Woj: Kawhi still leaning towards Clippers, Raptors have a lot of work to do still

[Dupp]

Woj can go suck his momma. Pouring salt on our celebration every chance he gets

I do wonder why Woj keeps smacking the Raptors while pushing a pro LA agenda on everything. It's gotten worse since the move to ESPN.

Woj is a petty scumbag

[CIN-C-STAR]

Seriously I hope Kawhi stays, but this is the perfect opportunity for him to bolt...
Raps used up a lot of assets to put a contender around him, and some serious injury luck allowed it to pan out with a championship.
Now he can just bolt to another team loaded with assets, and no one can even be mad at him. Use 'em up, and move on to greener pastures. It's Lebron-esque, without the bad PR.

DeRozan, Poeltl and 1st round pick is not "a lot of assets". JV , Delon and CJ - again not that much in terms of assets. Delon would have been let go this off season because of our cap situation and he wants to get paid and he was fighting for minutes with FVV. CJ is useless. JV and Gasol are a wash at best.

They are still an extremely deep team with an emerging 2 way all-star in Pascal Siakam and a young bench of FVV Norman OG and Serge and probably the top 3 best starting 5 in the NBA.

We'll have to agree to disagree here. Putting aside Derozan, who was basically replaced by Kawhi, they lost four young rotation players and two draft picks.
I consider that a lot of assets.
Mind you, those were great moves if the goal was to win this season, but those assets are still going to be hard to replace going into the future in a salary cap league where things like the luxury tax, cap holds and Bird rights matter.
Masai is a great GM so not saying the situation is hopeless or anything, and obviously they have a great team in the short term if they just bring everyone back. And Siakam should continue getting better. But the cupboard is a bit more bare even if it was well worth it for a championship.

[poomaster]

Seriously I hope Kawhi stays, but this is the perfect opportunity for him to bolt...
Raps used up a lot of assets to put a contender around him, and some serious injury luck allowed it to pan out with a championship.
Now he can just bolt to another team loaded with assets, and no one can even be mad at him. Use 'em up, and move on to greener pastures. It's Lebron-esque, without the bad PR.

DeRozan, Poeltl and 1st round pick is not "a lot of assets". JV , Delon and CJ - again not that much in terms of assets. Delon would have been let go this off season because of our cap situation and he wants to get paid and he was fighting for minutes with FVV. CJ is useless. JV and Gasol are a wash at best.

They are still an extremely deep team with an emerging 2 way all-star in Pascal Siakam and a young bench of FVV Norman OG and Serge and probably the top 3 best starting 5 in the NBA.

We'll have to agree to disagree here. Putting aside Derozan, who was basically replaced by Kawhi, they lost four young rotation players and two draft picks.
I consider that a lot of assets.
Mind you, those were great moves if the goal was to win this season, but those assets are still going to be hard to replace going into the future in a salary cap league where things like the luxury tax, cap holds and Bird rights matter.
Masai is a great GM so not saying the situation is hopeless or anything, and obviously they have a great team in the short term if they just bring everyone back. And Siakam should continue getting better. But the cupboard is a bit more bare even if it was well worth it for a championship.

They only traded 1 first round draft pick, not 2. The other pieces were expendable.

Who are the 4 young pieces? Poeltl , Delon and JV -- that's 3 as far as I can count?

[mademan]

Clippers haven't had cap space since Donald Sterling was owner. Nobody has spurned us. In fact we were competing with Miami, then GS year in and year out on crazy good value signings for the bench and guys willing to take minimum to contend. Remember Ray Allen was gonna come here, but we chose Crawford (Allen hit the big shot and won title in Miami after). We got many minimum guys who could of made more elsewhere.

so no evidence of LA being able to attract star FA's at a rate higher than the league average then?

Has Toronto EVER signed a big free agent either? Seems like a random pissing contest here you want to engage in. If you honestly believe Toronto is the draw LA is, we will have to agree to disagree.

Sent from my LM-Q710(FGN) using RealGM mobile app

no. Im not making any claim like that at all. You said Clippers are more attractive because they'll be able to attract star FA's...something that doesnt happen at any rate greater than league average.

Youre putting words in my mouth saying Toronto is a bigger draw than LA. Pretty typical strawmanning. You made a claim; it was a claim based on no evidence, i pointed that out. You then sidestepped it and argued against a different claim entirely that you attributed to me; that Toronto is a strong FA destination. Which i never said.

[mtcan]

Clippers haven't had cap space since Donald Sterling was owner. Nobody has spurned us. In fact we were competing with Miami, then GS year in and year out on crazy good value signings for the bench and guys willing to take minimum to contend. Remember Ray Allen was gonna come here, but we chose Crawford (Allen hit the big shot and won title in Miami after). We got many minimum guys who could of made more elsewhere.

so no evidence of LA being able to attract star FA's at a rate higher than the league average then?

Has Toronto EVER signed a big free agent either? Seems like a random pissing contest here you want to engage in. If you honestly believe Toronto is the draw LA is, we will have to agree to disagree.

