Flash4thewin wrote:AirP. wrote:MettaWorldPanda wrote:Kawhi is not coming here. Stop falling for the media garbage. Butler has a better chance of ending up on the Clippers.
I didn't think there was a chance of Giannis going to Miami anytime soon, at the very least he was waiting till after signing his max but I do see a "chance" that Kawhi leaves LA and I think he'd look at both Miami and New York. Clipper history comes into play, in the recent history the Clippers did Blake dirty, they talked and did a huge presentation for Blake about retiring as a Clipper to get him to resign only to trade him to Detroit for assets 6 months later. If this team doesn't go deep into the playoffs I could see the Clippers trying to only resign Kawhi to move him in a year for assets vs lose him for nothing. Kawhi should be highly aware of what LA did to Blake, even if he gets a no trade clause he LA could still move George leaving Kawhi on a rebuilding team which he'd probably ask to be traded from and waiving his no trade clause.
Lets be real, the Clippers are looking at us like a dumpster fire and they will whisper sweet nothings to Butler to make him request a trade. Kawhi knows what the Clippers did and didn't care because its LA. Pg-13 is actually showing up these playoffs avg like 24/9 on 50% shooting. Well he is showing up compared to last playoffs. Kawhi just dropped 40 points, he is playing with passion. They need to fix the roster but they have an owner who will pay to do it, will that happen, no idea. I would love to think that we have a chance but honestly odds are more likely Butler forces his way out.
Now if Butler does force his way out, the Warriors depending on how the draft turns out would be a team to look at. Then again maybe Butler finally flips a switch and goes crazy in a game 3 and drags us to a win. Who knows at this point.
PG and Kawhi signed 2+1s, PG extended after his first year, Kawhi did not. It's a risk for Kawhi with his history of injuries to not sign a long term contract at age 29, so he either did it to give him a chance to leave after this season or to have the power to push the Clippers to do his bidding to get him to extend. I believe Kawhi wants the best of both worlds, the money and to compete and to me would be Miami and New York. There really aren't that many teams he could go to. GS would be a thought, something like Wiggins, Wiseman + more for Kawhi, Miami could make enough space to straight up add him to Butler, Bam, Robinson and possibly Nunn in the east in the East, NY will have cap space but outside of that, I'm not too sure how many more teams could add Kawhi and still be a Championship contender, maybe Philly if they move Simmons for him but the thing is, Kawhi would have to want to sign and trade to go to these teams since he may be a FA.
I though the Clippers really screwed themselves for a long time by doing what they did to Blake. With both Kawhi and George entering their 30s, it's plausible to the Clippers to decide where either one of them end up playing till the end of their current(at the time) contracts. I wouldn't trust LA if I were Kawhi, if he can get a no trade clause he could feel somewhat better about signing long term with them.