Lakers rumor: Kawhi Leonard-to-Clippers 'far less appealing,' doesn't want to be 'dwarfed' by sharing spotlight with LeBron James

The Clippers could free up as much as $70 million in cap space by 2019, a blueprint copy of what the Lakers did this offseason, allowing them to land LeBron James to a four-year deal. But even that proposition is unlikely to be enough to persuade the Spurs' Kawhi Leonard to rival James while playing in the same arena.

The L.A. Clippers are looking less and less like a potential candidate to acquire Kawhi Leonard.

As trade talks between the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers have come to a stall, the latter is rumored to downshift gears and take a more passive approach, waiting until the 2019 offseason to acquire Leonard as a free agent.

But despite their non-aggressive approach, the Lakers could still wind up with him rather than their in-town rivals, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

“I’ve been told that one of the reasons [Kawhi Leonard] looks at going to the Clippers — is a little less motivated [to go to the Clippers] is because initially, the idea of Los Angeles was fine to him — he preferred the Lakers but was all right with the Clippers — but now that LeBron James is there, the idea of going head-to-head with LeBron — to have Kawhi with the Clippers and LeBron with the Lakers, and to maybe feel dwarfed by that — I’m told that’s become far less appealing for him.”

The Clippers could free up as much as $70 million in cap space by 2019, a blueprint copy of what the Lakers did for this much-awaited offseason, allowing them to land LeBron James to a four-year deal.

But even that proposition is unlikely to be enough to persuade The Klaw to rival James while playing in the same arena.