By Jordan Long
The Toronto Raptors drummed the Philadelphia 76ers 125-89 last night to take the lead in the series 3-2. Toronto can end it on Thursday night and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. No matter what happens the rest of the postseason, Kawhi Leonard will have options on what he will do this summer.
Leonard has a player-option for the 2019-2020 season. The best case for Toronto is he stays, paying Leonard around $21.3 million next year. This will keep him around for one more season before free agency. The Raptors could always sign him to a long-term deal as well.
Toronto wouldn’t want him to go. He was the Raptors top player in the regular season, averaging 26.6 points per game. Leonard made his presence felt on defense. He was always a threat to steal the ball to start fast breaks for the Raptors with 1.8 steals. Those numbers helped Toronto to a 58-24 record, 2nd in the Eastern Conference.
In 10 playoff games Leonard is performing at an even higher level. He is averaging 31.2 points and 1.1 steals per game. This helped the Raptors knock off the Magic in 5 games in the 1st round and is the reason they are ahead against the 76ers.
Toronto will have their chance to keep Leonard before free agency hits on July 1st. It is possible he may decide to go ahead and decline the option and become a free agent. He has his pick of places to play which could end up hurting Toronto in 2020. Franchises would want him because of how great of a scorer he is and the defense he plays.
Right now, the only place rumored for Leonard to go is L.A. and play with the Clippers. If he decides to go to L.A., that improves the Clippers team. They were the 8th seed in the Western Conference but lost to Golden State in 6 games in the 1st-round. Leonard makes them an all around better team, but they would still end up as a 5th or 6th seed. They might be able to advance to the 2nd-round but that is as far as the Clippers would go.
Staying in the Eastern Conference with Toronto makes the most sense. The West is much more competitive than the East. It is harder to make the playoffs and be a top seed. Teams generally need to win at least 48 if not 50 games to reach the postseason. In the Eastern Conference .500 record makes the playoffs.
The Raptors with him are easily a top 3 seed and they would have an opportunity to go all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals each year. Toronto is going to wait and see what he will do this summer. For right now his focus is to help this team knock off the 76ers. After that it could be a trip to the NBA Finals if Toronto advances past the Eastern Conference Finals. 6
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