Kawhi and Paul George choose the Clippers.

Overtime Heroics Editorial

2254 days ago

Kawhi chose the Clippers. Initially, my first thought is that Kawhi Leonard is the first player to win Finals MVP and then leave his team. Nothing wrong with it, the Raptors always knew this could be a possibility. The NBA is saved. After many years of unbalance in the basketball world, the NBA championship is up for grabs. Balance in the NBA is great, there are many teams that are in a position or can make a move to be in a position to win a championship. Yes they gave up 4 unprotected first round picks, but they wouldn’t have gotten Kawhi Leonard if they hadn’t traded for Paul George. So in my mind they traded for Kawhi and PG, that is worth record-setting picks in order to block a potential Big-3 with the Lakers.

Kawhi Leonard has been recruiting Paul George to find a way to get to the Clippers and LA pulled it off tonight: George goes to the Clippers with Leonard, and together they walk into Staples Center to go head-to-head with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019

Courtesy of Twitter

There are many good teams in the NBA now that include the Clippers, Lakers, Warriors, Jazz, Nuggets, Rockets and that’s just in the west. Also, this may be the best defensive team in the NBA with: Patrick Beverley, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. With the, best defense in the NBA, two stars in their prime, a great front office, a great owner, being in Los Angeles, and a championship coach in Doc Rivers this is contender.

Jerry West is one of the most legendary executives of all time now, building the showtime Lakers with him winning five championships (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988), and two with the Warriors (2015, 2017). Now he has pulled off the Paul George/Kawhi Leoanrd Clippers, wow. For the Lakers this is terrifying, two young stars with a better front office and the richest owner in basketball.

Now this is a fascinating team and this year will be one of the best NBA seasons in history with competitive balance. Imagine in 2 years a Nets-Clippers Finals, or Clippers-76ers next year there will be so many exciting matchups. This may be the best team in the west and defiantly the best well run, which I’m sure was hugely appealing to Kawhi Leonard. Finally Kawhi and Paul George are home, that probably helped but it never would’ve happened without both of them coming.

*Steve Ballmer (L) and NBA Commissioner Adam SIlver courtesy of Time Magazine*

As far as a league wide perspective this is the best situation possible, multiple contenders and many interesting teams. If the Heat trade for Bradley Beal they will be good, if the Celtics trade for Kevin Love they will be good, my point is more people can be moved. The NBA just had the ultimate re-shuffling of the deck, 5 of the 15 All-NBA players either got traded or signed with a new team in one offseason (Paul Goerge (1), Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant (2), Kemba Walker (3)).

I’m now looking forward to Lakers-Clippers, this will be a rivalry for the ages. Kawhi and PG vs LeBron and AD will be a great matchup for the next few years. I’m emotionally exhausted from the free agency. It was way crazier than last year, which is nuts. Let’s all take some time and relax and get mentally ready for an all time great upcoming season.

Discuss this and other articles on the Overtime Heroics Forums!

Follow the author on Twitter @byBenMeyerson