SportsBasketballRaptors

Doc Rivers revisits meeting that lured Kawhi Leonard away from Raptors

Adam Laskaris
Adam Laskaris
|
Dec 13 2023, 9:36 pm
Doc Rivers revisits meeting that lured Kawhi Leonard away from Raptors
Nick Turchiaro/USA TODAY Sports

Long before there was the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes that left the Toronto fan base feeling down, most Raptors fans can recall where they were when another high-profile free agent picked Los Angeles over their city.

Back in 2019, Kawhi Leonard infamously departed from the Raptors for the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency, just a few short weeks after winning the first NBA title in franchise history.

In an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast on Tuesday, former Clippers coach and current ESPN commentator Doc Rivers discussed his perspective of the free agency courting period for the two-time Finals MVP, where the Clippers, Raptors, and Los Angeles Lakers were widely reported to be the three finalists.

“I think he was coming to us all along. He had all the cards. He came to my house. That was the only house he came to. He didn’t go to anybody’s house in Toronto. He met the Lakers in a hotel room. He didn’t even go to their facility. Yet he came to my house. I kept saying, he’s telling us what he’s doing,” Rivers said.

Leonard wasn’t the only big name that the Clippers acquired that summer, trading away seven different draft picks as well as two players to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Paul George, fresh off finishing third in MVP voting. As reported, Leonard pushed the Clippers to make a big move for a player of George’s calibre in order to land himself in free agency.

The draft picks alone were quite a haul for the Clippers to give up, but their side of the deal also saw them send a 20-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander off to the Thunder. In his time in Oklahoma City, Gilgeous-Alexander has built up quite the resume, as he finished fifth in NBA MVP voting this past year.

Some four-and-a-half years on from the trade, Rivers said he was bugging the Clippers’ execs to see if they’d be able to give up someone other than Gilgeous-Alexander.

“My reaction was, we’re getting Kawhi and Paul George… I was happy. Having said that, I did bring it up. I said, ‘Can we give them someone else?'” Rivers said.

But it wasn’t just the Clippers Rivers was supposedly trying to convince — it was Leonard, too.

“I kept saying, Kawhi, you know, Shai’s going to be a star,” Rivers added.

In the four seasons since Leonard opted to return to California, it’s been a series of ups and downs for him and the Clippers franchise. Leonard missed the entire 2021-22 season with an ACL injury, while the team has won just three playoff series in that span — much lower than expected after their summer splashes in 2019.

ADVERTISEMENT