After reaching deals late on Friday night to add Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to their roster, the Clippers are the new favorites to win the 2019 NBA title, according to the oddsmakers at BetOnline.ag. Unlike in recent years – when Golden State was the overwhelming frontrunner – the Clippers are only currently a slight favorite over the Lakers and Bucks, but it’s still a remarkable turnaround for a team that looked 24 hours ago as if it might strike out entirely in free agency.
The acquisitions of Leonard and George show how far the Clippers have come this decade, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, who says the organization has “arrived” as a premier destination for star players.
Meanwhile, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets that Leonard and his camp found it “comical” that every report this week claiming to have identified Kawhi’s likely destination mentioned the Raptors or Lakers, but never the Clippers. While it’s not clear if the Clippers were always his No. 1 choice, Leonard reportedly worked hard this week to try to get George to join him in Los Angeles, as we detail in our round-up of PG13-related items.
Here are several more Kawh-related notes related to the two suitors that missed out on Leonard:
Lakers:
- As of about two hours before Leonard chose the Clippers on Friday night, his camp was asking the Lakers to delay the Anthony Davis trade until late Saturday or Sunday, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, who tweets that no specific reason was given.
- If Leonard had signed with the Lakers, he would have had to do so before the Davis trade was formally completed in order to maximize his earnings, since the AD deal would’ve cut into the Lakers’ cap room. So it’s possible he was leaving a Plan B available if the Clippers were unable to acquire George — for what it’s worth, the Clippers reportedly believed Kawhi would join the Lakers if they didn’t trade for PG13.
- It didn’t help the Lakers’ cause that a ton of specific details about Magic Johnson‘s meeting with Leonard leaked to the media, tweets Cris Carter of Fox Sports 1. I doubt that was a deciding factor for Leonard and his camp, but Carter is plugged-in with Kawhi’s group, so if he’s hearing it, it seems likely to be coming from them.
- Losing the waiting game for Leonard was a worst-case scenario for the Lakers, who missed out on a handful of potential targets during the first week of free agency as they pursued Kawhi, writes Bill Oram of The Athletic. The team has since pivoted by reaching deals with Danny Green, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, JaVale McGee, and Quinn Cook.
Raptors:
- Leonard told his Raptors teammates via text message that he was leaving just as the news was breaking late on Friday night, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link).
- Losing Leonard – and starting shooting guard Danny Green – sets the Raptors on a new path, according to Blake Murphy of The Athletic, who explores what’s next for the franchise. While there will be calls to blow things up, Murphy suggests that the current Raptors should still be a playoff team, adding that Toronto may be reluctant to take on unwanted multiyear contracts in any trades, given how much money will come off its cap in 2020.
- Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link) speculates that the Raptors will explore potential trades of their veterans on expiring contracts – such as Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol, and Serge Ibaka – as they look ahead to building around young players like Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet.
- Eric Koreen of The Athletic acknowledges that Masai Ujiri will likely gauge the value of his veterans on the trade market, but agrees with Murphy that the Raptors are more likely to keep their roster more or less intact in a transition year.
this is crazy, one thing to make your own decision on where you want to play and spend the next several years. But man it’s a whole another spectrum to have another player demand a trade so they can team up. Just affected so many players and franchises for years to come; no difference in what LBJ and AD I guess…I doesn’t seem right and I wonder if any of these players take a step back to realize the ripple effect vs they’re own personal gain in the now. That being said, I’d be super stoked if I were a Clippers fan right now lol!
AD didn’t choose the pelicans
that’s some great insight lol
Of course he did. He had an opp to become a FA after his rookie contract ended. He choose to accept that 5 year extension. While it’s true that the team has the ability to trade a player as they see fit, a team signing a player for any contract of length is obligated to pay that player every single penny of their guaranteed contract. When the player demands a trade it forces a team into a bad situation between dealing with an unhappy player and having to trade their best asset for whatever the market bears. In a situation where AD limits his market by declaring where he would and wouldn’t consider resigning then it usually mean that team would be reluctant to give up a major piece of their current roster so they offer future assets like draft picks.
