Everything Kawhi Leonard

[KeonClark]

We also gotta worry about Scraptor's fatigue level though. I saw him walking with a limp the other day. Can he power through it and take the grind of the playoffs.

Gamesmanship to throw off bucks thread starters. They got cocky

[Kagemusha]

' . What Leonard is doing in this postseason is timeless. Prior to 2019, only three players in NBA playoff history—Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller, and Rolando Blackman—had averaged at least 30 points on at least 51 percent shooting from the field, 38 percent from 3, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Jordan played only three games; Miller and Blackman played four; Kawhi has played 18. '

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2019/5...ecf-nba-finals

[DanH]

That’d be weird if they were concerned with his injury going forward seeing as their attitude was like, “quit fakin go play.”

Yeah, but they wouldn’t be worried about the injury, but about his desire to play whether injured or not (as they clearly thought he wasn’t injured and yet, he wasn’t playing). The reasoning is hard to know, but there were definitely rumours coming from a couple of pretty good sources IIRC that Kawhi never got a super max offer put in front of him by the Spurs.

Also, even if he did turn down the supermax, that just tells you he was willing to walk away from that money to get better health (or at least, to get away from the Spurs). Once you tick that health box, there’s no way of knowing if money is now top of the list, or something else is more important even with health out of the way (assuming you ascribe the same confidence in the LA medical team, who Kawhi has no experience with, as in the Raptors medical team). In any case, knowing (again, more guessing than knowing) he walked away from one big offer doesn’t mean he didn’t do so assuming he’d get the next biggest offer, or that he’d necessarily just keep taking less and less because he did so once.

[GOLDBLUM]

Yeah, but they wouldn’t be worried about the injury, but about his desire to play whether injured or not (as they clearly thought he wasn’t injured and yet, he wasn’t playing). The reasoning is hard to know, but there were definitely rumours coming from a couple of pretty good sources IIRC that Kawhi never got a super max offer put in front of him by the Spurs.

Also, even if he did turn down the supermax, that just tells you he was willing to walk away from that money to get better health (or at least, to get away from the Spurs). Once you tick that health box, there’s no way of knowing if money is now top of the list, or something else is more important even with health out of the way (assuming you ascribe the same confidence in the LA medical team, who Kawhi has no experience with, as in the Raptors medical team). In any case, knowing (again, more guessing than knowing) he walked away from one big offer doesn’t mean he didn’t do so assuming he’d get the next biggest offer, or that he’d necessarily just keep taking less and less because he did so once.

I feel like once upon a time I heard someone saying it perhaps had something to do with the Spurs trying to convince him to take a team friendly deal, and that it’d be for the good of the franchise, to fall in line with the humble history of Spurs players sacrificing for the team, so that they could bring in other good players.

Crazy now, as any team would literally offer him anything at all he could possibly want.

[GOLDBLUM]

A 3-poster rotation works for me. If I have to come back after Mixx and Jclaw that would mean we'd lost three so I'd close out the season either way.

I kind of wish we could include Goldblum because I love his custom gifs, but I am nervous about changing things this late in the season. Maybe I shouldn't have criticized Nick Nurse for the same thing lol.

I very much appreciate the love Scraps -- but I wouldn’t let you give your spot away to begin the postseason and I sure as hell ain’t letting you give it away to end it.

LOVE the three man rotation. Scraps has been the undisputed GRROAT, Mixx has been bringing his absolute A game with the sweet, sweet jazz that’s been our identity all year, and JClaw delivered us The Game 7 Dagger with Philly, a moment none of us shall forget til the day we die.



WE ARE FUCKIN LOCKED AND LOADED.

But this year we ain’t emptying the clip.



LET’S KILL EM WITH THE CLAW.

[Apollo]

CC says he spoke with Uncle Denis yesterday:

[golden]

This is a good time to remember this quote from earlier this year. Kawhi has been great and all.... but just imagine if we had gotten Patty Mills. lol.

[Apollo]

This is a good time to remember this quote from earlier this year. Kawhi has been great and all.... but just imagine if we had gotten Patty Mills. lol.

