RealGM

R.C. Buford spoke publicly about the San Antonio Spurs' preference to retain Kawhi Leonard despite his trade request.

"Kawhi and his family mean a lot to our organization and to our community," Buford said. "While none of us would wish we are where we are, we are going to do what we can to build the best relationship we can with him. We will explore all of our options, but the first one would be to keep Kawhi as part of our group."

Buford declined to comment on trade speculation surrounding Leonard on Thursday. 

Buford was asked about a timeline for getting Leonard's situation resolved.

"Yesterday," said Buford.

"I don't know that timing is a factor in this," Buford said. "He is under contract for another year. Our goal is to keep him as part of our program for a long time."

Via San Antonio Express-News

Oh yeah, Kawhi means so much to the franchise that Pop didn't go meet with him until it was too late and the team threw him under the bus all season long. I am sure he feels the love...

Hoopzilla wrote:Oh yeah, Kawhi means so much to the franchise that Pop didn't go meet with him until it was too late and the team threw him under the bus all season long. I am sure he feels the love...

Huh? Pop has been trying to reach out to Kawhi for sometime now but his handlers have been trying to keep Kawhi away from him .

Buford is out of the woodworks now.

It’s fine, Philly has the pieces to deal for him now and the backbone to risk him leaving.

Pop and Brett will work something out soon.

Broken.
Would SAS fire Pop, let TP go, and trade LMa?
Nope.
RC fibbing

Welcome to Philadelphia Kawhi !

Hoopzilla wrote:Oh yeah, Kawhi means so much to the franchise that Pop didn't go meet with him until it was too late and the team threw him under the bus all season long. I am sure he feels the love...

odd how it's salvageable after you lose all leverage. i guess the probable SD bully tactic backfired.
translation: SAS has no leverage and all their trade proposals have been lowballs. SEE Whiteside.

Does that mean if they don't get satisfactory return from a trade, they will keep Kawaii for a year?

Reminds one of the Melo situation except that Melo had a NTC and Kawaii is a much better player.

Or is he gonna do a season-ending surgery ala Kyrie?

Spurs *Publicly* Say They Still Prefer To Retain Kawhi Leonard

Pop also *publicly* threw Kawhi under the bus when he said Kawhi was cleared and you had to talk to his people

I like this public private ****.

they're going to do the only thing that makes sense. wait Kawhi out. bc of Kawhi's trade demands the Spurs are over a barrel w/ other teams. they will be forced to take .50 on the dollar no matter when they trade him. if they wait long enough maybe Kawhi caves in on his demands. either way they get very little in return for Kawhi so might as well wait and see if Kawhi has a change of heart. right now Spurs are in a no-win situation regarding trading him so they have no incentive to do so in a timely manner

totalrekall wrote:they're going to do the only thing that makes sense. wait Kawhi out. bc of Kawhi's trade demands the Spurs are over a barrel w/ other teams. they will be forced to take .50 on the dollar no matter when they trade him. if they wait long enough maybe Kawhi caves in on his demands. either way they get very little in return for Kawhi so might as well wait and see if Kawhi has a change of heart. right now Spurs are in a no-win situation regarding trading him so they have no incentive to do so in a timely manner

simply put.
RCs options: trade for a little something. or walks and gets nothing.

Frontrunners are great when ahead. how has SAS responded when not in power? not well. the Tantrums do not reflect well on them moving forward.

Good. I hope he stays there and honors his contract that HE SIGNED. Stand up and be a professional, Kawhi. If you have real health issues, be upfront about it instead of being passive aggressive and non-communicative. It's only 1 year, not 20 years. Grind it out. You will have all the freedom to leave after your contract ends next year, but in the meantime, please honor your contract like a true professional.

got a feeling pop isn't caving to this self-servicing asshat that quit on the coach, players, and fans

totalrekall wrote:they're going to do the only thing that makes sense. wait Kawhi out. bc of Kawhi's trade demands the Spurs are over a barrel w/ other teams. they will be forced to take .50 on the dollar no matter when they trade him. if they wait long enough maybe Kawhi caves in on his demands. either way they get very little in return for Kawhi so might as well wait and see if Kawhi has a change of heart. right now Spurs are in a no-win situation regarding trading him so they have no incentive to do so in a timely manner

His trade value diminishes as it gets into 2019. The Spurs might want a better return now, and they have every right to do so.

However, at some point, they need to weigh getting "something" instead of "nothing", and there is also the 2019 trade deadline.

The Spurs can obviously choose to let Kawhi walk next summer, and get "nothing" in return. That is their choice.

#popcorn

FIne lose him for nothing

The Laker Kid wrote:Good. I hope he stays there and honors his contract that HE SIGNED. Stand up and be a professional, Kawhi. If you have real health issues, be upfront about it instead of being passive aggressive and non-communicative. It's only 1 year, not 20 years. Grind it out. You will have all the freedom to leave after your contract ends next year, but in the meantime, please honor your contract like a true professional.

in a broken marriage; people get divorced, bc it's no fun being held against your will.

RC having delusions of grandeur

i knew they felt the pinch the second i saw David Robinsion doing a press run tryna soften the blow the spurs were taking

As they should.

This is hilarious. LOL