Kawhi Leonard to meet with Clippers, Lakers, Knicks, Raptors in free agency

Kawhi Leonard is expected to meet next week in his hometown of Los Angeles with the Clippers, the Lakers and the Knicks before having his final meeting with the Raptors, according to reports.

All Star Kawhi Leonard was the just ended playoffs MVP.

Leonard confidant Cris Carter Tweeted Leonard will visit with the Clippers on Monday and the Lakers Tuesday, with the Knicks later in the week and the Raptors getting the last shot.

The Clippers, Lakers and Knicks can offer Leonard a four-year, $140-million deal, while the NBA champion Raptors can offer five years and $190 million. Free agency begins at 6:01 p.m. on Sunday.

The Lakers now have $32 million to sign a max free agent after Anthony Davis waived his $4 million trade kicker, and the team traded Moritz Wagner, Isaac Bonga and Jemerrio Jones to the Wizards.

The Lakers would be looking to form a new “Big Three” of LeBron James, Davis and Leonard — or potentially James, Davis and Kyrie Irving.

“My best sense is Kawhi wants to be a multi-time champion,” Jalen Rose said Friday on ESPN’s “Get Up!” “He wants to be regarded as one of the greatest players to ever do it. I don’t think his goal is to join a super-team. I think that’s something that he wants to avoid – not for basketball reasons, but for lifestyle reasons, for lights, camera, action reasons. I don’t see him as the kind of player when the warm-ups start [in L.A.] slapping high-fives with everybody on celebrity row. That’s what you will be required to do in Los Angeles if you join the Lakers or the Clippers. And I just don’t see him as doing that this offseason.”

ESPN’s Jay Williams concurred on the Lakers part.

“There’s no way I see Kawhi Leonard joining the Lakers,” he said. “No way. I just don’t. If you watch his actions over the course of his career, he is his own man. He does not give a hell about what anybody says…He’s going to do what he wants to do.”

The Knicks have space for two max-free agents and will also engage with Kevin Durant, via ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Durant, who may redshirt all of next season after Achilles’ surgery, is also considering the Warriors, Clippers and Nets.

If the Knicks miss out on Leonard and Durant, No. 3 pick R.J. Barrett is ready to be the face of a young team.

“It doesn’t even matter to me, I just want to play,” Barrett said recently. “So whatever happens, happens. And if I play with a great player like KD or just play with the guys on the team right now, I don’t even care.” – bbc.com