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The Los Angeles Lakers had the keys to the NBA championship in the palm of their hands and the Clippers came in and swiped them away in the blink of an eye. What almost seemed like a done deal became the biggest surprise of all of free agency. Kawhi Leonard to the Clippers was always possible, but that idea started to lose steam in recent days. Some went so far to report that the Clippers were completely out of the running and the decision was coming down to the Lakers and the Toronto Raptors. Well, turns out that was not true. While most of the country was asleep, the Clippers changed the entire fabric of the NBA with a signing and a trade.
The Clippers trading for Paul George after a season which almost saw him win the NBA MVP award was something that nobody saw coming. George had his chance to come to Los Angeles last year and he didn’t even give the Clippers or Lakers a meeting before agreeing to stay with the Oklahoma City Thunder. As time goes on, more details will likely come out as to why things soured in OKC, but now it’s assumed that the George-Westbrook marriage wasn’t one that was going to last.
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Potential Lakers Dynasty Pushed Clippers to Make Paul George Deal
While Lakers and Raptors fans are probably devastated this morning, most of the NBA can rejoice at the fact that another Lakers dynasty is no longer a certainty. Stopping a new Lakers dynasty was one of the biggest motivators for the Clippers to make the deal for Paul George, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
“The Clippers became the last line of defense for the balance of power in the NBA — never mind the franchise’s own future,” said Wojnarowski in a piece at ESPN. “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 with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, sources said.”
A lineup featuring LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard may have been the best starting lineup in NBA history. If the Clippers had to share a stadium with that team, they would’ve never gotten any recognition again. A dynasty with that lineup was not necessarily a foregone conclusion, but it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which that team loses many games. The Clippers stopping a Kawhi move to the Lakers was hinged upon a Paul George acquisition. How this was able to stay quiet is a testament to how well run the Clippers are compared to the Lakers. The Clippers granted Kawhi his wish and now the NBA will have one of the great rivalries of the modern era.
LeBron and Anthony Davis versus Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will be unbelievable to watch. Even in the recent losing years, the Lakers still own Los Angeles. That likely will never change, but the Clippers are certainly going to give them a run for their money.
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