There are moves in NBA free agency every few years that can totally shift the balance of the league. Sure, there are notable names that jump every summer, but few have the ability to completely turn a franchise around. This is exactly what happened when Kawhi Leonard left the Raptors for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2019.

The Raptors had just won a title, in large part because of Kawhi Leonard. After a summer of deliberating, Leonard set his sights on LA and joined the Clippers.

Here's a timeline of how everything went down that resulted in Kawhi Leonard becoming a member of the Los Angeles Clippers.

Kawhi Leonard's timeline of ending up with the Los Angeles Clippers

July 18, 2018: Spurs trade Kawhi Leonard to Raptors for DeMar DeRozan and other pieces – Kawhi Leonard is sent to Toronto from San Antonio after seven seasons with the Spurs.

July 18, 2018: Gregg Popovich reacts to Kawhi Leonard trade – “I couldn't be happier. I think this trade is going to work out for both teams.” – Popvoich.

July 18, 2018: Lakers are confident they will land Kawhi Leonard in free agency – LA decides to wait until free agency instead of giving up assets now for Kawhi Leonard.

July 24, 2018: Kawhi Leonard passes his physcial, making trade with Spurs and Raptors official – There had been questions about Kawhi's health and lingering issues leading up to the trade.

December 13, 2018: Kawhi Leonard not focusing on any free agency rumors – “I don’t buy into reading media, don’t have no social media, so just focus on what’s in front of me.” – Kawhi Leonard.

January 5, 2019: Kawhi Leonard and Gregg Popovich still stay in touch via text – Leonard was booed in his first game back to San Antonio since the trade to Toronto.

January 14, 2019: Magic Johnson will try and convince Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant to join LeBron James and the Lakers – first reported by Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

February 9, 2019: Kawhi Leonard not answering questions about free agency – “Ask me about the game.” – Kawhi Leonard.

February 21, 2019: David Robinson roasts Kawhi Leonard for trade demand – “We’ve had this run for 25 years, which has been remarkable and amazing. And then you see this thing come in with Kawhi, who wants to go to a bigger market.” – David Robinson.

March 22, 2019: Paul George reached out to Kawhi Leonard about free agency experience – George notes the conversation is between he and Kawhi and nobody else.

April 30, 2019: Kawhi Leonard and Tobias Harris are expected to consider the Brooklyn Nets in free agency – More and more teams outside of Toronto continue to be rumored with Leonard.

May 6, 2019: Kawhi's decision reportedly will come down to Raptors and Clippers – “The Raptors can pay him more, they can pay him a $200-million-plus deal if he wants to stay in Toronto.” – Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

May 26, 2019: Kawhi Leonard focused on winning a championship in Toronto; not free agency – The gamble might pay off for Toronto if they can win it all.

May 29, 2019: Masai Ujiri makes big statement on Kawhi's free agency with NBA Finals around the corner – “The future conversations I've had with Kawhi are about the Golden State Warriors (NBA Finals).” – Masai Ujiri.

June 7, 2019: Kawhi Leonard continues to reiterate where his focus is at – “I'm not even thinking about signing or what team Im'a go to.” – Kawhi Leonard.

June 16, 2019: The Lakers have a plan for Kawhi even after trading for Anthony Davis – Lakers aiming for super team of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard.

June 17, 2019: Latest odds speak to where some believe Kawhi Leonard will end up – Raptors are (-110), Clippers (+120), Lakers (+600).

June 25, 2019: Kyle Lowry wants Kawhi back in Toronto but don't expect him to recruit – “I’d love him to stay. But he’s my friend. And I always say this in this business, you don’t have that much choice in happiness sometimes. You have to make yourself happy. You have to be able to wake up every day and be happy with what your decision in life is, and that’s why I never recruit.” – Kyle Lowry.

June 27, 2019: Kawhi Leonard set to meet with Lakers and Clippers right when free agency begins – Both meetings will take place in Los Angeles.

June 28, 2019: A specific request Kawhi has for his meeting with the Lakers – Kawhi wants only Magic Johnson and Jeanie Buss present at the meeting.

June 29, 2019: Clippers trying to figure out a way to acquire to big name free agents – The other LA team has its eyes set on Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler.

July 1, 2019: Kawhi Leonard had very specific questions for Magic Johnson – Kawhi wanted to know if the Lakers pursued him when the Spurs were trying to trade him.

July 3, 2019: Clippers' plans if they swing and miss on Kawhi Leonard – Best option might be to do nothing for the Clippers.

July 4, 2019: Danny Green speaks up on Kawhi's free agency – Green says he hasn't been in touch with Leonard at all.

July 6, 2019: Clippers trade for Paul George than get Kawhi Leonard to sign and join LA – A new super team emerges in LA, this time with the Clippers getting Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.

July 9, 2019: Masai Ujiri reveals frustration during Kawhi's free agency – “It’s just unreal how there’s become a play-by-play on what’s going on and it’s not real, it’s not realistic.” – Masai Ujiri.

July 15, 2019: Anthony Davis discusses the difficulties of ‘recruiting' Kawhi to the Lakers – “I mean, Kawhi’s not a big recruiter guy, that’s what I heard. So — I would send him texts every now and then, but then just be like, “Is this too much?” – Anthony Davis.

July 20, 2019: Did Kawhi drag things along with the Lakers on purpose? – It appears the George – Leonard to Clippers idea had been in the works yet the Lakers thought they were still in the mix.

July 23, 2019: Numbers favored the Clippers in their free agent pursuit of Kawhi – The Clippers and Kawhi spoke everyday during free agency and usually 2-3 times a day.

July 24, 2019: Kawhi explains his quiet approach to free agency – “A lot of things are made up nowadays,” Leonard said, per Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints. “You can start a websites or a blog and say ‘Kawhi’s doing this’ or ‘Kawhi’s doing that.’ It’s important for me to have a mutual understanding and be transparent.” – Kawhi.

July 25, 2019: Kawhi Leonard reveals that playing with Paul George was an idea he had a long time ago – “The idea (of playing together) started probably me playing in San Antonio and him being on the Pacers.” – Kawhi Leonard.

July 25, 2019: Family over basketball influenced Kawhi's decision to go to the Clippers – “You know, once I got together with my team and we put the pros and cons down, it was never about winning a championship,” Leonard said. “It was about what the future has to hold. And for me, myself and my family, that’s what type of decision I had to make. It’s no discredit to Toronto, I just wanted to play at home.” – Kawhi.

September 19, 2019: Kawhi's uncle sought benefits outside of cap rules during free agency – Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports Kawhi's uncle had requests and was asking for benefits outside of what is allowed via the cap rules in the NBA.

September 21, 2019: Kawhi and Paul George had a dialogue about joining up on the Clippers well before free agency started -“Paul George’s agent went to Oklahoma City prior to the start of free agency and said Paul would like to be traded to the Clippers. He wants to play with Kawhi. But, at that point, Kawhi wasn’t allowed to be talking with the Clippers.” – Kurt Helin of NBC Sports.

December 23, 2019: NBA investigated reports that Kawhi's uncle had requested illegal benefits during free agency – The league shut the book on the case without finding any evidence.

December 23, 2019: Jeanie Buss reveals exactly what Kawhi's uncle requested illegally from the Lakers – Kawhi's uncle wanted him to have an ownership stake with the Lakers, a private plane, a house, amongst other things.

January 15, 2019: Reports say Kawhi and Paul George met multiple times at Drake's house before free agency – Imagine being a fly on the wall for those conversations.

April 7, 2021: Kawhi Leonard's next free agency plan, revealed – Most believe Kawhi will stay with the Clippers but look for a new deal from the team this summer.