Kawhi Leonard Latest News: Will the Raptors Convince Ex-Spurs Superstar to Commit to Them?

The absence of Lebron James has had teams in the Eastern Conference working harder in their respective training gyms to be the number one contender in the east. One of the teams projected to be the favorite is the Toronto Raptors.

That's at least for the time being. The Raptors recently made a huge gamble in trading DeMar DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard, an exchange that may very well come back and bite the Canadian team in the face once Leonard becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer, Forbes reported.

Kawhi Leonard has already expressed his disinterest in playing long-term for the Raptors as he’s been eyeing the Lakers or the Clippers as his next possible team. Of course, the Raptors still have a lot of time to convince the third best player in the league to stay and play for the team.

But that is a tall order. There are a lot of incentives for Kawhi Leonard to play in Los Angeles and one of them is because that is his hometown.

It’s also no secret that the status of a city has a lot of influence on whether or not a player will sign with a team based in that area. And Los Angeles and New York are two of the most popular cities out there.

There’s also the fact that Lebron James signed a four-year contract with the Lakers. With Kawhi Leonard joining the best player in the league, the Lakers can instantly become one of the favorites to win not just the Western Conference but the playoffs itself.

Kawhi Leonard has been one of the most effective double-threat players to ever set foot in a court. The 6’7 power forward has shown in the past that he can light up a team anywhere on the floor and shut down the opposing sides’ primary scorer.

So it’s in the Raptors’ best interest to try and convince Kawhi Leonard to commit to the Canadian team. How the Raptors can achieve this is the next question.