It will be one more year for 2019 Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard with the Toronto Raptors before he would seriously consider a transfer to another city. And when that happens, Leonard is most likely to pick a new team based in Los Angeles, meaning for Season 2020-21 of the NBA "The Claw" could be wearing a jersey from the Lakers or the Clippers.
NBA.com reported that on Wednesday, Leonard arrived in Toronto via a private plane to meet with Raptors executives. It is believed Leonard and his team are headed to an unnamed hotel in the city where they will be received by Raptors President Masai Ujiri.
It seemed word came out that the All-Star will be in Toronto, so a crowd of supporters turned out in the venue where Leonard and Ujiri are rumored to hold their talks, the report added. It's quite obvious Toronto fans came out in big numbers to convince Leonard that his best option is to stay where he's at right now.
That's exactly the sentiment of Ujiri, who did confirm that right after the 2019 Finals, in which the Raptors dethroned the Golden State Warriors, he and Leonard have spoken on several occasions. "Ujiri remained confident the Raptors would keep Leonard in the fold going forward," the report said.
Such a scenario was supported by the report from Clutch Points, which indicated that "things seem to be lining up for Leonard to return to the Raptors on a one-year deal." The claim came from ESPN's Brian Windhorst, who added that by next summer Leonard would again become an unrestricted free agent with the purpose of moving to another team.
There were earlier talks that the New York Knicks was in consideration, but team officials have admitted that the possibility fizzled out the moment Kevin Durant inked a deal with the Brooklyn Nets. Per The New York Post, the Knicks realized that acquiring The Claw would be next to impossible with KD already out of the picture.
So they ditched the idea and grudgingly moved on, thus leaving other teams to scramble for Leonard's attention.
From Toronto, it appears that Leonard is plotting a jump to Los Angeles where he could cherry pick between two great teams - the rising Clippers and the more popular L.A. Lakers. But it is the former that seems to capture Leonard's imagination, and per Clutch Points, if the team is able to recruit another player with All-Star caliber, he would be in.
With the Lakers, however, things are easier for Leonard as the club already employs two superstars in LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Still, it remains to be seen if the James-Davis tandem will figure prominently on Leonard's future decision to join the squad or look elsewhere.