Sent from my LM-Q710(FGN) using RealGM mobile app

They hadn't signed a big name free agent but they sure as hell have kept their own especially in the modern winning era. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan are perennial multiple time all Stars who have both made all-NBA...and both have wanted to stay in Toronto. Serge Ibaka wanted to stay in Toronto. Everyone they have acquired in trades except for PJ Tucker has wanted to stay.

This is the current situation with Kawhi that is actually relevant.

[rotty]

We just won a championship and clipsfan is at it again... just let us enjoy this for the next 2 weeks until the man makes his decision.

cant enjoy **** around here

[Harcore Fenton Mun]

Why is it's always some reporter based in LA or working in LA has all these inside scoops about Toronto.

[Steelo Green]

Seriously I hope Kawhi stays, but this is the perfect opportunity for him to bolt...
Raps used up a lot of assets to put a contender around him, and some serious injury luck allowed it to pan out with a championship.
Now he can just bolt to another team loaded with assets, and no one can even be mad at him. Use 'em up, and move on to greener pastures. It's Lebron-esque, without the bad PR.

DeRozan, Poeltl and 1st round pick is not "a lot of assets". JV , Delon and CJ - again not that much in terms of assets. Delon would have been let go this off season because of our cap situation and he wants to get paid and he was fighting for minutes with FVV. CJ is useless. JV and Gasol are a wash at best.

They are still an extremely deep team with an emerging 2 way all-star in Pascal Siakam and a young bench of FVV Norman OG and Serge and probably the top 3 best starting 5 in the NBA.

We'll have to agree to disagree here. Putting aside Derozan, who was basically replaced by Kawhi, they lost four young rotation players and two draft picks.
I consider that a lot of assets.
Mind you, those were great moves if the goal was to win this season, but those assets are still going to be hard to replace going into the future in a salary cap league where things like the luxury tax, cap holds and Bird rights matter.
Masai is a great GM so not saying the situation is hopeless or anything, and obviously they have a great team in the short term if they just bring everyone back. And Siakam should continue getting better. But the cupboard is a bit more bare even if it was well worth it for a championship.

Delon was not going to sign here so didn't matter as Fred replaced him.

Gasol is expiring next year so cap room.

CJ was garbage.

Demar was an overrated star who you would be stuck not winning a title with.

Jak I agree is a solid player, but not a star.

Val is solid big.

FRP is a late first rounder, and Masai hits on anywhere in the draft so not a big deal.

OG isn't even being discussed but he's 20 and the Raptors I'm sure will develop him well.

[OkcSinceSGA]

so no evidence of LA being able to attract star FA's at a rate higher than the league average then?

Has Toronto EVER signed a big free agent either? Seems like a random pissing contest here you want to engage in. If you honestly believe Toronto is the draw LA is, we will have to agree to disagree.

Sent from my LM-Q710(FGN) using RealGM mobile app

They hadn't signed a big name free agent but they sure as hell have kept their own especially in the modern winning era. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan are perennial multiple time all Stars who have both made all-NBA...and both have wanted to stay in Toronto. Serge Ibaka wanted to stay in Toronto. Everyone they have acquired in trades except for PJ Tucker has wanted to stay.

This is the current situation with Kawhi that is actually relevant.

Neither Blake or DJ wanted to leave (The big 3 all signed max deals with Clips). CP3 did to join Harden, part of that though was Clips cooling on idea of throwing 5th year at him and his relationship with Blake. Lou and Harrell signed cheap contracts to stay (maybe best two contracts in NBA in terms of underpay ).

[Desiderium]

I miss the days when WOJ would just break news. He hasn't been the same since he was hired by ESPN.

[soxfan2003]

It would be legit if Kawhi had a press conference on July 1 and straight up said, “the raptors and I have come to an agreement that I am signing for 1 more year and then I leave after this year”. That way, everyone knows, the team would be focused and not have to worry about if he stays or leaves. They know he is gone. They get 1 chance to run it back as Lowry ibaka and gasol expire. Raptors start over in 2021. I know it would never happen but would be cool and refreshing to see.

I would strongly consider doing that in his shoes and just say "my preference after that is a team on the west coast" near my home in San Diego. Gives Toronto every incentive in the world to go for it again with Lowry/Ibaka/Gasol. Raptors can then start a rebuild around Siakam.

Maybe even the Warriors clear cap space for Leonard. Clipper/Lakers/whoever delayed a year. He could even entertain west coast darkhorses that are only a 2 hour flight from his home in San Diego

He could also sign a 1 +1 deal to protect himself vs injury.

I realize Toronto wants him for as long as possible but realistically to win beyond next year, Raptors are going to need to get reinforcements anyways.

As a Celtics fan I actually hope Leonard stays in Toronto... I want the bar in the EC to be high for the Celtics so Ainge doesn't field junk small ball teams and fool the fans.

[Clay Davis]

I think the Raptors are more built to win the next year or two. If you compare rosters top to bottom, assets, flexibility etc.. I think the Clippers (with Kawhi of course) will be better for 5+ years almost certainly. Lowry and Gasol are due to fall off a cliff at any time. Ibaka likely won't continue this resurgence. It's basically gonna be Kawhi+Siakam and an inferior role player cast outside of that. I get Siakam is the best young player, but he's not better than Harrell+SGA+Shamet combined for example. Clippers are younger with their core and the vets they do have like Lou/Gallo are borderline all star guys. So I still disagree that's it's a pure LA decision. Likely biggest factor, but the Clippers front office, ownership, coaching and future prospects are top tier as well.

