Over the course of the past year or so, there was little doubt that Kawhi Leonard would look to move on from the San Antonio Spurs when he hit restricted free agency this summer.
Now that free agency opened up at 12:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday morning, any lingering thoughts of Leonard considering options outside of San Antonio can be put to rest.
Yahoo Sports NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the two sides have come to an agreement on the framework of a five-year, $90 million max contract.
The reason San Antonio isn’t willing to officially announce the deal is because it’s working hard to sign another upper-echelon free agent, including Portland Trail Blazers big man LaMarcus Aldridge. By holding off on officially re-signing Leonard, the Spurs retain the cap flexibility—dependent on other moves—to get a near-max deal done with an exterior free agent.
Leonard, who was acquired from the Indiana Pacers in a draft-day deal back in 2011, is coming off a 2014-15 campaign that saw him win Defensive Player of the Year. The 24-year-old forward also led San Antonio with 16.5 points per game while averaging 7.2 rebounds and a league-leading 2.3 steals.
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