The Detroit Pistons spent the offseason chasing roster help around Cade Cunningham. One player on the trade market was former Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard.
Leonard was traded back to the Toronto Raptors on Sept. 15. The Clippers got guard Gradey Dick, forward Brandon Ingram, first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, second-round picks in 2030 and 2033, and a first-round pick swap in 2027. Did the Pistons try to make a move for Leonard before that?
Shams Charania Says the Pistons Wanted Kawhi Leonard
ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania broke the deal down in a TSN video, and he named Detroit as one of the teams that wanted Leonard. He said,
โThis is a complete legacy play for Kawhi. There were teams, Detroit, Minnesota, others that had interest in trading for him, that wanted to trade for him, that wanted to give him an extension. But he made a decision because he had one year left on his deal to essentially weed out where he wanted to play, where he wanted to be. And so this is a legacy play for Kawhi Leonard. Thereโs no doubt about it.โ
Leonard won an NBA title with Toronto in 2018-19, and he was the NBA Finals MVP that season. He wanted to go back to a city where he was beloved rather than joining a Detroit team that won 60 games a year ago.
The Risk of a 35-Year-Old Kawhi Leonard
Did Detroit not want to take a chance on someone who turned 35 in June, even with Charania saying the interested teams were willing to hand him an extension? If the Pistons had made a trade for him, it is possible that Jalen Duren would have been involved, but who knows what would have transpired.
How Leonard Would Have Fit Next to Cade Cunningham
In 65 games with Los Angeles last season, Leonard averaged 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.4 blocks per game. He would have been a perfect second option for the Pistons offense beside Cunningham.
