With every passing season, the NBA Playoffs create stars and earn players more money than they’d ever made before. 2014 was no exception, with Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs breaking out by winning Finals MVP.
True to their unparalleled form, the Spurs haven’t jumped the gun on rewarding him with a new contract.
Leonard, 23, went toe-to-toe with LeBron James in the 2014 NBA Finals. He averaged 17.8 points and 6.4 rebounds on an unreal slash line of .612/.579/.783 as the Spurs took home the fifth championship in franchise history.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Leonard and the Spurs have been unable to come to terms on a new contract.
As Kawhi Leonard holds firm on his desire for a maximum contract, extension talks with the San Antonio Spurs have failed to gather traction despite a looming Friday deadline, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Leonard, the 2014 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, would become a restricted free agent in July without an extension agreement by midnight Oct. 31 – the deadline for eligible extensions for the NBA’s draft class of 2011.
Spurs president and general manager R.C. Buford and agent Brian Elfus have had several discussions in recent weeks, but no progress has been made, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Wojnarowski goes on to report that Leonard will command a max contract if San Antonio fails to sign him to an extension.
Leonard, 23, is considered one of the NBA’s rising young stars, and multiple league executives told Yahoo Sports he’ll command a max offer sheet on the market next summer.
San Antonio has reason for pause.
Leonard is a rising star, but he’s not the most proven commodity as an offensive force. His defensive presence and athleticism are vital to team success, but production on offense isn’t his strong suit.
In the 2014 Western Conference Finals, Leonard averaged 11.8 points on 41.2 percent shooting from the field and 26.3 percent from beyond the arc. Kevin Durant put up 25.8 points on 47.5 percent shooting from the field and 33.3 percent shooting from distance in that same series.
That seems like elite production, but it’s an example of Leonard’s smothering defense that can even slow down the game’s greatest scorer.
For the 2013-14 season, Leonard tallied averages of 12.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. He tallied a slash line of .522/.379/.802 on a total of 9.8 field goal attempts per contest.
Those are strong numbers, but it’s far from the production that normally commands a max contract.
For the Spurs to extend Leonard with a massive contract, it’d take a leap of faith on Leonard’s continued progression into the face of the franchise. Tim Duncan, 38, and Manu Ginobili, 37, can’t play forever, and Tony Parker, 32, has struggled to stay healthy in recent postseasons.
Per Marc Stein of ESPN, Parker addressed that reality.
“For me the thing that scares me is one day I’m going to have play and all three of you guys … you’ll be gone” — Tony to Pop, Tim & Manu
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) October 28, 2014
Harrowing honesty.
San Antonio must continue to build for the future. Whether or not Leonard is a part of that depends entirely on if the Spurs value him as a max contract player.
In the coming days, San Antonio will offer a preliminary answer to that question.
Cleveland Cavaliers, Anderson Varejao in Extension Talks
The Cleveland Cavaliers have one of the deepest and most star-studded rosters in recent NBA history. LeBron James leads a team that includes a pair of All-Stars in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, young talent in Tristan Thompson and Dion Wiaters, and veterans such as Mike Miller and Shawn Marion.
Per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Cavaliers are working to keep another player in town for the long-haul: center Anderson Varejao.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are engaged in serious talks with center Anderson Varejao on a contract extension, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Talks have progressed in recent weeks, but there’s no agreement imminent, sources said.
The Brazilian big man is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2015.
Varejao, 32, has spent all 10 of his NBA seasons with the Cavaliers. In that time, he’s posted averages of 7.8 points and 7.8 rebounds in 25.9 minutes and has displayed a progressive improvement throughout his career.
He’s also struggled to stay healthy.
Varejao has missed at least 30 games in five separate seasons and was sidelined for 17 games during the 2013-14 season. He put up 8.4 points and 9.7 rebounds in that season, which was his fourth consecutive campaign with at least 9.7 boards.
With his health concerns, however, it’s tough to put a financial number on Varjeo’s value.
As Cleveland attempts to carve out the perfect roster for sustained contending, these are the decisions that could make-or-break a potential dynasty. Varejao can be a legitimate game-changer down low, helping to form an elite trio of rebounders in Love, Thompson and he.
The question is, do the Cavaliers trust him to remain healthy? More importantly, can they?
Around The League
- The Portland Trail Blazers have decided to let Thomas Robinson become a free agent in 2015. It will not pick up his fifth-year option, per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Robinson was selected No. 5 overall in the 2012 NBA draft and has played for three different teams.
- According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Utah Jazz have claimed Jordan Hamilton and Joe Ingles off waivers. To make room for those perimeter players, Wojnarowski reports that Utah will release Carrick Felix. Ingles is reunited with Australian national team teammate Dante Exum on Utah’s improving perimeter.
- The cuts continue to come. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that The Philadelphia 76ers let go of both Marquis Teague and Elliot Williams.