If you're a young guy and you enter a very well established locker room with guys who've won chip there and who are still playing meaningful minutes, how can you waltz in there and start being the shot caller? I think that's unfair to expect it and it wouldn't have worked even if he tried.

With the Raptors, from what I've heard, Kawhi has been a good leader in his own way. He's given the guys what they've lacked: a calming presence. Calming in his words and calming in his actions. It's made a huge difference. Clearly when it comes to leadership, Kyle has just as much impact (arguably more) but again Kyle is the established vet in the locker room. Kyle brings something Kawhi doesn't and vice versa.

[Jclaw]

CC says he spoke with Uncle Denis yesterday:

That sounds oddly......positive?

[planetmars]

That sounds oddly......positive?

My internal Raptors angst is getting to me.. I listened to that and felt more negative coming out of that than positive lol. If Carter really knows Dennis and spoke with him.. and they have an idea where he's going. To me it feels like it'll be LA like it always has been. Otherwise I think Carter would have come across differently.

Basically I think Dennis' stance is that they are living for the moment right now. And Kawhi is giving everything he has for this moment. But just for this moment.

I'm team "HeStay".. have been for a long time. But this video rattled me a bit.

[Apollo]

That sounds oddly......positive?

I think they're now hedging so they can say: "see, I told you guys. We're the only ones who 'called' it".

[TacoBreath]

Yeah, but they wouldn’t be worried about the injury, but about his desire to play whether injured or not (as they clearly thought he wasn’t injured and yet, he wasn’t playing). The reasoning is hard to know, but there were definitely rumours coming from a couple of pretty good sources IIRC that Kawhi never got a super max offer put in front of him by the Spurs. ...

It seems sure that Kawhi never had the Spurs offer sheet in front of him, with an opportunity to sign it. His existing contract expired at midnight July 15, and the trade was announced July 18. Kawhi was not in San Antonio then, and was never in the same room with anybody from the Spurs during that time. Or so it certainly appears.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have the idea a team can't sign a player to a new contract while the old one is still in effect, because of how it all relates to the salary cap. The cap is set on an annual basis, isn't it? I certainly make no claim to know all the details of the occult science of salary caps.

Anyway, I don't think Kawhi ever saw the Spurs offer sheet placed in front of him. What might have been said in private conversations, who knows.

[DanH]

It seems sure that Kawhi never had the Spurs offer sheet in front of him, with an opportunity to sign it. His existing contract expired at midnight July 15, and the trade was announced July 18. Kawhi was not in San Antonio then, and was never in the same room with anybody from the Spurs during that time. Or so it certainly appears.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have the idea a team can't sign a player to a new contract while the old one is still in effect, because of how it all relates to the salary cap. The cap is set on an annual basis, isn't it? I certainly make no claim to know all the details of the occult science of salary caps.

Anyway, I don't think Kawhi ever saw the Spurs offer sheet placed in front of him. What might have been said in private conversations, who knows.

First off, all contracts expire on June 30th. Second, teams can definitely sign players to extensions if they are under contract (in specific situations). One such situation is the one Kawhi was in - the Designated Player Extension, which allows teams to extend their own star draftees (or players acquired on their rookie deals) to a higher salary than any other team can offer (the 10+ year vet max of 35% of the cap, but the extension can be given to players with 7-8 years of experience).

And all that said, the exact time a player can sign a contract is largely irrelevant. Players and teams place offers in front of each other and come to agreements during the annual moratorium between July 1st and 6th every year and just sign the thing when they can (or often even delay the signing sometimes to let the team play around with cap room first). The Spurs and Kawhi could certainly have come to an agreement on a DPE contract if they wanted to - that is, the Spurs could have formally offered him such a deal and Kawhi and his team could have agreed to it. But one side or the other (or both, by all reports) did not want to.

[KeonClark]

Alright, breaking game threads is one thing..who broke the damn Kawhi Leonard thread!?!

[Kagemusha]

https://media.giphy.com/media/kHOoX5...c61s/giphy.gif