Getty Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors celebrates his teams win victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game Six to win the 2019 NBA Finals.
Despite landing Anthony Davis to pair alongside LeBron James, the Lakers struck out on their top free agency target in Kawhi Leonard. They were still able to piece together a deep lineup suited to space the floor around their two superstars, yet can’t help but be a little upset at losing out on the prospect of creating arguably the most talented “Big 3” in NBA history.
Instead, Leonard now suits up alongside Paul George as a roommate of the Lakers at Staples Center for the Clippers. The pairing sets up the Clippers and Lakers for some heated battles for supremacy at Staples featuring a star-studded cast of MVP candidates.
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Lakers’ Magic Johnson Could Have Scared Off Kawhi Leonard
The Athletic released a detailed behind the scenes look into just exactly how the Clippers pulled off landing both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in their blockbuster pair of offseason moves. Included was an interesting tidbit on the Lakers, who while feeling like Leonard “played them”, might have instead played themselves in the negotiation process.
“I truly believe that when Magic started telling the media about the meeting he had with Kawhi and Dennis, that sealed the fate of the Lakers,” a person involved in the process told The Athletic. “I think that right there was when Dennis and Kawhi decided we can’t trust the Lakers as an organization. And that was it. I think that was it for them.”
Leonard is a notoriously private player and his demands to have teams handle his free agency process in silence was a well-known fact. While Toronto and the Clippers were silent throughout, Magic Johnson came out and publicly spoke on a number of topics that he discussed with Leonard during their meeting. While Johnson no longer serves as the president of basketball operations (nor did he at the time of the Leonard meetings), his voice carries considerable weight within the organization and his inability to remain silent could have seriously hurt the Lakers chances.
Lakers’ Free Agency Contingency Plan
After losing out on Kawhi Leonard, the Lakers made a number of smart moves to build a much better suited roster to surround LeBron James with this season. Aside from bringing on Davis via trade, the Lakers landed shooters like Danny Green & Quinn Cook alongside the talented – but recovering from injury – DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins, in particular, could wind up being the steal of the free agency class as just two short years ago, he was one of the league’s premier big men and a first-team All-NBA superstar before being injured.
Last season was more of a rehab season for Cousins and the opportunity to play alongside his old teammate in Anthony Davis should help offer a bit more familiar situation for the big man. With a full offseason to get his body ready and already looking to be in considerably better shape, Cousins returning to form would instantly give the Lakers one of, if not, the best trios of talent across the entire league.