The most coveted free agent of the summer continues to wait. The NBA teams have promised nearly 4 billion dollars in contracts in the first 60 hours of the market, but among the names of the players who have chosen their new team is missing that of Kawhi Leonard. The first free agency in Finals' mvp career is like him: silent, unpredictable, little media but fundamental to decide the new balance of the Association.

Kawhi remains in his base retreat in Los Angeles, leafing through his symbolic daisy with three petals with the logos of Raptors, Clippers and Lakers, the three destinations he is considering, preferably with a short contract (one year with an option on the second). He asked for and obtained absolute silence and the rest of the market slipped on him as if he didn't care.

It concerns the three contenders much more, especially Clippers and Lakers who already know they have missed all their alternative goals. But Kawhi is Kawhi and has shown he can make all the difference in the world: for Toronto and the two Los Angeles it is worth waiting, even without a certain date for the verdict.

Here's how they're trying to convince him. The court of the gialloviola is the most public one. Magic Johnson, whom Kawhi wanted to meet but to whom the NBA asked not to represent the Lakers in official meetings as he is fresh from his role as president, said he had spoken to the Finals mvp and his uncle already Sunday. "I want to help the team in any way, I owe it to LeBron," said the Lakers legend. King James himself, engaged with Anthony Davis in the filming of Space Jam 2, would have come forward with Leonard, making him understand that the Lakers will be his team, with LeBron ready to take a step back to leave the limelight to Kawhi and AD.

The Leonard-Davis-James trio would be one of the strongest in history, made up of 3 of the 7 best players out there. The Lakers' appeal is precisely this: to allow Kawhi to be part of a super team destined to dominate the league.

While waiting for Leonard, the Lakers have begun to build the supporting cast, matching the shooter Troy Daniels (1 year at 2.1 million) and the veteran Jared Dudley (1 year at 2.6 million). The only others on the roster at the moment are Kyle Kuzma, LeBron, Davis and Talen Horton-Tucker, chosen in the second round of the draft. With Kawhi's yes, the team would be completed quickly by veterans close to the minimum wage, first of all Rajon Rondo.

Plan A was to get Kawhi to choose the second super star to share the stage with. But the potential Robin of Batman Leonard have all settled down in the early hours of the market. The Clippers are left with plan B: the solidity of a team determined to do everything to win, with a leadership that has succeeded in inventing a quick way to reconstruct, through careful movements, without having to lose to the bitter end and who needs Leonard to move to the next level. The Clippers also offer Kawhi the charm of playing in his Los Angeles without having the media pressure crushing the Lakers. Leonard at the Doc Rivers court would be the only leader, with a nice mix of young talents (above all Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) and proven veterans (starting with Danilo Gallinari).

Toronto will be the last team to meet Kawhi before his decision. The plan of the GM Masai Ujiri is very simple: to convince that in the last year it was his star that with his return to the Raptors can go hunting for the encore and open a cycle.

The relationship of trust and respect built in 2018-19, with Kawhi first helped to return to feeling healthy by a medical staff that took care of him also following his advice and then left free to explode in the playoffs, is one of the best cards that is played by Ujiri. If Kawhi came back the team would be practically the same, given that after Leonard's yes the one of Danny Green would arrive, who like Raptors, Clippers and Lakers expects the choice of the Finals mvp to know their future.

Toronto has already made Leonard a symbol, showed him how whole Canada fell madly in love with him. He offers him all this again, an organization that has already won and where Kawhi has already found himself wonderfully. Toronto did all it could to persuade Leonard to stay.

Now it all depends on him, the most coveted free agent of the summer who is quietly deciding his future.