Kawhi Leonard is LA-bound, but to the Clippers instead of the Lakers. He's being joined by a fellow native Angeleno, to boot.
The Clips pulled off the most shocking transaction combo off the NBA offseason late Friday night when they agreed to a contract with free-agent forward Leonard, this year's Finals MVP, and acquired forward Paul George from the Thunder in a blockbuster trade, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported .
MORE: 2019 NBA free agency tracker
Per Wojnarowski, Leonard will sign a four-year max contract worth $142 million. Oklahoma City, meanwhile, will acquire Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and five first-round draft picks, four of which will be unprotected. Marc Stein of The New York Times reported that three of those unprotected picks will be the Clippers' selections in the 2022, 2024 and 2026 drafts. The other one will be a pick the Clippers acquired from the Heat.
Stein added that the fifth first-rounder will be the Heat's 2023 pick (protected from first to 14th), and that the Thunder will be able to swap first-round positions with the Clippers in 2023 and 2025.
The moves should become official Saturday after the league's moratorium on transactions is lifted at noon ET.
Leonard and George will join a Clippers team that won 48 games last season and made the playoffs. LA took the eventual Western Conference champion Warriors to six games in the first round. Golden State fell in the Finals to Leonard and the Raptors.
🗣"We coming home."
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) July 6, 2019
Safe to say PG is excited about being traded to the Clippers. (via austinmcbroom/IG) pic.twitter.com/zVuugYEBmE
MORE: Players react to stunning news
Wojnarowski, citing league sources, reported early Saturday that Leonard and George desired to play together, which helped set Friday's events in motion. George's agent asked Thunder general manager Sam Presti for a trade in recent days, sources told Wojnarowski.
The Clippers' rotation will now include Leonard, George, Lou Williams, Patrick Beverley, Montrezl Harrell, Maurice Harkless, Rodney McGruder and Landry Shamet.
Pat Bev and Lou Will's reactions to becoming teammates with Kawhi and PG... 😂🤣
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) July 6, 2019
(via @patbev21) pic.twitter.com/fGpAllMauT
The duo will be playing in the same building as the Lakers, who reportedly were finalists for Leonard. The Lakers were trying to form a big three of Leonard, LeBron James and Anthony Davis. With no other star on the free-agent market, they will likely fill their available cap space with multiple veteran free agents.
The first free-agent additions appeared to be wings Danny Green (two years, $30 million, per Wojnarowski) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, per ESPN's Ramona Shelburne. Green, 32, played alongside Leonard during the Raptors' run to a championship. Caldwell-Pope, 26, played in all 82 games for the Lakers last season, averaging 11.4 points and shooting .430/.347/.867.
Shelburne later reported that center JaVale McGee will re-sign with the Lakers for two years and $8.2 million, with a player option.
George's departure raises deep questions about the Thunder, in particular whether the team will entertain the possiiblity of trading point guard Russell Westbrook, who has three years plus a player option for 2022-23 remaining on his supermax contract.
George, at least in a Twitter response to ESPN's Jalen Rose early Saturday, made it seem that Westbrook was not the reason he left OKC:
At all 😤 RT @JalenRose: I am not accepting any Westbrook slander!!!!
— Paul George (@Yg_Trece) July 6, 2019
