After a season-long saga between the San Antonio Spurs and Kawhi Leonard, the player's long-term future with the team was thrown into serious doubt and became a topic of conversation throughout the year.

So it, therefore, came as no surprise when news broke over the weekend that the superstar was seeking a trade and had decided that he wanted to play elsewhere.

The 26-year-old played only nine games this year as he was sidelined for the majority of the season with a quad injury.

There were disagreements between the Spurs, Leonard, and his camp throughout his rehab process over the best course of action to take to deal with his injury.

But according to ESPN's Chris Haynes, the small forward has grown frustrated with how the organisation handled his injury and feels the team turned on him once he sought a second opinion.

Distant behaviour

The former Finals MVP spent much of the final few months of the campaign away from the team and worked with a personal medical team in New York.

He also didn't attend a single game in San Antonio's playoff series with the Golden State Warriors.

With the two-time All-Star set to become a free agent in 2019, the Texas-based franchise will be left with little option but to trade him and look to get something significant in return.

Leonard's preference is reportedly a move to the Los Angeles Lakers but the Spurs are likely to seek the best possible deal for themselves.

It would be a major surprise if they offloaded him to another team in the Western Conference so a move to the east would be the most likely outcome.

Interest

With that in mind, the Cleveland Cavaliers have already made contact with the Spurs to express their interest in acquiring the two-time Defensive Player of the Year, according to Cleveland.com writer Terry Pluto.

It's not clear how serious that call was and their motives behind it, as it could've been a tactic to influence LeBron James to stay or to potentially replace him if he leaves.

But the truth is, the Cavaliers don't really have much to offer to the Spurs that would entice them into doing a deal.

The only valuable asset they have is Kevin Love and he plays the same position as LaMarcus Aldridge who enjoyed a great year.

Also, the Cavs are way over the luxury tax and have the highest payroll in the NBA.

They do have the number eight pick in this year's draft, but that won't be enough to get Leonard. Their only realistic hope will be to get a third team involved who has a need for Love.

A blockbuster trade could be in the pipeline this summer, but it's highly unlikely that it'll be Kawhi joining Cleveland.

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