For a minute there, Kawhi Leonard back in San Antonio sounded like the kind of rumor that could really light up the NBA offseason. Instead, the Clippers made sure it never got to that point, and the Spurs ended up with the outcome they could live with: Leonard stayed out of the Western Conference picture entirely.
That mattered because the chatter had started to get loud. The Mavericks were floating packages.
The smoke was thick enough that it felt like something had to be there. But the idea eventually narrowed down to a simple choice: Leonard would only sign an extension with the Spurs or the Raptors.
San Antonio reportedly had no interest, which left Toronto as the only landing spot. That shut the door on the Timberwolves, the Mavericks and the Warriors.
And for the Spurs, that’s a relief.
Leonard coming back to San Antonio would have been a messy split for the fan base. He left town under controversial circumstances, and putting him back in silver and black would have reopened a lot of old feelings. Instead, the Clippers kept him from landing with a Western Conference contender, which was the real danger.
That danger was real because Leonard is still Leonard. The defense is still elite, but the shotmaking never went away. He can still go on one of those runs where every possession feels like a problem for the other team, and that kind of talent can break even a strong defense like the one San Antonio likes to play.
The Western Conference already has enough headaches. The Spurs are staring at OKC, Denver, Houston and Utah, with the Timberwolves and Lakers possibly joining that mix depending on how the rest of the offseason shakes out. Adding Leonard to any of the wrong places would have made that road even rougher.
Dallas would have been especially ugly. If Leonard had landed there, the Mavericks would have had a big three of their own, with Kyrie Irving expected to return fully healthy next season.
That would have given them two elite shotmakers and a much stronger perimeter defense. Pairing Leonard with Irving and Cooper Flagg would have been a nightmare for San Antonio’s guards.
The Warriors would have been no picnic either. Imagine Steph Curry and Leonard feeding off each other, with Draymond Green handling the playmaking and defense.
Between Green and Leonard, there are three Defensive Player of the Year trophies in that group. Health would always be the big question, but if everyone stayed on the floor, that would have been another brutal matchup nobody in San Antonio wanted to see.
Minnesota was the least threatening of the bunch, but still not something the Spurs needed. An Anthony Edwards and Leonard pairing would have been hard to deal with because doubling one would open up the other. The Timberwolves were actively looking for upgrades, and while that scenario was the most far-fetched, it was still part of the week’s noise.
In the end, the Spurs avoided the version of this story that could have turned into a real problem. Leonard didn’t come home, and he didn’t land with a rival in the West. For San Antonio, that was about as good as it could get.
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