In the matter of OKC/PG13 you had a team in OKC with aspirations to compete for a title with a GSW team in transition. They just made major commitments to acquire PG13 and then handed out a huge contract to retain him. Now, mostly for salary matching, they take on Gallinari, who’s a decent player but may not be valued at his $23 mil price tag. They get an up and coming player in SGA but there’s no certainty that he will ever become a star in the league of PG13, a current top 10 guy in the NBA. And the picks are great but if the Clippers can sustain success for the next 4 seasons and beyond then those picks are likely to be towards the end of the 1st round. It would take supreme talent evaluation to turn those late round guys into star level players.
It also not forces a question I’m sure OKC wasn’t even considering a week ago, having to contemplate whether to trade Westbrook and Adams and rebuild or to try and acquire another star player immediately and try to sustain competitiveness for the remainder of Westbrook’s deal.
Kawhi is the man now! Holy crap! He just totally laid down the gauntlet… it’s on!!! Lakers v. Clippers. If you think of all those picks for Paul and Kawhi… Holy crap!!! No wonder it took so long to get this worked out. Amazing! I can’t wait! Those games are going to be wars!!!
I just mean it was worth it… all those pucks if one was contingent on the other… they’re going to be amazing for the next 5 years.
Nuggets and Rockets are both better than both of them.
@seamaholic The Clippers won 5 fewer games than the Rockets and just added Kawhi and George to the squad at the digestible immediate cost of Gallinari and SGA. They now have Kawhi, PG, Lou Williams, Beverly and a solid bench that thrived after the loss of Tobias Harris. Rockets are the same team as last year and have to recoup from the reported dysfunction between their two best players.
Objectively, I’m not sure how anyone can see the Rockets of July 6th are better than this team the Clippers have put together. Even with the Lakers having LBJ and AD I think the Clippers are the best team in LA right now. I expect both teams to duke it out along with the Blazers, Nuggets and Utah.
Defensively, PG, Kawhi and Beverly can give most teams that smoke. Led by Kawhi, an ego-less player, PG can continue to thrive knowing he can still get his shine without having to bear the majority of the pressure being on his shoulder as Kawhi has that Finals MVP pedigree.
Let’s see how their 5 year plan end up without any picks.
@bowserhound In that 5 year span they’ll have at least two 1st round picks as teams can’t trade any 2 1st round picks in consecutive years (unless they have 2 or more in one of those years). And if they’re a top 5 team each year then those picks are going to be towards the end of the 1st round.
Since 2012 the GSW have only had four 1st round picks in the last 7 drafts, none higher than 28th overall, with Looney being the most valuable one thus far. It’s Jerry West’s job to find good role players in the 2nd round or G-League. I have confidence the team will thrive without the picks traded.
Exactly what @nicksfancavsfan said. And keep in mind, the clips acquired multiple picks from other teams (MIA,PHI). The clips did not give up all of their first rounders.
OKC got favorable swaps for those that LAC retained.
Clips played hard and fast, but KL will slow them down a bit. KL & PG both have injury concerns. They do have the best team but there are risks.
Your wonder team hasn’t yet even played a single game together. Who knows how the chemistry will work? Fanboys wanted to hand the Lakers the title after they got LeBron…how did that work out?
Your absolutely wrong.. Clippers just became favorites to win and here’s why. Patrick Beverly,PG, Paul George at sg,kawih lennard at SF, Harrel at pf zubic at c. And sweet lue off bench.. How could they not be favorites to win the defense on this team is going to be insane…
How about a swap of Dragic and Ibaka? Dragic can take Danny Greens minutes (he and Lowry can share playmaker duties). Allows Heat to play Winslow at the point while Ibaka can be a nice defensive presence and share minutes with Bam James Johnson and Olynyk
As a Raptors fan, no thanks to Goran
That works for the Heat but not for Toronto. It actually weakens them. If they were to move Ibaka I would think they are retooling and would want draft assets and not a 1 year rental. Ibaka offers more in today’s NBA than Dragic.
Ibaka heaves 3pt turnovers even if Danny is also,open for 3.
