On the 4th day of Kawhi, the city went nuts and Jalen gave us hope | Knicks didn’t meet with Kawhi cause they knew he would reject them | Raptors get an Espy nod
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjynpfP3570
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcEbRFaMP_8
"What I'm 99% hearing is that Kawhi Leonard will be returning to Toronto …"
—@JalenRose pic.twitter.com/wkWwElEDyx
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) July 3, 2019
On the Kawhi front, told he’s not making a decision tonight and it may not be until the next few days. He and his reps are going through the process and taking their time before deciding the next move. No 2-year deals have been discussed. #NBA @TheAthleticNBA
— Jabari Young (@JabariJYoung) July 4, 2019
2019 @ESPYS Awards
Category: Best Play
Nominee: Kawhi Called SeriesVote Now: https://t.co/bOiqC7xlf7 pic.twitter.com/vt0AgUqd9U
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) July 3, 2019
Odds to be the first to officially report the Kawhi Leonard signing (Bovada):@Wojespn +125@ShamsCharania +200@TheSteinLine +700@ZachLowe_NBA +900@Espn_macmahon +900@Kawhileonard +1800@Lakers +900@LAClippers +1500@Raptors +1000#KawhiWatch
— Odds Shark (@OddsShark) July 3, 2019
https://twitter.com/ShowtimeForum/status/1146439375162503169
July 3: Kawhi Or Not, What Has Free Agency Meant For The Raptors? – Sportsnet
Donnovan and JD discuss a wild weekend in NBA free agency and its impact on the Raptors. And while the league awaits Kawhi’s decision, the guys debate his options.
They also answer a number of questions: Are the Nets the new kings of New York and should the Knicks have been a bigger player in free agency? Is it possible to control tampering around the league? And with all the new faces in new places, what’s the power balance between the Eastern and Western Conferences?
Rumours drifted through the crowd as people eventually sought some kind of confirmation they were actually waiting for Leonard. Someone said they heard the team moved the meeting to another upscale hotel nearby. Someone else said Drake owned a condo in the building, so they were obviously meeting upstairs.
Harris was going to check his email and monitor things back at work. His boss understood why he had to go.
“It’s a little bit embarrassing,” he said with a smile. “But whatever. I think people are respectful. Hopefully, he doesn’t mind. He’s a superstar athlete, and this comes with the territory.”
The crowd thinned as the afternoon sun shifted, removing most of the shade on Yorkville Ave., which runs east-to-west through one of the city’s trendiest districts. By 5 p.m., with no word from inside the hotel, the crowd was down to about 50, though more than a dozen of those were journalists.
George Barron was wearing a blazer plastered in the team’s logo, and he was wearing it over his Leonard jersey. He said he was there, in the hot sun, “to support my team, to represent my country and to thank Kawhi.”
He said he was not worried the crowd would negatively influence Leonard’s decision, assuming he was inside the hotel in the first place. On the contrary, Barron said that if they were not in Yorkville, he would have tried to start a chant.
Are the stars aligning for Kawhi to return to Toronto on a two-year deal? – Video – TSN
With Jalen Rose saying there’s a 99% chance Kawhi Leonard returns to the Raptors on a two-year deal, TSN Raptors reporter Josh Lewenberg joins SportsCentre to give his thoughts on the speculation around the reigning NBA Finals MVP.
Kawhi Leonard could be taking the long road to a short-term deal with the Raptors | The Star
Trying to separate reality from opinion, hope from facts, has become a waste of time. People are saying things they think rather than what they know.
Leonard is under no time pressure — it’s not like the Raptors, Lakers or Clippers are going to stop pursuing him — and he will decide when he decides. That’s what made Wednesday, which included a helicopter following SUVs from Pearson Airport to downtown and fans staking out a Yorkville hotel hoping to get a glimpse of Leonard, almost comical.
Even tennis star Milos Raonic chimed in after a second-round straight sets win at Wimbledon. “I hope he stays,” the noted Raptors fan said. “He did a lot of great things for the team, for everybody that’s a basketball fan in Toronto and in Canada.”
There are benefits to Leonard and the Raptors if any deal materializes that is for less than the maximum five years.
In two seasons, when he completes his 10th year of NBA service, Leonard will be eligible for an extension that starts at 35 per cent of whatever the salary cap is then, not the 30 per cent he is eligible for now
And given that this year’s cap number is $109.140 million, a 35 per cent cut of a cap value encroaching on $115 million or $117 million would likely make up for the final three guaranteed years on a five-year deal if he signed for the duration now.
The Raptors, who are in the process of clearing somewhere near $100 million in cap space by the end of next season, would have even more money available for whatever the market presents in two seasons
NBA free agency: Knicks backed out of Kawhi Leonard meeting – New York Post
According to a source, Leonard agreed to meet with the Knicks, but not until Wednesday after finishing with the Clippers and Lakers.
That plan was scratched by Knicks’ brass over logistics.
The Knicks had spent almost all of their $70 million cap space in the first 20 hours of free agency, knowing if they waited until the Leonard meeting Wednesday, the players they did sign could be off the market. It was too big a risk, knowing they likely would finish fourth behind the Raptors, Lakers and Clippers.
As it stood, Leonard reportedly flew back from LA to Toronto on Wednesday for the final meeting. The Knicks only can hope Leonard re-signs for one year with Toronto and becomes a free agent again in 2020. Five of the six free agents the Knicks signed are on one-year guarantees. Only Julius Randle got multiple years.
Toronto might have a wee bit of a Kawhi Leonard problem – Macleans.ca
Shortly after, a growing crowd of Raptors fans gathered outside Yorkville’s Hazelton Hotel, where Leonard was thought to be meeting with Raptors president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster.
“I’m just here to show my appreciation for what he has done for the city,” says Alison Clark, one of the onlookers standing in the afternoon heat. “I know he’s very private, but with delivering the Raptors their first championship, I’m sure he understands the excitement.”
The Raptors were keeping the talks under close wraps, as Leonard’s camp had evidently insisted.
But if the reaction to his mere presence in the city is anything to go by, the dramatic arrival might have been the easy part. Unless they get his autograph onto a contract, these people might not let him leave town.
Looking towards free agency, the Raptors, as it stands now, have ten active players on the books for next season (this includes Malcolm Miller and Chris Boucher who have, respectively, non-guaranteed and partially guaranteed contracts, and Matt Thomas, who recently signed a contract worth 4.2 million over three years). If Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green re-sign, that number jumps to 12, with the Raptors almost certainly moving above the tax apron (the Raptors would have the taxpayer mid-level exception available to them in this scenario). From there, the Raptors will need 14 contracts to be at the league’s minimum. Patrick McCaw (no bird rights) and Nando De Colo (early bird rights) are both options as restricted free agents. The Raptors second-round draft pick, Dewan Hernandez, could also be signed. But after that, who’s to say.
For now, it would seem unlikely that either Meeks or Moreland return next season. Both of them were solid in their role this season, but the Raptors, with a full summer ahead of them, might look to go in other free agent directions. No mater what happens, Meeks and Moreland can call themselves champions for the first time in their career.
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