Kawhi Leonard To Sixers Makes Them Favorites Over Celtics In East: Broussard

The Philadelphia 76ers will be the favorites in the Eastern Conference if they acquire the services of San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard, according to FS1 analyst Chris Broussard.

LeBron James made shockwaves in the basketball world when he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers on a four-year deal on Sunday, marking the first time in his career that he is departing the Eastern Conference.

This in turn, has given a few teams in the East hope in making the NBA Finals next season, let alone winning a title. In particular, the Boston Celtics will benefit the most as they have crashed out in the Conference Finals stage in the last two years, both times notably to a James-led Cleveland Cavaliers team.

Following confirmation that James had become a Laker, Westgate SuperBook gave the Boston side +350 odds of winning their first NBA title since 2008 next season — the same odds as the Lakers while the Sixers had the fifth-best odds at +1400.

However, things could dramatically change, at least when it comes to the East, if the Sixers were to land Leonard.

The 28-year-old has made no secret of his desire to leave San Antonio and join the Lakers, but with one year remaining in his current deal, does not hold all the cards in deciding his future.

While the Spurs are in discussions with the Lakers, they are reported to not be happy with the package being offered for Leonard as they prefer young prospects such as Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma along with future first-round picks at the minimum.

Meanwhile, the Sixers and Celtics have also opened discussions over Leonard as it was reported Sunday the Spurs have asked the former for three future first-round draft picks and two current players to acquire their target.

Whoever ends up getting Leonard, Broussard believes the Celtics are the favorites in the Eastern Conference as of now. However, he also believes the Sixers are likeliest to land the disgruntled Spurs star which will tip the scales for Philadelphia.

"I think the clear favorite is Boston," Broussard said on Monday. "But I do think Philadelphia is the favorite to get Kawhi (Leonard) if he’s traded. The relationship with Brett Brown who was a coach in San Antonio. As much as I would’ve liked to see LeBron in Philadelphia, I actually think Kawhi is a better fit, a more seamless fit."

"You don’t have to worry about who going to handle the ball. Kawhi could just step in day one and be a much better Robert Covington. So I think that if Kawhi goes there, I’m going with Philadelphia. Because even though they got beat 4-1 by Boston in the playoffs, it could’ve easily been 4-1 the other way. Those games were close, they just couldn’t get it done in the clutch. Let’s see what Markelle Fultz does. If they get Kawhi, he could be gone. I think Philly is right there, but I’d go with Boston as the clear favorite [as of now]."