San Antonio Spurs could give Kawhi Leonard $79M extension
By Josh Hill
The San Antonio Spurs are looking back at this season with a lot of pride, as they manafed to knock off the Miami heat and avenge their NBA Finals loss from last year. In addition to winning their fifth NBA title of the Duncan-Popovich era, the Spurs realized they have the next superstar they need on this team to take over for Duncan’s crew in the coming years and lead this team into the future.
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Kawhi Leonard not only dominated the Heat in the NBA Finals but he walked away with the NBA Finals MVP trophy an a lot of new national fans. As a result, he’s going to be someone that other teams in the NBA have a lot of eyes on as he’s set to become a free agent after next season.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, the Spurs are beginning to think about locking up Kawhi Leonard for the long haul and extension talks could take place this summer and make the Spurs youngster a rich man.
"Beginning July 1, Leonard is eligible for a contract extension. The maximum the Spurs can offer him, under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, is a five-year deal worth a tad less than $79 million.The Spurs have until Oct. 31 to reach an agreement with Leonard. Otherwise, he becomes a restricted free agent after the 2014-15 season, when his rookie-scale deal expires."
Basically, it’s getting to crunch time for the Spurs and they need to try and lock up Leonard as soon as they can. He’s the hottest he’s ever been right at this moment and that means we could see the Spurs make a move to give Leonard big money this summer.
They will likely wait as long as possible though, as San Antonio has never overpaid for anything and they’re not about to start now. But it seems that Leonard has been worth every penny so far and given how well he helped the Spurs dismantle the Heat in the NBA Finals, it’s safe to say he’s owed a little extra for his hard work.