Much has been made of their frequent attendance at Raptors games, how president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank and the rest of their front office team have been seen scouting an inordinate amount of games that include Leonard ditto, allegedly, for Durant. Yet regardless of the specifics, a picture was being painted about their Leonard pursuit that irked team officials: Just four months after sparking headlines during the summer when they fired commentator Bruce Bowen for making negative comments about Leonard, they were now being portrayed like the guy at the middle school dance who is trying way too hard to get noticed by the girl.
Exhibit A? The view from this vantage point? As well they should. The former is fair-game, with teams gathering any and all intel on and off the floor that might help shape their eventual free-agency pitch. This involves scouting the player himself, constantly updating that file about his individual game and what sorts of teammates might eventually work best with his skill-set. This is even more pivotal for a player like Leonard, who played just nine games with San Antonio last season because of his mysterious quadriceps injury and is now adjusting to a new system and style in Toronto.
The gray area that comes with recruiting is where it gets trickier, not only because of tampering rules that govern such matters albeit not very well but because of the tougher-to-define desire across the league for some professional courtesy in such matters. Players, coaches, trainers were greeted with affection and good-natured jabs β Clippers and Raptors folks alike.
A chummy back-and-forth with Raptors president Masai Ujiri. The year-old Frank, who first entered the league as an assistant with the Vancouver Grizzlies in the late s, is the kind of guy who knows everyone. Except, as it turns out, Leonard himself. When Leonard sauntered down the Staples Center hallway by himself as 11 p. As he walked closer and veered in our direction, it seemed safe to assume it was to greet the man who everyone knows is one of his biggest fans.
Or β¦ not. Leonard and I exchanged a quick handshake and an old half-hug, which came as no surprise considering we have always gotten along quite well. Leonard, he of the enigmatic ways and trademark tunnel vision, turned toward the team bus and just kept walking. There was nothing rude about the moment, but it was clear there was no familiarity between the two. A day later in Oakland, where the Raptors had gone to face Golden State, I circled back with Leonard to make sure I read the situation right.
