Yes your leech still works, all chances to cast anything still work, but deadly strike does not work
kick damage is obviously higher on heavier and higher tier boots, like myrmidon greaves. Damage modifiers like the + damage on grief or from jewels do not affect your kick damage. Best weapon to hold when using dragon talon, I would say Stormlash.
With no synergies, maxing talon leaves you open to a lot of other secondary options. I would suggest maxing the tiger strike and dragon tail combination as well, especially with stormlash involved.
Make use of burst of speed, fade, shadow master, death sentry, mind blast, and cloak of shadows.
If you don’t have stormlash, crescent moon also offers a static proc, but is not as reliable.
Outside of static weapon, there are a lot of good cheap options. One of my favorites is Nats claw. It’s beautiful.
Just a quick insight, I’m probably leaving some stuff out for sure