Kawhi Leonard Latest Updates: Raptors Hire Ex-Spurs Superstar’s Childhood Friend in an Attempt to Convince Him to Stay

Kawhi Leonard has always been a reserved kind of player, which is completely the opposite of his contemporaries in the league. As such, it’s difficult to predict what his decisions are going to be, especially now that he’s going to be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Add the fact that he isn’t involved in large agencies where information often gets out and it makes it doubly difficult to know what Kawhi Leonard is thinking. For now, however, that is a story that should be put aside because the decision will ultimately come from the forward himself when the time comes.

What’s important at the moment is how he’s going to fit into his new team, the Toronto Raptors. Obviously, the trade that saw DeMar DeRozan transfer to the San Antonio Spurs heavily affected the chemistry of the team, Raptors Rapture reported.

And with the addition of Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green to the Raptors’ roster, it’s safe to say that it’s going to take a lot of effort to quickly incorporate the two players into the team’s playstyle. It’s unclear if Danny Green will fill in the hole that DeRozan left or if he’s going to come off the bench.

Either way, the Toronto Raptors will have to adjust their rotations as DeRozan being a shooting guard was the primary point maker for the team before he was traded. Now, Kawhi Leonard will most likely be the main guy they’re going to rely upon to produce scores. Kyle Lowry will likely play second fiddle again, but this isn’t to say that the point guard will not be scoring himself.

Returning to Kawhi Leonard’s decision, the Raptors are trying their best to convince the ex-Spurs superstar to commit to the team once he becomes an unrestricted free agent. One development on this front is the Raptors’ hiring of Jeremy Castleberry as a player development coach.

This move is the Raptors’ attempt at trying to persuade Kawhi Leonard to stay as the forward is good friends with Castleberry. While the two were close when both were involved with the Spurs organization, their relationship goes way back, before Kawhi’s NBA days as Castleberry was one of his closest childhood friends.

Kawhi Leonard and Castleberry jointly played high-school basketball, as well as attended the San Diego State University together during the forward’s two-year collegiate days. It’s uncertain whether Castleberry can convince Kawhi to stay but this will surely influence the forward’s decision. How heavy that influence is, however, is still up for debate.