He shoots 2 a game but you’re completely ignoring what Ibaka does close to the basket as well as his defensive ability to guard multiple positions in terms of forwards and bigs. You’re a smart guy so why reduce Ibaka to being a 3pt shooter?
You have to ask Ibaka not to wander around and shoot bricks from outside. You don’t have to tell Dragic anything; he’s already got it and is moving others around on both teams. Unfortunately he is not well-matched to helter skelter Miami.
In today’s NBA, do you want a starting 1 or a vague 4.5 that can’t cover quick 4s or big 5s, in other words the toughest covers? However he is good at covering his teammates’ mistakes with rejections– so I would like to see him on the Cavs.
Everyone is going to say the clippers are a slamdunk to win it all everyone needs to remember the clippers just acquired the two biggest head cases in the entire league.
I’m not sure about head cases but 2 stars and one additional strong role player doesn’t seem like anything more than a 3-4 seed in the west.
Rockets, Nuggets and Blazers are all the same or improved. Lakers improved. Clippers obviously did as well but such thin rosters and not a lot of FA options left.
@naidle What “thin roster”? They basically traded Tobias, SGA and Gallinari for Kawhi and PG13. They might need to add a veteran PG to replace SGA and maybe another shooter but Rondo and more than likely, Kyle Korver will be on the market. Most of the team is still intact.
Yeah, that and PG13 just ain’t that consistent. And just had surgery. Clippers are a lot better than last year, but if they limit Kawhi all season again it’s going to be tough.
As a Lakers fan I was on the fence anyway with Leonard I keep going back to how he pushed his way out of San Antonio and really made me question his character. And now there are so many reports out there that his camp has said they found it comical that anyone thought for a second he was going back to Toronto which again goes to his character. I think the Lakers and raptors dodged a huge bullet and obviously the odds makers agree being they only have the clippers a very slight favorite over the Lakers. This is coming not as a Lakers fan but more as a basketball fan I would take LeBron and Anthony Davis over Leonard and George.
I think it was meant as it was ‘comical’ that the Clippers weren’t being considered at all…not comical that the Raptors were going to be able to retain Kawhi. At least that’s how I read it…
Yes, my impression was that what they found “comical” was that basically everyone who claimed to know something ended up being wrong.
Yeah because they knew the secret swindle of PG13. They were basically laughing at everyone the whole time.
(cough) Jalen Rose who proclaimed a day or two ago that he was 99% sure Kawhi was returning to Toronto and gave a verbal “mic drop” like he just hit a walk off home run. What a clown he looks like now.
And I think Shannon Sharpe ended up at 96.8% sure he was going to the Lakers.
You’ve got to be kidding me. You say you question his character for pushing his way out of the spurs… what did Anthony Davis do in New Orleans? So I’m assuming you question his character then too?
Davis put in his time there.
Are you seriously comparing the Leonard situation to the Davis situation? Did Anthony alienate himself from his teammates? No! Did he ever hate alienate himself from his coaches? No! Did he stop showing up? No! Your argument makes no sense if anything it go to incoherent rambling or just another Lakers hater I’m willing to bet it’s both.
leaving the arena in the middle of a game, wearing a ‘That’s all Folks’ shirt to last home game both kinda screams alienating himself…it really is a very similar situation and I’m just a Hawks fan. Gotta take off your fandom blinders just a tad
@goldenmisfit Dude how much more wrong can you be? Clearly Kawhi was right to want out of San Antonio as he proved what his body needed inorder to perform at a high level. You have disappointed Raptor fans that likely won’t udder a single word of anger at Kawhi because he fearlessly guided them to their one and only ‘chip. He’s such an anti-star in his behavior that his quiet and indifferent personality has actually RAISED his level of stardom. Imagine being in the headlines and social media because you never say anything?
And what has PG done to be called one of “two of the biggest headcases” when we just saw Durant, Irving, half the Celtics and the GSW/Durant dynamic play out is amazing. You sir boggle my mind. And I’m a Knicks and Cavs fan which says a lot to the level of dysfunction I’ve endured.
Now that we know Leonard can talk, the league should require him to do so publicly like they do everyone else.
Whatever level he raised, he’s been lowering it dince.
