SAN ANTONIO, TX - MARCH 27: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers handles the ball against Kawhi Leonard #2 of the San Antonio Spurs on March 27, 2017 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photos by Darren Carroll/NBAE via Getty Images) In the absence of any opportunity to land LeBron James, the Boston Celtics must go after the closest thing to his kryptonite: Kawhi Leonard. I wrote last week that I thought LeBron James and the Boston Celtics needed to bury the hatchet and work together to topple the Golden State Warriors regime. But as has been reported by Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe, that turn of events is unlikely given the many obstacles standing in the way of such a deal. I still believe Boston represents the best basketball option for LeBron James under the circumstances, but let’s turn our attention for a moment to the far more likely scenario in which he goes elsewhere. The Celtics — as stacked with veteran and young talent as they are — are still missing a very important piece in their quest for an NBA championship: A truly elite superstar. A top-five player in the NBA. Yes, Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward are incredible basketball players. Stars, even. But they lack the world-beating qualities of the higher tier. This tier is small — currently including, in my opinion, just LeBron, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Kawhi Leonard and maybe Anthony Davis — and a player from this tier very rarely becomes available. It has been 15 years since a team won an NBA championship without a player from this tier, and the 2004 Detroit Pistons should be viewed as the exception that proves the rule, not the model to emulate. Kawhi Leonard has stated his desires to be traded, and the Boston Celtics are better equipped to attain him than any franchise in the league if the San Antonio Spurs decide to move him. More importantly, Kawhi, out of the players in his tier, may be the best fit for the roster Boston has already assembled. The funny thing is that Kawhi Leonard is actually a rather average offensive player, at least among his peers in this elite category. His best scoring season had him averaging 25.5 points per game on 48.5 percent shooting — this, while playing within one of the most sophisticated offenses in the league. That is a lot closer to DeMar DeRozan than it is to Kevin Durant. Kawhi is well below-average in his ability to make plays for his teammates. He is averaging just 2.3 assists per game in his career, and has never registered more than seven assists in a single game. He is not a truly elite offensive player, but this is where I would like to remind everyone that Kawhi Leonard is quite possibly the best wing defender of all time. He’s the only wing/guard to win the Defensive Player of the Year award since 1996 when Gary Payton won it. And he’s done it twice. In the case of the Boston Celtics, Kyrie Irving is more than capable of making up for Kawhi’s offensive shortcomings, but there is no way to replicate what he brings to the table defensively. So let’s fast-forward to next season with a very simple premise: The Celtics missed out on LeBron, but he stayed in the Eastern Conference, let’s say with the Philadelphia 76ers. Kevin Durant has re-signed with the Golden State Warriors. In this scenario, there is almost no chance for Boston to win an NBA championship without winning a playoff series against each of those two contenders. Kawhi Leonard is the answer to that conundrum. He has notoriously bothered both LeBron James and Kevin Durant. I know the numbers don’t necessarily bear that out, but that has more to do with the greatness of James and Durant. Anyone watching those matchups can see the visible discomfort as Kawhi makes life miserable for them. So when you start to talk yourself into Jaylen Brown being a better option than Kawhi for Boston’s future — as ESPN‘s Zach Lowe so eloquently explored today — remember that simple defensive aspect. Jaylen Brown is exceeding the early checkpoints that Kawhi hit, and he very well may be a better offensive player than Kawhi in a few years. But at his absolute peak, Jaylen will simply be another great offensive player in a league chock-full of them. There is only one Kawhi Leonard, and even though Jaylen Brown will almost certainly develop into a fine two-way player, he lacks that all-time defensive upside. The Boston Celtics may not have the best player on the floor in a series against LeBron James or Kevin Durant, but they could have the best guy to stop them. That should be all it takes to get Danny Ainge to pull the trigger.<doc-sep>Stephen A. Smith claimed the Celtics should steer clear of Kawhi Leonard this summer FREE now and never miss the top F1 stories again SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top F1 stories again When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. The All-Star and former Defensive Player of the Year played only nine games last season while struggling with a quadriceps injury that caused tension with Spurs executives in a disagreement over both the diagnosis and treatment of the complaint. Last week, ESPN insiders reported the situation had deteriorated enough that Leonard made clear his desire to leave the club this summer, citing Los Angeles as his preferred destination. But as one of the consensus top-five players in the league when healthy, there are no shortage of suitors being linked with a move for the 6ft 7ins forward, who has one year remaining on his current contract. Leonard won Finals MVP during the Spurs' 2014 championship victory Leonard had been eligible to sign a lucrative five-year $219m extension with the Spurs this summer but is said to be willing to turn the offer down in favour of a move away. Eastern Conference finalists Boston are one of the teams to have been linked with Leonard – but signing him would likely mean departing with one or more of the franchise’s breakout youngsters including Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Speaking on ESPN today, NBA expert Stephen A. Smith advised the