All this said, I expect him to stay anyway.

Siakam + FVV + OG is definitely better than Harrell + SGA + Shamet

How so? SGA/Shamet just showed out as ROOKIES against the Warriors and this season both showed they definitely have all star potential. OG and FVV (25 years old) are 2nd and 3rd year players who have yet to even look like starters, let alone anything close to a star. Siakam is the best of the group, but he wasn't all that much better than Harrell this year TBH, despite the constant hype.

SGA and Shamet look like a legit great starting backcourt for the next 10+ years. Also Zubac, Robinson, Thornwell still can be good role players, I was just mentioning the top 3. Shamet showed he can play great D too the way he played Curry and Klay in the playoffs. He projects out favorably as a JJ Redick/poor man's Curry type player. SGA looks like a bigger Sam Cassell with more defensive potential. These are two kids who are 20 and 21 and just helped carry a team without a star to the playoffs. How many rookie guards started on a playoff team?

OG started all 10 games in the play-offs last year. He obviously wouldn't be starting on the Raptors but that's because our roster doesn't suck. If you want to talk about projections, OG has shown glimpses of being an amazing defender and FVV has shown flashes of being a PG who can play with ice in his veins on the biggest stage. Most importantly they're tried and tested. Obviously they're not stars, but they're clearly high-end role-players. I'd rather have a young player with star/superstar potential + 2 high-end role-players than 3 starting-calibre players.

[6ix]

This story is nothing but BS.

Clearly the Toronto Raptor winning the NBA Championship has hurt a lot of feelings. Lots of salt being thrown around.

This is a really poor look. You really think Woj is going to hurt his reputation because he wants to soil the Raps victory? Seems a million times more likely you just don't like the content of his report (for obvious reasons) and so you're making up this weird conspiracy theory rather than confront the reality that Kawhi still might leave.

Well, even if he does leave we have to thank him for giving it his all. He brought a championship to the city of Toronto. Much respect.

That said, there are some very upset people.

[bon]

Told you guys, if he were even LEANING towards Toronto, he would just come out and say it. None of this, "I'm not thinking about that right now", and all of this nonsense. Do any of you study psychology or human nature? Have you read the "Laws of Human Nature"? Do any of you actually think he hasn't thought about this? As human nature suggests, you convince yourselves that he's telling the truth because that's your truth, you want him to stay. Instead of logically thinking to yourself, of course he's thought about it, unless you actually think he's a cyborg and not a human.

People give away hints in their tone and body language without even realizing it.

Somebody else said it, they just won the championship in his first season, gave him the keys when he got there, let him sit out games whenever he wanted. What the hell else do they need to do?

Its like asking a chick out, anything other than "yes", is a "no". All this maybe, I"m not sure, I haven't really thought about it, is just another way of saying no without being direct about it. She doesn't want to hurt your feelings. You've been the best man you can be towards her. You've been kind, polite, generous, caring, thoughtful, you've got your sh*t together. Yet she still only sees you as a friend. She just doesn't like you like THAT.

It sucks, its life.

This reads like someone who hasn't followed the NBA in their life. How many star players announce their next contract before free agency even begins?

[darkse1d]

Honestly from the interviews I saw yesterday, kawhi is gone. He can just say that he did everything he had to accomplish and he gave the raptors a title that will be forever be known in history and a banner hanging.

He gone

[Luigi]

My Raps fans, congratulations on the victory! I think it is up to you to celebrate it though. For a guy like me, who is suerely no Warriors fan, but also not a Raps fan, I personally care more about free agency and who could be going where than your parade. But don't let that stop you! Parade on! Raps in 6.

[dc]

What work would Toronto possibly have to do? They catered to his load management needs, they won a title, and they want him back in the worst way. No work has to be done. If he leaves Toronto now, he was never staying no matter what happened.

Move the team to Orange County?

Personally, I think he's staying in Toronto, but keep in mind Lebron pretty much had his mind made up a year ahead of time that he was headed to LA no matter what.

[simple_jack]

Let’s all be real tea here.

Woj is on the Clippers books. It is now blatantly obvious

[durka]

As a raps fan I feel like the only thing they can do is offer the 5 year contract with a clause that if he requests a trade at any time they'll send him out to his destination of choice (same thing GSW was rumored to offer KD pre-injury). Even if it's a handshake agreement, I think the organization has earned his trust. If they give him a championship, load management, long term contract flexibility AND the option to go to LA whenever he pleases and he still leaves, all they can do is shake their head and say we tried.

[BullyKing]

Let’s all be real tea here.

Woj is on the Clippers books. It is now blatantly obvious

Help me out with the logic of what you consider to be blatantly obvious. So Woj is on the Clippers books and they're paying him to put out there that Kawhi is still interested. The point of that would be what? That Kawhi, not actually being interested in the Clippers is now going to become interested in them after reading Woj say he is?