NBA trade rumors: Kawhi Leonard to Sixers? 7 reasons why it still might happen

Posted July 07, 2018 at 05:45 AM | Updated July 07, 2018 at 05:45 AM

Detroit Pistons vs. San Antonio Spurs - February 10, 2017

Mike Mulholland | MLive

By Zack Rosenblatt | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

As each day passes, the Kawhi Leonard rumor mill rages on.

One day the Spurs star will only play for the Lakers; the next he doesn't want to play with LeBron James and he'd prefer the Clippers.

Some reports still have the Sixers pegged as his most likely destination, and it makes sense.

Here are seven reasons why that might still happen.

Leonard might not want Lakers anymore

Per Yahoo Sports' Shams Charania, Leonard might not be as keen as expected to join LeBron James and the Lakers.

"Around Kawhi, it's been made abundantly clear there's not an interest to go join a superteam. I don't think he's jumping for joy that LeBron James is in L.A. with the Lakers,” Charania said this week. “If anything, that's going to make him look, maybe more, toward the Clippers because this is a guy that won Finals MVP against LeBron James. You think he's amped up and wants to join LeBron now? I think that's been overstated."

Clippers don't have enough

Leonard might want to play for the Clippers, but they simply don't have the assets to get a deal done, especially as long as the Sixers remain interested.

Their best assets include Tobias Harris and first-round picks Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jerome Robinson and future draft picks. None of those players quite move the needle for Leonard, one of the league's five best players when he's healthy.

ESPN's Chris Haynes was insisting on The Jump just now that the #Sixers have a "really good chance" of obtaining Kawhi Leonard.
-- Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) July 6, 2018

He might like the Sixers after all

ESPN's Chris Haynes before the Sixers' Summer League game on Friday night said on "The Jump" that he thinks the Sixers have a "really good chance" of getting Leonard via trade and that the Sixers are the only Eastern Conference team Leonard would consider signing with.

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