Kawhi Leonard will not be attending the non-mandatory Team USA minicamp following his trade to the Toronto Raptors. This should surprise literally no one.
Here’s ESPN.com’s Chris Haynes with the deets:
Toronto forward Kawhi Leonard will not attend USA Basketball minicamp in Las Vegas this week, league sources tell ESPN. He will use time to prepare for transition to new team.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 25, 2018
Though some thought that Leonard would ultimately show in Las Vegas, this was before the San Antonio Spurs officially shipped him elsewhere. His attendance always seemed contingent upon reconciling with them or him wanting to show interested trade suitors he was, in fact, healthy despite playing just nine games last season due to a right quad injury.
Attending for the latter reason would have been awkward, but it also might’ve been seen as a necessity. Now, it would be just pointlessly awkward. Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is heading up the festivities, and DeMar DeRozan, the primary centerpiece of the Leonard trade, will also be jetting in—as will Leonard’s new Raptors teammate Kyle Lowry.
Other players might have planned to show up. Leonard was never going to come when you think about it. He wouldn’t have needed to speak with the media, but the speculation and picture-taking frenzy would have still been real. And he would most definitely, at some point, in some form, need to interact with Pop.
Skipping allows the awkwardness to potentially heal in time without removing Leonard from Team USA’s official 2020 roster altogether. He has the built up goodwill with them for his spot to be reserved despite not showing up, much like they’re doing for Stephen Curry.
