Lakers Rumors: Buzz on Kawhi Leonard Decision, DeMarcus Cousins Signing and More
Kawhi Leonard, a native of Riverside County, is coming home to Southern California as part of one of the great blockbuster moves of all time.
After one championship-winning season with the Toronto Raptors, the 2019 NBA Finals MVP is joining the Los Angeles Clippers—not the Lakers, as many predicted—and he's coming home with another L.A.-area native in Paul George, picked up by the Clippers in a monster trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Clippers' coup came as a shock. None of the top-tier reporters were able to get out ahead of the story. More details have emerged, showing how Leonard helped to quietly engineer the double move to the Clippers, a team that for much of its history has been at the bottom of the hardwood hierarchy in Los Angeles, with the Lakers often at the top.
According to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, Leonard met with the Lakers on Tuesday at a hotel in Westlake Village, a location he chose over the team's home base of El Segundo. Shelburne also wrote that Leonard "appears" to have met with George on the same day.
That meeting was sandwiched between ones with the Clippers on Monday and the Raptors on Wednesday, per the Los Angeles Times' Tania Ganguli. The sitdown may have been little more than a courtesy to the purple and gold.
According to a Sunday article from The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears, a source told him "early last week there was 'no way' Leonard was going to sign as a free agent with James, Davis and the Lakers despite speculation they were the front-runners."
Now, we can't tell when exactly last week Spears got that tip, but it suggests Leonard was really focused on talking to George, which is why he moved the location of the meeting with the Lakers.
He needed to hear them out in case his plans with George fell apart, but his heart wasn't in it. In any case, the only person who really knows is Leonard himself, and the Board Man not only got paid, he got everything else he wanted, too.
Earlier in the piece, Spears also referred to sources telling him that both Leonard and George wanted to play for Clippers head coach Doc Rivers.
The Lakers might have the long, storied history, but they have been a mess both on and off the court in recent years.
The Clippers don't always have the best on-court product, but they have a long-tenured coach in Rivers and the guiding hand of executive Jerry West. For a quiet, focused player like Leonard, it makes sense that he would find that an attractive selling point. He can fix the on-court problems himself.
Details on DeMarcus Cousins Signing
Soon after Leonard's decision was announced, the Lakers got busy filling out the rest of their roster. They snatched up several good veterans, the most intriguing being DeMarcus Cousins.
The four-time All-Star played with Davis for a short time in New Orleans, where they showed some good chemistry before Cousins tore his Achilles.
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Davis' presence helped the Lakers snag the center:
"Agent Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports told ESPN that Cousins' deal is worth $3.5 million. Sources said Rondo will make $2.6 million and holds a player option for the second year.
"The Miami Heat had interest in Cousins, but several Lakers players—including his former New Orleans Pelicans teammate Anthony Davis—helped convince him to join the Lakers, league sources said."
So after one year chasing a ring with the Golden State Warriors on a cheap contract, Cousins will be doing the same with the Lakers.
A $3.5 million deal is incredible for a player who is still only 28 years old and averages 21.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game over his career. He looked out of sorts at times with the Warriors, especially in the playoffs, but that was partly due to nagging injuries that made it hard for him to get into game shape.
If Cousins can stay healthy and get back to 80 percent of the player he once was, he will be an unbelievable bargain for the Lakers. There won't be a ton of pressure on him to do that right away, as the Lakers can play JaVale McGee and Davis at center while they figure out the best lineups and rotations.
Lance Stephenson Remains Unsigned
The Lakers have brought back at least two of their veteran signings from last year in Rajon Rondo and McGee, and they have mostly filled out the rotation with a handful of other moves.
Does that mean air-guitar extraordinaire Lance Stephenson is on the outside looking in for the revamped Lakers? It appears so, per The Athletic's Scott Agness:
Stephenson averaged 7.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 16.5 minutes per game last year with the Lakers. The 28-year-old wing is pretty much a replacement-level player at this point, but it's hard to imagine he will be without a team once the new season begins.
The Lakers now have the likes of Jared Dudley, Troy Daniels, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Danny Green/Kyle Kuzma to come off the bench on the wing, which doesn't leave much room for Stephenson.
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