How Lakers, Thunder won Clippers' now disastrous Summer of Kawhi Leonard

Yesterday at 11:32 PM

It was about 1 AM on July 6, 2019. I was sitting in a popular burger joint for NBA circles in Las Vegas during Summer League, only hours after games had been halted because of an earthquake and had no idea about the aftershock that was about to hit the league.

Harrison Faigen and I were sitting with a couple other media members, and the sense we had was that Kawhi Leonard would be a Laker. According to sources close to the team, they legitimately believed he was coming. Then, surrounded by team logo'ed quarter zips, agents and players, all four of our phones went off at the same time, with the same Woj notification:

Free agent forward Kawhi Leonard has informed runners-up teams of his plans: He’s signing with the Clippers, league sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019

One such media member at the table, who happens to have a booming voice breaks through the excited murmuring with a guttural and drawn out, "F**********," just in time for a second notification:

Oklahoma City is trading All-Star Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers for a record-setting collection of draft choices, league sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019

All around the joint, people were hurriedly paying their bills and racing into the night for their responsibilities following the ground-shaking news.

Not a soul in that restaurant would've possibly predicted now, six years later, the clear, unquestionable losers that night would be the team that had just landed Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

In the six years since, the Los Angeles Lakers, who finished as runners up for Leonard, have won a championship and made a trip to the Western Conference Finals.

The Oklahoma City Thunder landed the best player who was moved that night in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and seem poised for a potentially dynastic run, mostly built off the fruits of trading George to the Clippers.

Speaking of those Clippers, they have won X NUMBER OF TOTAL PLAYOFF SERIES since that fateful night. Leonard is once again out indefinitely. George is a Philadelphia 76er. Steve Ballmer is about to open the doors to the Intuit Dome with only James Harden (on his Xth team since 2019) as a headliner.

So what happened? How is it that the team that actually landed the two superstars wound up clearly worse off for doing so? The answer is a combination of betting on the wrong horses, doubling down, a disregard of team chemistry and a cursed franchise remaining, well, cursed.

OK maybe that last part is probably made up, but it's also kind of hard to debate at this point.

For the Lakers' part, they already had the two best players of any three franchises at that point and surrounded them with a great group of role players that made up an identity that has since been replicated by multiple champions after their own title that season. Had they landed Leonard, they almost assuredly waltz through the postseason as they did without him and win that title.

Where things go from there is interesting, because with that third star already in-house, they don’t make the Russell Westbrook trade that has all but closed their title window with James Davis. So yes, winning the championship anyway obviously helps dull the pain of not landing Leonard that night, but given how things have gone since, it’s pretty clear they would’ve been better off even with Leonard’s injuries.

Speaking of injuries, by far the biggest factor in things going one way or the other has been the availability of the stars in question.

LeBron James has been the definition of durability during his career and, while Anthony Davis has a reputation for health concerns, it frankly hasn’t been close between him and Leonard in terms of availability. And while Leonard is more known for missing time, George has only topped 60 games played once as a Clipper (last year, when he played 74).

Had Leonard signed with the Lakers, his injuries could’ve been aided by James and Davis being in the lineup more often. As a Clipper, however, with Leonard and George missing as much time as he has, the teams have lacked identity.

Which brings us to a harsh reality: Neither Leonard or George have really assumed the responsibility that comes with leading a franchise. Leonard especially has shied away from those duties and, while yes, that’s just kind of his personality, that leadership void has been felt.

As Julius Campbell told Gerry Bertier in “Remember The Titans,” attitude reflects leadership. When the chips have been down, the Clippers haven’t been able to rally around their distant captain. This was never more on display than in a couple playoff games he couldn’t play, Leonard was seen in a suite, not on the bench with his teammates.

To their credit, the Clippers organization has done a great job at build the roster’s depth behind Leonard and George. It’s allowed them to win 233 games over the last five season compared to the Lakers’ win total of 217 despite the differences in star availability. Over the larger sample size, the Clippers have been a better organization than the Lakers, but the playoffs aren’t about larger sample sizes and depth.

In that regard, the Clippers have left a lot to be desired. Players nine through 15 don’t matter in the playoffs. Eventually, you need to condense the roster to upgrade its higher-end talent, something the Clippers haven’t done until they landed Harden last year at a low-point in his career. It’s led to a bunch of jumbled rotations, unhappy players (see: Tucker, PJ) and early postseason departures.

To make matters worse: The Clippers re-signed Leonard to a three-year contract worth $149.5 million, then lost George to Philadelphia after failed negotiations over the course of last season. Doubling-down with Leonard makes a helluva lot more sense if you know you’re keeping George. Without him, though, it just appears to be keeping a star for the sake of keeping a star because you need one to open the new arena.

Ironically, the Lakers and Clippers find themselves in similar situations this season. Both teams are heading into the ’24-25 campaign with a ton of questions. Both teams’ windows feel all but shut. Both teams’ first-round picks are owed in unprotected fashion to other teams. Where things do differ, in the capital of Ringzzzzz Culture, is that the Lakers made good on this window and won that one championship.

All that said, the Clippers would 100% ask for that night to go the same way. If you can add two players of Leonard and George’s caliber, you do it. But their execution of this window, and Leonard and George’s own shortcomings as players and leaders, have made it so fans would most likely prefer to forget the 213 era ever happened.

The post How Lakers, Thunder won Clippers’ now disastrous Summer of Kawhi Leonard appeared first on ClutchPoints.