Lawrence Frank, Los Angeles Clippers president of basketball operations, has revealed a Paul George-centric detail about his free agency pitch to Kawhi Leonard.
Per Ben Golliver of the Washington Post, Lawrence Frank revealed that he presented a list of potential players which the Clippers could acquire. When Kawhi Leonard saw Paul George's name, he said “that's the guy” he wanted.
“We put potential targets up on the board and Paul George’s name was on there. Kawhi said, ‘That’s the guy.’”
Clippers’ Lawrence Frank, at a season ticketholder event, on July 1 meeting w/ Kawhi Leonard: “We put potential targets up on the board and Paul George’s name was on there. Kawhi said, ‘That’s the guy.’”
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) July 26, 2019
Leonard shared it himself that George — who's also a stellar two-way player like him — is someone whom he wanted to play with ever since. As a matter of fact, Leonard was drafted by the Indiana Pacers as the 15th overall pick in 2011. George was an incoming second-year man then. George even confessed that since he also plays the small forward position like Leonard, he felt that he needed to add something new to his arsenal if the Pacers were to sign Leonard.
Their team-up didn't come into fruition. As we all know, Leonard went on with the San Antonio Spurs where he made a name for himself. But as fate would have it, they are now donning similar jerseys and representing their hometown.
More importantly, they are tagged by several fans and analysts to be among the top contenders in the next few years. And from the looks of it, their team-up just came at the perfect time. In today's era of positionless basketball, the fact that George and Leonard are considered small forwards do not matter much. So long as they can co-exist well with each other, their teammates, and their coaching staff, then they'll be alright.
Besides, they are considered two of the best two-way players in the game. Both defending and scoring is second nature to them.
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