Celtics to keep hold of their core over pursuing a move for Leonard. “Nothing,” Smith said, when asked who he would package to tempt the Spurs into a trade. Boston would likely have to depart with Jaylen Brown in order to tempt Spurs into a trade<doc-sep>The Boston Celtics are the clubhouse leader to acquire disgruntled star Kawhi Leonard who reportedly wants out of San Antonio. But at what cost? Obviously the Celtics – or any team for that matter – would benefit from having the All-Star forward but the asking price for what could amount to a one year rental will be steep. And there will be riots in Boston should General Manager Danny Ainge overpay for a player who bolts after one season. Basketball Analyst Jeff Goodman sat down with guest Doug Gottlieb on the Good N’ Plenty podcast on CLNS Media and said there’s only so much he would do as the Celtics in a potential Leonard deal. “The team that can do the most is certainly the Boston Celtics and Danny Ainge,” said Goodman. “They’ve got everything at their disposal, [including] young players, proven superstars, [and] they’ve got picks. [But] there is no way in hell I’m parting with a Jayson Tatum no matter what the asking price, unless it’s maybe Anthony Davis.” Goodman would however consider dealing the other half of the Celtics “Jay-squad” Jaylen Brown, but he’d need some assurances from the Spurs. “I would do Jaylen Brown and the Sacramento pick for Kawhi Leonard [along with other pieces to match salary] in a heartbeat. I would [do that] as long as you get enough medical info and also you have to make sure that he will sign beyond the year. That’s the other key. You can’t roll the dice like Oklahoma City did with Paul George, without some sort of indication that he will stick in Boston long term.” It’s tough to know where Leonard’s head is at these days. He missed almost the entire season with a mysterious quad injury and didn’t like how the team handled the injury and his recovery process. Goodman says after what transpired in San Antonio last season he is concerned with both Leonard’s physical and emotional well-being. “The hard part for the Spurs is that Kawhi’s value has always been really high, [but] now it’s probably at the lowest it’s ever been. And it’s because of the physical. And now the one thing we question with Kawhi Leonard we never questioned before is the emotional part of it. The part upstairs because what has he always been known for? Playing hard, all about the team, low maintenance, all of that. And now people are questioning, well, are the people around him putting things in his head to kind of factor into that?” Celtics Stuff Live gives you their take on Kawhi to Boston: Column prepared by Mateo Aycardi for CelticsBlog and CLNS Media<doc-sep>When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up fornow and never miss the top F1 stories again Leonard can be offered a supermax extension with the San Antonio Spurs this summer in a deal worth $219million over five years. But a shock report on Friday suggests the 2014 NBA Finals MVP will turn his back on that potential offer and risk losing close to $30m by wanting to leave in a trade. He reportedly has his heart set on joining the Lakers, who also have the cap space to sign two top free agents. Both James and Paul George have been heavily linked with taking their talents to the Staples Center to form a team capable of toppling the Golden State Warriors.<doc-sep>
For those of you assuming the Boston Celtics have already lined up for Kawhi Leonard, think again. While the NBA world has been abuzz due to the report on Friday that Leonard wanted to be traded from the San Antonio Spurs and one of the four teams of interest were none other than the Celtics, we need to clarify to Celtics nation that the franchise has yet to even engage in trade talks revolving around Leonard, via Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe: "The Celtics and Spurs have not engaged in any trade talks this spring involving disgruntled San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard, but if Leonard does indeed become available, Boston is expected to express interest, according to a league source. This is not out of the ordinary, of course. The Celtics have long insisted that they make calls whenever star players could be acquired, and often even when it is less clear whether they are on the market." As Himmelsbach mentions, the Celtics are always open to the idea of acquiring another star player. However, it doesn't mean that they have serious interest or that they've engaged in serious talks with the Spurs regarding the idea of acquiring Leonard. The bottom line is, Boston is not a desperate team. They were one game away from reaching the NBA Finals with a depleted core and without two of their best players in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. It would have to be a proper deal to the liking of Danny Ainge for the general manager to pull off such a deal and engage in such a team-altering transaction. In fact, it would be a team-altering transaction for the second straight year after the Isaiah Thomas for Kyrie Irving deal last year. A lot of this also hinges upon LeBron James' decision. If LeBron remains in the East, whether it be with the Cleveland Cavaliers or Philadelphia 76ers, Boston may be inclined to make another major star move and that's where Leonard comes into play. But even with that being said, Boston is probably still the East favorite even if James stays in Cleveland or leaves for Philly. Now, in the circumstance where LeBron completely leaves the Eastern Conference to head out West, it makes the scenario of Boston acquiring Leonard even more unlikely. Boston will already have such a major advantage over the other Eastern Conference teams next season when factoring in playoff experience and all of the All-Stars they feature on their roster. Time will tell just how serious Leonard and his camp is regarding a trade demand. But there is no doubt both the Celtics and the Spurs will take their dandy time gauging the market for the All-Star forward, as neither team is in a desperate situation.