with William Hill offering the team at 50/1 odds to win a title this season.
Should the Spurs listen to offers for Leonard in the offseason, there will be no shortage of teams interested in retaining his services. The two-time All-Star is coming off a season in which he scored 25.5 points per game and picked up his third consecutive NBA All-Defensive Team selection. Leonard has finished in the top three in MVP voting in each of the past two seasons.
Still, Windhorst believes that the Spurs will find a way to make amends with their 26-year-old superstar.
“I still believe the most likely scenario is [Leonard] signs an extension and stays a Spur long term,” Windhorst said on OTL. “I still believe while we’re in rocky water here, that ultimately this will probably end up being calm – but boy are a lot of people watching this.”
