Quote:
Originally Posted by Flamenspiel
I have not seen any information about this either way, it’s all guessing. It’s fascinating as we really have too similar examples in hockey. John Taveras decided to go back home to join the re-organized and talented Maple Leafs and Steven Stamkos who had really settled in well in his adopted home if Tampa Bay. I think it will go right down to the wire, I do not think Kawhi Leonard has decided yet.
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Yeah, I agree, I don't think he's decided, but I think he also knows that everyone is hanging on every word he says, and he's trying to be careful not to say something that's going to give people the wrong impression. He's not going to have a Kyrie Irving moment where he says what's taken as a promise to sign, before everything changes. And the fact that he doesn't say anything like that is causing people to jump to conclusions. I think he goes into free agency and meets with a number of teams with a truly open mind. Nobody rushes him. He's going to be slow and deliberate.
So all that said, I do think the Raptors have great odds of keeping him. Salary-wise, it makes a lot of sense for him to sign a two-year contract, (or more likely 2+1 player option, which gets him to the point he can get a vet max). If he wants to eventually get to southern california, he's still got lots of time to do that: take a two-year deal, try and repeat with Toronto, and still have the chance to sign with one of the California teams by the time he's 30 and before his kids are school-aged, if that's important to him.