Toronto Raptors star Kawhi Leonard recently purchased a home in Southern California. A purchase that means nothing in regards to his free agency.
It’s over. He’s gone. Toronto Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard just bought a home in Southern California. Time to let the rebuild begin! I hope he still has some value at the trade deadline. Well, not exactly.
Yes, Kawhi Leonard bought a home in Southern California — notice how there is no city named in these headlines–, and while it’s not necessarily a good thing, it’s not really a big deal either.
There are lots of reasons why his purchase of a $13.3 million dollar home shouldn’t be blown out of proportion.
It’s not in Los Angeles
The most important context of all, THE HOUSE IS NOT IN LOS ANGELES! While the phrase “Southern California,” might jump out at all of us as his home near/at L.A., it’s not.
The house is located in San Diego. In fact, it’s not close to Los Angeles at all. Depending on traffic, it’s somewhere between a 2-3 hour drive. A commute that no one makes unless they’re Phillip Rivers. If you bought got a job in Toronto, you wouldn’t buy a house in Buffalo, New York would you?
Kawhi Leonard bought an offseason house. An offseason house that, no matter where he ends up at, was probably always going to be in Southern California.
Players buy offseason homes all the time
Prior to his free agency in 2016, rumors flurried around the Toronto Raptors organization that DeMar DeRozan would return to his hometown Los Angeles Lakers. When he purchased a house in Southern California in 2014, it only stoked the fire.
Then, as we all know, DeMar re-signed with the Raptors. It’s almost as if millionaire NBA players have multiple homes, and even crazier, it’s almost as they’d like for at least one of those houses to be in the most desirable areas in the world.
San Diego is where Kawhi Leonard played all of his college hoops. San Diego also is absolutely gorgeous all year round. I can assure you if Kawhi does re-sign with Toronto, he still is going to have a home in Southern California.
He bought a house in Toronto recently
Remember earlier this season when Kawhi bought a house in Toronto? With articles titled, “Kawhi Leonard reportedly buys house in Toronto, signifying nothing.”
Those articles where correct. Kawhi’s purchase in Toronto means nothing. The coverage of his recent purchase is oddly different.
That doesn’t mean he’s going to stay either
Please don’t interpret this as an article claiming Kawhi Leonard is staying. In fact, if I had to guess today, I’d guess he leaves. Important reporters such as Marc Stein and Adrian Wojnarowski have both given information that is cause for concern if you’re a Raptors fan (Although neither has reported anything decisive).
If Woj told me that I was quitting my job, my first reaction would be “Wait, I am?” He’s the gatekeeper. He’s the league’s 31st GM. Focus on what the big time reporters are signaling, not the purchase of some random house in San Deigo.