In February, Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan told the Observer he wouldn't consider trading Kemba Walker for anyone short of a major All-Star, like a Kawhi Leonard.
So, how about Leonard, the San Antonio Spurs small forward whose injury is causing a lot of drama for his team?
I think it would be a sad thing for the Hornets to trade Walker, a two-time All-Star point guard. I wrote that before the trade deadline and I've repeated it frequently on Charlotte radio. The question, though, is whether keeping Walker, who becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2019, will be realistic.
Walker deserves a huge raise over his current $12 million annual salary. He also wants to make sure, after seven NBA seasons, that the remainder of his pro career is meaningful as far as playoff appearances.
New Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak isn't looking to push Walker out the door. But exploring options, after back-to-back losing seasons, is obligatory, and since Jordan brought up Leonard's name, it makes perfect sense to start there.
Leonard available?
That a player such as Leonard could conceivably be available is rare. He was first-team All-NBA each of the two seasons prior to this one and was voted NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2015 and '16.
A player of Leonard's talents would be a huge asset in any era, but more so now, with the league's emphasis on defenders with the flexibility to switch who they're guarding. It's far harder to hide a defensively deficient starter than it once was. So Leonard's ability to be a defensive stopper at one end and a 20-points-per-game scorer at the other end is even more in vogue.
So then, how could you ever pry him away from the Spurs, who traded for his draft rights after the Indiana Pacers selected him 15th overall in 2011?
Because Leonard's health is in question after a quad injury that limited him to nine games this season and will apparently keep him out of the playoffs. Because he was not with the Spurs, choosing instead to rehab in New York rather than attend games in Oakland, Calif. Because he's going to cost some team a huge guarantee (likely in excess of $200 million) after he opts out of his current deal in the summer of 2019.
And because coach Gregg Popovich, the undisputed architect of the Spurs' enduring success, couldn't hide his exasperation when asked over the weekend about Leonard's status.
"You'll have to ask Kawhi and his group that question," Popovich answered Sunday, and he had to know the message of frustration that implied.
Is Walker an asset comparable to Leonard? Of course not. But that doesn't mean he couldn't be the centerpiece of a viable package offer to the Spurs.
Walker received an invitation to the Team USA minicamp in Las Vegas in July. Popovich takes over coaching Team USA from Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, and had major sway in who was invited.
More directly, then-Hornets coach Steve Clifford noted, when Walker was breaking the franchise scoring record, that Popovich had high praise for how Walker functions.
Walker is a Popovich kind of guy: team first, driven to keep improving and so competitive that New Orleans Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry compares him to former Lakers star Kobe Bryant. Walker's personality would fit well in the culture of the David Robinson-Tim Duncan Spurs legacy.
Also, Walker plays the most important position in the NBA, and the Spurs aren't what they once were at point guard. Tony Parker has aged out, and while Dejounte Murray has some potential, he's nothing close to Walker in breaking down a defense.
If the Spurs are looking to stay competitive around LaMarcus Aldridge, there's nothing they could use more than a dynamic point guard to complement a gifted big man.
The key thing to keep in mind in any swap involving Leonard and Walker: Each team would accept some risk for re-signing that player long term.
Then, it would be about matching up salary-cap implications and a real exchange of assets.
Leonard's cap number for the 2018-19 season is just more than $20 million. Walker's cap number is $12 million. Conveniently, Hornets guard-forward Jeremy Lamb makes a little more than $7 million next season, and his contract also expires after next season.
Would the Spurs accept Walker and Lamb for Leonard? I highly doubt it. But what if Kupchak was willing to throw in the Hornets' first-round pick, which likely will be 11th overall after the draft lottery? The Spurs have been so good for so long that it's been 20 years since they selected earlier than 20th overall.
If you're going to replenish the talent base on a team that slipped to seventh in the Western Conference standings, a lottery pick would be a nice start.
This all winds back to whether the Spurs are receptive to moving Leonard, and no one outside the organization knows that definitively. But this makes sense for the Hornets to explore.
Certainly, the owner would think so.
