The San Antonio Spurs are in a difficult position. According to reports, their best player Kawhi Leonard wants out. While the Spurs were able to make it to the playoffs last season without Leonard, who played in only nine games due to a quad injury, they were easily beaten in five games by the Warriors in the first round. Therefore, Leonard is an essential piece for this team moving forward.
The Spurs have a huge decision to make. Do they appease Leonard and make a trade or do they try to work it out?
Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas would like to see Leonard stay in San Antonio, but with the report that Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich could retire as early as after next season, this could complicate things, according to Thomas:
“I think we hope it all works itself out, but you know another thing that has popped up in that situation now, (if you’re)Kawhi, you say, ‘Okay, I come back,’ and then if he comes back, is Popovich going to be his coach? Is Popovich going to stay through the end of his contract,” Thomas recently told the Go4it podcast.
‘I think those two they have a lot to really discuss and talk about because there are so many ‘ifs’ in their conversation. If Pop stays, If Kawhi comes back, how’s he going to feel, team building, everything else; the San Antonio way.”
The Spurs have been the “Gold Standard” in the NBA, so to hear any player question that organization, the way Leonard has reportedly done, is surprising. According to Thomas, what makes the Spurs organization the “Gold Standard” is Popovich, but that could all change if Pop retires:
“I think we all understand while we give San Antonio gold stars for being the model organization,” Thomas said. “It’s really Popovich who’s the organization with the gold stars, so if he leaves, we don’t know what type of organization the San Antonio Spurs will be.”
After the recent death of his wife, Erin, you wonder how long Pop will coach.
Pop and Spurs have a significant amount of work to do in trying to fix things with Leonard, but if the end is near for Pop, it could be challenging to keep Leonard around.
Thomas talks Kawhi Leonard at the 37:41 mark:
Editor’s note: The original story had the Spurs losing in 4 to the Warriors. The story was corrected to indicate that the Spurs lost in 5 to the Warriors.