Kawhi Leonard is the reason Paul George requested a trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019. He wanted a co-star, and thanks to his recruiting efforts, he got that. The Clippers duo was supposed to contend for a title, but it was the Thunder who came out on top with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander instead. They won that trade by a mile, and that's even more so the case after the latest deal to take the NBA by storm.
On Tuesday, Los Angeles agreed to send Leonard to Toronto for quite a haul, considering he's 35 years old. But I'm not here to talk about whether it will age the way the Raptors want it to, as that's their problem, not the Thunder's. What OKC cares about is the 2027 pick swap that looks a lot better now that Kawhi is gone.
Yes, this is a case of the rich getting richer, but this is just how Sam Presti operates. Other teams should refrain from doing business with him, but four years after the Clippers sent SGA to the Thunder as part of the George trade, LA sent the 2027 pick swap to OKC for a 2026 first-round pick that it used to land James Harden. Look how that went for them.
Thunder own the Clippers' 2027 first-round pick
Looking ahead to next June, Oklahoma City owns not only LA's pick, but Denver's first-round pick (top-five protected) and San Antonio's first-round pick (top-16 protected). The Thunder are getting to the point where they have more than they know what to do with, but that's not a bad thing.
The odds were already stacked against the Clippers in a conference that continues to grow stronger, and that would've still been the case had Kawhi stuck around. Now that he's gone, LA could easily finish in the bottom five of the conference, and maybe even in the league overall if health issues are a problem. If that happens, it wouldn't guarantee the Clippers would get a top draft pick they'd send to the Thunder, especially under the new anti-tanking rules.
Still, that's a valuable pick swap for the Thunder to own. And to think it doesn't pertain to the SGA trade all those years ago, which the Clippers made with the intention of winning a championship.
Los Angeles is the gift that keeps giving, at least for Oklahoma City, and it will continue to stay that way for more than one reason.
Add us as a preferred source on Google