Before the 2018-19 NBA regular season had even begun, people in the NBA community had begun to speculate where Kawhi Leonard would sign in the summer of 2019.
One of the early favorites were the Los Angeles Clippers, a team with a young and improving core, a championship head coach in Doc Rivers and the selling point of allowing Leonard to play in the city where he grew up.
But when the Clippers made the final play to sign Leonard, it could not have been done more discreetly. In the middle of the night, Los Angeles got a verbal agreement from Leonard after orchestrating a massive trade that would also bring Paul George to Hollywood.
Jerry West, Lawrence Frank and co. got extremely aggressive, and according to ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski, team executives believed that a failure to acquire George would lead to Leonard signing with the Lakers and creating a new dynasty:
The Clippers had come to believe that without a deal for George, Leonard was prepared to sign with the Lakers and create a Staples Center partnership of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Leonard, sources said.
Yes, the Clippers gave up a lot to acquire George. They had to sacrifice a promising young guard in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, an underrated wing scorer in Danilo Gallinari and a whole host of unprotected picks. But in making the big move for George, the Clippers also essentially sealed the deal with Leonard.
This is a team that has been thirsting to be the top team in Los Angeles since the days of “Lob City.” Now, they finally have the kind of star power that could deliver the first championship in franchise history.
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