San Antonio Spurs superstar Kawhi Leonard is still recovering from the quad injury that kept him out for the most of the 2017-18 NBA season. With his lack of communication and rumored dispute with the Spurs, there is a growing belief that Leonard will part ways with the team in the upcoming offseason. One of his potential trade destinations is the Boston Celtics.
Future NBA Hall of Famer and Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade is one of the people who believe Kawhi Leonard is heading to Boston this summer. According to John Tomase of WEEI Sports Radio Network , Wade told Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports that he thinks Leonard will be traded to the Celtics .
“That was really surprising,” Schultz told the Dan Patrick Show . “His thought process was probably like ours, Dan, which is something is really wrong there. It’s so toxic and severed there between the front office and Kawhi Leonard, that it might really be at the point of no return.”
Seeing Kawhi Leonard teaming up with Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward next season is a huge possibility. The Celtics currently have enough trade assets to pull a blockbuster trade. Including Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum in the trade package, together with future draft picks, could be enough to convince the Spurs to make a deal.
With their goal to fully dominate the Eastern Conference and return to the NBA Finals, it makes sense for the Celtics to trade for a player of Kawhi Leonard’s caliber. The 26-year-old fits well with the timeline of Irving and Hayward, and he’ll undeniably boost the team on both ends of the floor. As Tomase noted, the addition of a lockdown defender and dead-eye 3-point shooter like Leonard will “create a havoc” on Brad Stevens’ system.
The Kawhi Leonard to Celtics trade could only be a prediction of Dwyane Wade. But being in the league for 14 years, Wade definitely knows how things go in the offseason, especially for a team who has a general manager like Danny Ainge, who is well-known for pulling multiple blockbuster trades to build a title contending team.
As of now, the Celtics are focused in the upcoming playoffs where they will be facing the Milwaukee Bucks without Irving and Hayward. Meanwhile, the Spurs are still waiting for a miracle that Kawhi Leonard will return to help them in their first-round matchup against the Golden State Warriors. Expect more rumors to swirl around Leonard as the offseason draws near.
