Lakers Rumors: Latest on Failed Kawhi Leonard Pursuit, Free Agency Aftermath

The Los Angeles Lakers didn't manage to land reigning Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard in free agency. They still have LeBron James and Anthony Davis (the trade for A.D. feels like old news now), but the failed pursuit of Leonard feels just a little disappointing.

It's fair to wonder, though, if the Lakers were ever really that close to landing him.

The reality is that the Lakers may have only been as close to Leonard as the Los Angeles Clippers were away from nabbing Paul George. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the former Toronto Raptors star wanted a running mate of his own, not to be part of LeBron's latest superteam:

This doesn't mean the Lakers wouldn't have ended up with Leonard had the Clippers not added a second superstar, of course. The fact that he even met with Jeannie Bus and Rob Pelinka suggests that Los Angeles was, at worst, a fallback option.

Based on a report from ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, the Lakers may have only been a fallback option. According to Shelburne, Kawhi first tried to recruit Kevin Durant to join him with the Clippers. Obviously, that didn't work out, as Durant and close friend Kyrie Irving formed their own partnership with the Brooklyn Nets.

But Leonard's recruitment of Durant, and later George, seems to indicate that building his own team with the Clippers was Plan A all along—and Leonard recruited hard.

From Shelburne:

"After the Clippers met with Leonard for approximately three hours at head coach Doc Rivers' house in Malibu on Monday night, both sides went to work to make that happen. At the same time he was meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors this week, Leonard was meeting, calling and texting with George, trying to convince him to find a way out of Oklahoma City.

"...Said one source close to George, 'For a quiet guy, he's a hell of a recruiter.'"

Another report from Shelburne seems to indicate that meeting with George took precedence over meeting with Los Angeles:

Leonard did meet with Buss and Pelinka, but on his terms and possibly only to weigh his secondary options. Might the Lakers have landed him if the Clippers weren't able to secure George? We'll never know because they did, and they're about to make the cross-town rivalry mighty exciting.

Plugging Holes

Ben Margot/Associated Press

Missing out on Leonard hurts after so much speculation pointed to the Lakers getting him. It doesn't, however, mean that Los Angeles is suddenly a second-tier squad. James is probably still a top-five player when healthy, and getting Davis was kind of a big deal.

Davis and James don't constitute a full squad, though, and after Leonard's decision was made, the Lakers went to work plugging holes on the roster.

Per Wojnarowski, the Lakers landed shooter Danny Green on a two-year deal. Per Shelburne, they brought back JaVale McGee and re-signed Kantavious Caldwell-Pope, both on two-year contracts. Los Angeles also added former Golden State Warriors guard Quinn Cook, according to Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes.

Los Angeles also re-signed Rajon Rondo and Alex Caruso:

The biggest surprise in the aftermath of Leonard's decision, though, was the addition of DeMarcus Cousins. He joined on a one-year deal, per Wojnarowski.

A couple of years ago, Cousins was one of the league's brightest stars, but a torn Achilles quickly caused him to lose some of his luster in league circles. Hence, his availability nearly a week into free agency.

"Some executives were never fans of his approach or his game to begin with," Ron Mahoney of SI.com wrote of Cousins. "Others were scared off by his Achilles injury in 2018, or his ruptured quad in the 2019 playoffs. All signs point to a healthier Cousins by the start of next season, and for a team in the Lakers’ position, any risks involved are easily accepted."

Signing Cousins is a bit of a risk, as he may never be the same player he was before the Achilles injury. However, it's a smart gamble because if he can get close to that level, Cousins will again be an elite player. During the 2017-18 season, he averaged 25.2 points per game while shooting 47 percent from the field and 35.4 percent from 3-point range.

It certainly helps that Cousins has a playing history with Davis. If he can get close to pre-injury form, the Lakers could still have their Big Three—just not the one fans were hoping for a few short days ago.