According to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, the Los Angeles Lakers contacted the San Antonio Spurs soon after Kawhi Leonard demanded a trade but they were immediately rebuffed.

The small forward has indicated a preference to move to L.A. but Shelburne reports that the Lakers "immediately felt the Spurs didn't plan on engaging in any trade dialogue."

This falls in line with comments made by Spurs general manager R.C. Buford to the media on Thursday after the draft as he outlined their plan to keep the two-time All-Star.

Buford admitted that they are hoping to rebuild their relationship with the superstar and will not rush into any decision.

"Kawhi and his family mean a lot to our organisation and to the community," Buford said, per ESPN's Michael C. Wright.

"While none of us would wish we are where we are, we're going to do what we can to build the best relationship we can with him, and we'll explore all of our options. But the first one would be to do what we can to keep Kawhi as a part of our group."

Big decision to make

Leonard will become a free agent in 2019 and his trade request puts San Antonio under pressure to either move him and get something in return or risk losing him for nothing next year.

But the Texas-based outfit doesn't believe that it has to make a decision in the immediate future despite the player expressing his desire to leave.

"I don't know that timing's a factor in this. ... He's under contract for another year," Buford said. "Our goal is to keep him as a part of our program for a long time."

The Cleveland Cavaliers were placed in a similar situation with Kyrie Irving 12 months ago as he also demanded a move.

But in that case, he had two years remaining on his deal and the Cavs had more leverage and every right to keep him against his wishes.

Instead, they chose to trade him to conference rivals the Boston Celtics in a deal that featured Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder - who they offloaded just six months later.

The Spurs, by contrast, will not make any hasty decisions and will keep Kawhi until the February deadline if they have to.

Head coach Gregg Popovich reportedly met with the former Finals MVP this week but it's believed that he's made his intention to leave very clear.

The 26-year-old is disappointed with the way the franchise handled his quad injury and his relationship with members of the organisation appears to be irreparable.

A parting of the ways seems almost inevitable and at this stage, it's simply a matter of when and not if Leonard leaves the Spurs.

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