NBA Trade Rumors: Teams would regret trading for Kawhi Leonard

NBA Trade Rumors: Kawhi Leonard’s injury history in combination with the assets a team will have to give up to acquire him should give NBA teams pause

"“So far, they say that he’s not ready to go. So we can’t do anything until that happens”."

The “he” in question? Kawhi Leonard.

This line of questioning, not new, came this time from Tyler Lauletta of Business Insider to San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich prior to Game 2 of their first round series versus the Warriors in reference to the possibility of Kawhi Leonard returning to play during the series.

Kawhi, while often in the conversation for the top 5 players in the league, has spent a significant portion of his career on the sidelines due to injury. In total, he has missed 151 out of a possible 558 regular season games, with quad and ankle injuries often following him.

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This past season alone, Kawhi only played nine out of 82 games, down with a partial left shoulder tear and a sore right quadriceps. This is not normal. Klay Thompson entered the NBA in the same season and has played in a 130 MORE games in that span.

Kawhi’s injury history in combination with the assets a team will have to give up to acquire him should give NBA teams pause when considering trading for Kawhi Leonard. Recent history has also taught us that trading for an injury prone player more often than not does not pay dividends. Just this past year, we saw the downside of such trades when Boston Celtics traded Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and the Brooklyn Nets first-round pick in this year’s draft to Cleveland for Kyrie Irving.

Prior to the trade, Kyrie had already missed 95 out of a possible 476 regular season games. The trend continued this season as he missed 22 regular season games and the playoffs due to a myriad of injuries (facial fractures, left quad contusion, left shoulder and quad soreness as well as knee surgery).

Kyrie’s injury history is a big reason why the team lost Game 7 of the Eastern Conference at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers. According to NBA.com, the Celtics averaged 108.7 points per 100 possessions with Kyrie versus 101.9 points per 100 possessions without Kyrie.

Another deterrent to teams should be the talent they’d be losing when trading for Leonard. According to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, the Los Angeles Lakers would have to offer a package of Brandon Ingram, Luol Deng and either Kyle Kuzuma or Lonzo Ball to get Leonard. The trade offer would significantly deplete the depth of the roster, taking away their ability to space the floor and shortening the bench.

The trade offer may force Los Angeles to give up two of their top four 3-point shooters as Brandon and Kyle shoot 39 and 36.6 percent respectively from behind the arc. However, while it would leave Lakers in a position where they can only compete if Leonard is playing, it is also the only way the team could realistically acquire him.

There is little chance the Spurs would bite on a deal that would help the Lakers maintain their depth, ie Lakers offering Luol Deng and multiple first round picks. Smartly ran, the Spurs aren’t the Sacramento Kings organization, who made the DeMarcus Cousins trade for little return on their superstar player in what could go down as among the worst trades in history.

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For the Lakers, the best case is for them to pursue targets that may not make the team elite, but where they’d have a higher chance of improving without mortgaging the future or becoming overly reliant on one star.

A better option? NBA teams should focus on acquiring players who have proven to stay healthy long-term ie Paul George or Damian Lillard.