By Jordan Long
Kawhi Leonard is seeking a trade from the San Antonio Spurs. One team interested in him is the Boston Celtics. They tried making a deal with the Spurs at the trade deadline, but the Spurs turned it down. The Celtics are going to try to land him again.
Leonard fits on this team. He is a scorer at the small forward position. He averages 16.3 points per game. Those points could go a long way to help the Celtics to make the NBA Finals.
The major reason the Celtics need Leonard is defense. Their best defender in the playoffs was Marcus Morris. Morris, though, couldn’t do it all guarding LeBron James in the Eastern Conference Finals. Adding Leonard improves their defense and he would be defending the opponents’ top player. He will guard tightly and not allow easy looks at the basket. Leonard averages 1.8 steals and 4.9 defensive rebounds in his career. Those may add more points to the scoreboard for the Celtics.
The tricky part about the Celtics landing Leonard is his contract. He is owed a base salary of $20 million the next 2 years, a lot of money to take on. The Celtics should only try and trade for him if they feel he is the difference in winning an NBA Championship.
Celtics’ General Manager Danny Ainge will make moves this offseason to give the Celtics the best chance to win a ring. He knows they have a talented team, but they are one or two players away from winning an NBA Title. Ainge must take a long hard look at the possibility of Leonard. He could be the missing piece for Boston to win the NBA Championship for the first time since 2008.
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