Reports yesterday revealed that Kawhi Leonard wants the San Antonio Spurs to trade him away this summer, with further reports stating that his destination of choice is the Los Angeles Lakers.

Leonard trade?

Leonard, who is up for a $219 million super-max extension this summer, has reportedly grown frustrated with how the team handled his quad injury and feels the franchise turned on him once he sought a second opinion. It has reportedly grown to a point where he isn't concerned about missing out on the supermax.

Kawhi's desire to be traded away from the Spurs is something which Kyrie Irving can relate to, as he went through a similar situation with the Cleveland Cavaliers last summer before he was traded away to the Boston Celtics.

The Celtics star recently made an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast via The Ringer where he spoke about several different topics including the reports about Kawhi wanting the Spurs to trade him this summer.

Equity

When Simmons asked Irving if today's NBA players like Leonard had learned from the likes of LeBron James and Chris Bosh as to how to handle their business, he said yes as players today are looking for equity.

"I agree with it, I agree with it. I think that we all try to be a trailblazer one way or another in terms of how we view our business, the opportunities that we’re afforded. How do we take advantage of that?

"People are looking for equity — like, we actually want to be part of this if we’re gonna try to grow this business for you. You can use my likeness, you can use who I am. You know, it comes with a lot, but the value I’m adding to this is just a lot more. … But now it’s like, on the back end, what am I actually getting from it? What are we getting from each other?"

Today's NBA players certainly know their value, as we have seen examples of exactly that over the past two years with Irving and Kevin Durant, who both moved on from their previous teams in order to achieve their own personal aspirations.

Now, if reports are to be believed, Leonard wants to do the same this year, but by the looks of things, we might not be that far away from these kinds of trades and moves from becoming commonplace in the NBA.

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