Clippers fan here. Not sure these two make the Clips the favorite to win it all, but it will make the west interesting. I think Houston will be much worse. Lakers will be good as long as their stars stay healthy.
Lakers fan here but that does not make me a Clippers hater my issue with the clippers is there management has always been a management you can’t trust. The same organization that did everything in their power to sign Blake griffin then gave him a five-year over $200 million contract and halfway through the first year of that deal traded him to Detroit. In the NBA you have to be with a team so many years to get a no trade clause which means neither of these guys have one which also means if things go south they could get traded I know people would say why would they do that but the clippers have done it before. When I look at the clippers I don’t see a leader on the floor and now they have the two biggest head cases in the league there is nobody there to pull the rains in. I think this is going to be more entertainment than anything else for the average NBA fan yes they will win their share of games yes they will get into the playoffs but I don’t see this team a title contender. I would take LeBron James and Anthony Davis over Paul George and Kawhi Leonard for one big reason character I don’t see that with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard their paths have shown that.
I agree with you also as far as the clippers go I think Paul George and Kawhi Leonard have proven both of them not to be the most mentally stable guys and I don’t know if you want those two as your parent stars. Also to give up five first round draft picks you pretty much just mortgage to your future.
I think the Clippers are better, but they have to prove themselves by actually going out and winning the title. Enough of people wanting to dub them champs now. The Lakers gutted their team and have to prove themselves too. GS and the Rockets have issues now, but either is hardly a lot worse. Let’s just see what happens.
Patrick Beverley, PG, and Kawhi in the same lineup is top notch defense. Plus they kept Montrezl, Lou Will, Landry Shamet, and re-signed Rodney McGruder for cheap. That Mo Harkless pickup is underrated too, he was the Blazers best defender last year. Super scary team but I wouldn’t say they’re a lock to win a championship. I believe they do have roster spots for minimum guys now though so I’m curious to see how they fill in the rest of the roster. Jerry West is a genius man. I’m hoping for Blazers-Clippers WCF.
As a Lakers fan I agree with you my main issue with that team is going to be in that locker room. Kawhi Leonard outside of this year has proven he can cause issues and Paul George well let’s just say his issues have always been documented. Basically your two top players have been known in the past to create toxic environments I could’ve seen getting one but not both and Kawhi Leonard basically saying “I only want to play for you if you get Paul George“ tells me he does not have a true passion to be a Los Angeles clipper it had to be on his own terms and telling the clippers if you don’t get George I’m going to the Lakers just tell you what type of player you are getting. As a Lakers fan I was on the fence part of me was saying I really want him but the other part of me was saying if we don’t get him we can have a more balanced roster. When you compare the two Los Angeles teams by their superstars the Lakers with LeBron and Davis you see two of the top players in the world who are known for their performance on the court and not so much off the court where Paul George and Kawaii Leonard are known for both on and off the court stuff. One thing is for sure with the acquisition of gave us for the Lakers and George and Leonard for the Clippers basketball is entertaining again in the city of Angels.
@goldenmisfit The ONLY issue you can mention with Kawhi is the issue concerning his health and the evaluation the Spurs made. In hindsight, seeing what’s happened to Durant and Klay and the fact that Toronto’s willingness to let Kawhi ease into the season and being rewarded with a title gives credit to Kawhi as being correct in asking for a trade. Not a single bleep of him causing problems in Toronto were mentioned. You are reaching, reaching, reaching and you really have no need to. The Lakers will be good and who cares about predictions?
But speaking of players causing drama, AD demanding a trade and the undeserved but rampant blaming of LBJ with regards to ANY Lakers decisions shows that Kawhi is nowhere near a “head case”.
And now the lakers have resigned rondo and signed boogie…. don’t get me started on head cases smh
Would love to see the raptors swing a deal for say a Bol Bol and offer up maybe Ibaka for him.
Jerry West’s fingerprints were all over this rebuild from the start (only a couple of years ago), and now they have the best roster in the league. Go figure. Right now, off last year, they might have the two best all around players in the game, and they’re both in their prime and will be for the next 4 years or so. Thunder, smartly, West’d West on the trade haul, but West is one of the few guys smart enough to know there are times it’s perfectly OK to overpay. This was one of them.
