Report: Lakers Had No Idea Clippers, Raptors Were Attempting Paul George Trade

The Los Angeles Lakers were apparently as surprised as everybody else to see the Los Angeles Clippers acquire Paul George, which paved the way for them to sign Kawhi Leonard.

The Los Angeles Times' Tania Ganguli reported the Lakers "had no idea that the Clippers and Raptors were attempting to trade for George to give Leonard his desired teammate."

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Clippers traded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and five first-round draft picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder in order to get George. With George on board, Leonard agreed to a four-year, $141 million max contract.

Ganguli's reporting further underscores how much everybody involved kept their cards close to the vest leading up to the George trade.

According to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, Leonard first reached out to Kevin Durant about a move to the Clippers.

"Durant was flattered and more than a little stunned, according to sources close to the situation," Shelburne wrote. "He didn't know Leonard that well, so getting a recruiting call like that made a real impression."

When that plan fell through, Leonard set his sights on George, "meeting, calling and texting" with the six-time All-Star in between his various free-agent meetings.

Once George was sold on the idea, he met with Thunder general manager Sam Presti to formally ask for a trade to the Clippers. Oklahoma City then began negotiating the terms of the deal with Los Angeles.

George was basically the Clippers' trump card.

Even if they were aware of everything that was unfolding, Ganguli noted the Lakers couldn't have possibly swung a trade with the Thunder. They already exhausted their best assets to acquire Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans.