Kawhi Leonard unsurprisingly won’t attend Team USA camp

Kawhi Leonard won’t be joining his former head coach, Gregg Popovich, at Team USA minicamp.

The public perception of Kawhi Leonard has changed so much in just one year. Last summer, he was the franchise player for the San Antonio Spurs and someone who never made headlines for anything that happens off the court.

But he made it clear that he wanted a trade from the Spurs this year and they obliged him and dealt him to the Toronto Raptors.

There was talk earlier this month that he might attend Team USA’s minicamp to show the league his recovery from a thigh injury. That would’ve made things pretty awkward for national team head coach Gregg Popovich.

But it seems like Pop and the Spurs are ready for a new chapter after all of the drama last season.

"“Kawhi conducted himself wonderfully while he was here,” the head coach said to the San Antonio Express. “He helped us win a fifth championship and was a hard worker all the time. We wish him well, but at this point, it’s time to move on.”"

Unsurprisingly, after passing his physical for the Raptors, Leonard decided not to attend the minicamp and have to interact with Popovich.

The small forward will have to prove himself next season in order to guarantee a max contract next summer, because he didn’t help himself at all this year.

The fact that he hasn’t spoken publicly about any of this should be concerning to every team that might consider giving him a long deal.

Danny Green was sent to the Raptors along with Leonard and it will be interesting to see the Spurs solve their floor-spacing problem after losing the sharpshooter.

It’s uncertain if Toronto will trade Leonard for assets or go for a championship, but every day that passes he loses more value.

They also won’t get a look at him until training camp now, because he doesn’t want to deal with Popovich, Team USA and all of the media attention that comes with being a superstar. Just a heads up Kawhi, but that might make it hard to get a giant shoe deal.