After a week of constantly checking social media pages for Kawhi Leonard rumors, the 2019 Finals MVP finally came to a decision at the eleventh hour signing with the LA Clippers.
Leonard’s decision could have ultimately been the cause of the massive earthquake that hit LA late last night, but he took just the right amount of time to handicap the Lakers from acquiring another big name free agent in July and ultimately did the same to Toronto.
Now, I spoke with one of my good friends yesterday on the phone and we both thought that the Claw had another trick up his sleeve. I’m not saying that we knew it was the Clippers, but with the way the last three NBA summers have gone, you couldn’t really assume anything. Leonard put an end to two super teams and his personality just wouldn’t let him join an already assembled team. His heart definitely wanted to be back in LA, and for his childhood team the Lakers, but with LeBron James and Anthony Davis there, it made his decision a lot more challenging. He wanted to play at home, but only if he could lure another big name with him to help compete for multiple titles.
Insert Paul George here.
Leonard to the Clips didn’t necessarily shock the league, but it was the fashion in which the inferior LA franchise acquired him. After snubbing the Lakers in back to back summer’s, PG quietly demanded a trade from the Thunder to the Clippers within the last few days. It was the one rumor that was never leaked and that nobody saw coming. The same George that got his own holiday in Oklahoma City after re-signed in 2018 (July 8), just slapped Russell Westbrook and the entire state in the face in one night. THIS move was what sent shock waves across LA and Twitter.
I can’t really blame PG for the demand, but it was just so out of the blue. Well, to a degree. I believe that if Kawhi was somehow traded to the Lakers last July, then George would have teamed up with him and LeBron and signed in LA, not in OKC. But when the Spurs took weeks to move their all-star forward, PG decided he would just re-sign and run it back in 2018-19.
All in all, Leonard’s decision was hanging in the balance of acquiring another play maker, one of who he wanted to join forces with in 2018, and it just took a week to get it done. In the process, and maybe unintentionally, he put his former team and new cross-town rival in a tough spot after both franchises waited for Leonard to decide.
I wrote about this earlier this summer, but I figured one superstar was going to sign with the Clippers. I just thought it should have been Kevin Durant (pre-Achilles injury). However, after his injury I felt that the Knicks should have been his main focus, not Brooklyn. That’s neither here nor there now, but my thought process was for the red, white and blue to acquire Durant and then another notable free-agent. It would have been two of the best players in the game (LBJ and KD) competing for the LA throne, as well as bragging rights for best player in the game today. Now that would have been must-see TV and ratings would have been through the roof.
Fast forward to this morning and the same type of scenario has somewhat played out. Over the past month we saw KD surging towards dethroning James as the best NBA player in today’s game, but then an Achilles injury put a halt to that argument for at least another year. Now, we very well could have the same type of debate that virtually came out of nowhere. Well, not nowhere, but…yeah, kind of nowhere.
Kawhi missed nearly the entire 2017-18 season with a thigh injury and his return was unknown. Would he be the same player he was in 2016? Was he purposely sitting out? Is he refusing to play so that he gets dealt to the Lakers? The list went on and on, but these were all questions swirling around the two-time Finals MVP.
Within one season up north, the former San Diego State alum put every negative rumor to bed en route to one of the best postseason runs in the past several decades. Leonard’s run in Toronto and his championship level play elevated him into the newly discovered debate – who actually is the best player on the planet? And the list now focuses around the Claw and the King, pushing KD out until he returns.
Forming a super team doesn’t always mean consistent titles (look at Heat 2010-14 & Warriors 2016-18) as injuries and poor play can derail any organization, but Leonard to the Lakers would have assembled the strongest Big 3 of all time. Now, would they have won this year? We will never know, but the 2019 Raptors proved that you can take down a dynasty by committee and depth at the bench position, which is something the purple and gold would have lacked.
The West in the span of one week has gotten even stronger with all of the offseason moves, but it was the city of LA that really lucked out. Although it isn’t the ideal scenario with Durant and LeBron competing for the city, the AD/Lebron versus PG/Kawhi duel will be extremely entertaining this fall.
Kawhi choosing the Clippers came down to three things. Landing a long-term maximum contract in his hometown, becoming the main guy on his OWN team, and luring another superstar along with him that plays both ends of the floor. In the process, the move makes even more sense because he will be playing under an elite coach in Doc Rivers.
Every team that Kawhi has played on has had unbelievable coaching, which can sometimes be an overlooked position in today’s game. Greg Popovich, arguably a top-5 coach of all time, developed Leonard’s game and made him play both ends of the court. Nick Nurse became Nick Nurse without anybody other than the Raptors knowing his game managing skills, and helped further Leonard’s career after a brutal injury via the load management tactic. And now, Kawhi gets Rivers at the helm to help push his career to the Hall of Fame level in just his ninth season in the league.
Leonard signing with the Clippers further creates parity across the entire NBA and for the first time in five years nobody knows who will represent the West in the Finals next June. A dozen teams have at least two 1st Team through 3rd Team All-Star caliber players, along with role players that can compete for the next few seasons.
I truly believe that both George and Kawhi did not want to play with James due to all of the drama and backlash that comes with playing alongside the King. The Clippers in the span of a week gave the two all-star talents an alley to return home to LA, without being overshadowed by LeBron, and to compete for what every NBA player wants in today’s game – the Larry O’ Brien.
With the Knicks missing out on the biggest free-agent class yet again, Madison Square Garden is no longer the Mecca of the NBA universe . LA’s Staples Center has hijacked the nickname altogether and the league now runs through Southern California. The hottest ticket in the game will shift out West as both the Clippers and Lakers have the greatest title odds in 2019-20.
Even though everybody complains about how the NBA is run by the players, it is truly the most fascinating sport in the world today. Super teams or not, the ratings will continue to rise and the game will continue to grow. But for now, the city of Los Angeles is on top of the basketball world.