Presti recovered brilliantly. He probably wishes he could ask for another player but OKC is taxlined and the Clips probably could not take salary. So a bucket of picks for playing along in the game.
Thankfully West/Lawerence and co have been stock piling picks and are able to keep 3 first rd picks over the next 5 drafts. They gave up a kings ransom and still have picks unlike the little sister in the opposite locker room
Yes. Presti was shameless in his demands, just as he should have been. When the deal was complete, West probably pinched his cheek and said – you did well for yourself young man.
Haha for sure
To those who believe Kawhi Leonard is not a head case based on what he did in San Antonio here is something everyone needs to look at based on every report he did not sign with the Los Angeles clippers because he desperately wanted to be a clipper no, he signed there because the organization Bal down to his demands to get Paul George. Not a Clippers fan but if I heard that I don’t care how good the guy is that goes to character and you really have to wonder when the chips are down what is he going to do. So far in his professional career demand a trade out of San Antonio and pretty much blindsided the team he won a title with not to mention his teammates because it has been reported he did text all his teammates but not until the news broke by ESPN about him signing with the clippers kind of shows you what type of guy he is.
Kawhi is worse than Lebron at every dumb or false charge that Lebron gets blasted for.
LeBron gets nailed for anything if he orders the Los Angeles times over the Los Angeles Chronicle people are going to say “he gets the times what an asshole“. I see LeBron what he does on the court what he does in the locker room how he handles the media that is the type of guy you want on your roster and Anthony Davis is that same type of guy. Anthony wanted out of New Orleans so bad but, did he do what lender did? No. Did he stay away from the team? No all he wanted to do even though he wanted out wants to play and try to help his team win. That is what I am looking at the difference in those guys and Paul George I could go on for days about what type of character this piece of work is the same guy we heard from nearly 2 years “I just want to play for the team I grew up rooting for“ and then never gave them the chance to make a presentation and we signed with the thunder for a boatload of cash only to demand a trade a year and a half later yeah that’s a good guy. Now the Los Angeles Clippers have the two most profile guys known for showing that they are anything but team leaders. Even though I am a Lakers fan I do not hate the Los Angeles Clippers not at all and I actually feel sorry for them for mortgaging their franchise for the next 5-6 years and I get the feeling they will have buyers remorse like they did with Blake Griffin and Chris Paul.
Who guards lbj now still Beverly or kawhi or PG13? We have seen how Beverly treats him lol
Stop copying and pasting this comment, you’re making yourself look bad. You sound bitter Kawhi chose LAC instead of LAL, regardless of his reasoning. His life. Ironic to hate on Kawhi for acting like a superstar when Rich Paul essentially runs the Lakers.
He didn’t blindside anyone (he had no teammates as of 7-1). KL has had some moments, but nothing he’s ever done approaches the diva level of what AD did, publicly demanding a trade in the middle of a season, which is the equivalent to walking out on your teammates midyear. He wasn’t even man enough to get in the locker room and tell his teammates to their faces. He hid behind his agent. Did LeBron text his ex-mates (at all) when he went from Cle to Mia, Mia to Cle and Cle to LAL-?
Not sure that this player movement on steroids is good for the league and even what can be done about it, if it isn’t. The players wield all of the power now and can hold franchises hostage after a rookie deal. NBA free agency and trades are a lot of fun for the fans, but can turn off a lot of fans, who don’t pull for the beneficiaries of these deals. The good news is that these “Super teams” hardly ever achieve the success everyone thinks they will. I’m sure everyone felt that the Heat and Warriors would win more than 2 titles, when these teams were formed. (Durant’s GSW teams).
Spurs fan.
Kawhi made the best move for himself and his career! I think he love the Lakers! If 3 companies were bidding to hire you. Which company would you work for. The Clippers a billionaire owner, hall of fame coach, first class organization! The Clippers! Magic quit and sub par coach and a aging super star! LeBron didn’t do his homework! It might work but I see more pitfalls! My hat off to Kawhi. Give me your take! I’m a laker fan!