The Los Angeles Lakers missed out on free agency's biggest name, costing them the chance to bring in so many helpful smaller ones. Now that the dust has settled with the Lakers' roster mostly set and the cross-arena LA Clippers having emerged as his team's chief competition in the Western Conference, Los Angeles general manager Rob Pelinka is expressing no regrets about how he and his front office handled the summer.

Asked on Friday to comment on the recruitment of Kawhi Leonard, Pelinka insisted the Lakers did everything they could, and are ready to move on from disappointment of losing out on the reigning Finals MVP.

“We have a high level of confidence we did everything we could,” he said, per Bill Oram of The Athletic, “but now you look to your future.”

Los Angeles stood pat over the opening few days of free agency, content to play the waiting game for Leonard despite the pool of available impact players losing depth by the hour. It was announced last Friday that he would sign with the Clippers, bringing Paul George, who requested a trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder after conferring with Leonard, along with him.

Leonard, traded from the San Antonio Spurs to the Toronto Raptors last summer, led the Raptors to their first ever championship in 2018-19. Though the Clippers were long considered the favorite to sign him, the Lakers had seemingly pulled even with their Staples Center rivals in the days leading up to Leonard's decision.

After missing out on Leonard, the Lakers quickly pivoted to signing Danny Green, DeMarcus Cousins, Quinn Cook, and Avery Bradley, also bringing back Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Rajon Rondo.