Kawhi Leonard To Land In Los Angeles

It’s going to be ‘one and done’ with Kawhi Leonard in Toronto. After winning a NBA Championship with the Raptors earlier this Summer the two time Finals MVP opted out of his deal and became an unrestricted free agent. The Raptors had the opportunity to make their pitch as did the Clippers and the Lakers. According to media reports, much of the last minute wheeling and dealing was intended as much to keep Leonard away from the Lakers than it was to bring him to the Clippers. The media narrative is that there was a ‘fear’ of a ‘Lakers dynasty’ should Kawhi end up wearing the purple and gold.

For whatever the reason, it looks like Leonard is going to be joining the LA Clippers. He’ll sign a four-year, $141 million contract and immediately makes a Clippers team that already demonstrated significant improvement during the NBA playoffs a legit contender to win a title in the wide open league circa 2019. In fact, they’ve surpassed their in-town rivals and are now the favorite to win the 2019-2020 championship in the latest NBA futures odds. The Clippers are priced at +300 to claim the Larry O’Brien Championship trophy while the Lakers are right behind at +400.

The Clippers are also acquiring forward Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder for what sounds like every draft pick they’ll have over the next decade. Seriously, the Clippers are sending OKC their unprotected 2022, 2024 and 2026 picks, their unprotected 2021 and protected 2023 first-round picks from an early deal with Miami and the rights to swap picks with the Clippers in 2023 and 2025. The Clippers are also including a couple of warm bodies in the transaction with OKC acquiring guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari.

George and Leonard wanted to play together and thus agent Aaron Mintz went to Thunder GM Sam Presti and told him to make a deal. According to media reports, Leonard thinks that George is the perfect cohort to walk right into a championship team apparently not realizing that the ‘dream team’ concept has never really won a title in the first season in the history of the NBA (or close to it). George is recovering from shoulder surgery and could miss the first few weeks of the 2019-2020 NBA season.

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