If a time machine took us back six years to the time the Raptors had just won their first NBA championship, your reasonable conclusion would be that Kawhi Leonard is the most prized target in free agency for any team in the league at the time.
At a time when Leonard was conflicted between staying in Toronto or returning to his home state of California, he reportedly decided that he would not join the Lakers to play second fiddle to LeBron James.
The Lakers recently found out about this news, and a source from the organization reportedly responded by deeming Kawhi Leonard a “headache” that they avoided.
“We count our blessings all the time he’s not here. He’s been such a headache for the Clippers. I actually feel bad for them sometimes.”
Leonard met with the Lakers in 2019. But he left the Raptors and eventually signed with the Clippers, who also acquired Paul George from the Thunder in the same season. The Clippers offered him something that the Lakers couldn’t: a chance to build his own legacy.
If Leonard joined the Lakers, he would likely be the third option behind Anthony Davis and LeBron James at the time. Just a day after the 2019 NBA Finals ended, the Lakers announced the trade for Davis and Leonard, and he likely knew at that point that the Lakers were not where he wanted to go.
He does not have anything against LeBron James personally, but he knew that with James on the team, Leonard would likely not truly be the leader of the team. The only reason he left the Raptors in 2019 was that he wanted to go back home and build his legacy there.
You can’t build a very memorable legacy as a third option on the team. Especially not when you have just won a Finals MVP and are considered one of the best players in the world at the time. Leonard went on a historic Playoff run and even averaged 28.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in the Finals against the Warriors, who were coming off back-to-back championships.
However, in hindsight, it is clear that one could not have predicted his career would spiral downhill due to injuries and now, fraud allegations that have completely derailed a potential Hall of Fame career in its prime. While Leonard will likely still make it to the Hall of Fame after retirement, his injuries gave us a major set of what-ifs in the past few seasons that he has played with the Clippers.
The NBA has launched an official investigation into the allegations of fraud surrounding Kawhi Leonard’s dealings with the Clippers. All eyes are fixed on what the NBA finds in it and what course of action they decide on based on their findings. Leonard’s Hall of Fame career could be at stake here. But the Lakers are surely happy that they avoided all this potential drama with Leonard in hindsight.
