Report: Celtics keeping their 5 best players out of any Kawhi deal


The Boston Celtics are keeping their top five players off the table in any offers for Kawhi Leonard, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

After news leaked from his former understudy, Yahoo's Shams Charania, that Leonard was not very interested in playing for Boston, a pick-heavy approach seems to be the wiser path, as any deal for Kawhi that wouldn't see him commit has a strong possibility of being a one-year rental, should Leonard skip town to head to Los Angeles at the end of the season to come.

According to Wojnarowski, however, speaking on ESPN's Sportscenter, a deal for Leonard is not out of the question, it would just be focused on draft picks, which may be being seen as less desirable for a small-market team seeking to avoid a season or three in the lottery during what might be the final seasons of Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich.

No news on which of those players Boston considers their top-five, but I would imagine that would be Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

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