Written by Joseph Arthur, Senior Writer (@joe_arthur2010)
Late last Friday night (Saturday morning AEST), Kawhi Leonard made a decision that could define the NBA for years to come - opting to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers on a 4-year max deal, while at the same time orchestrating a trade for Paul George from Oklahoma City to join him.
Leonard is cold-blooded, he takes what he wants and if he doesn’t like something about the NBA, he changes it.
The Miami Heat dynasty - destroyed, the Golden State Warriors dynasty - destroyed, and ‘Super Teams' - gone, at least for the time being.
Kawhi Leonard is the equaliser of the NBA, an understated individual who keeps to himself and avoids the spotlight, whilst simultaneously having a greater impact on the league than almost anyone else.
He has been quietly re-shaping the basketball landscape around him and has brought forth what is quickly becoming the most anticipated season in recent memory.
How did this happen?
Leonard accomplished exactly what he wanted to in Toronto; he brought not only a city, but an entire country its first NBA championship. He then had a decision to make, the gravity of which was impossible to overstate.
Does Leonard stay in Toronto and run it back? Perhaps winning another ring, but prolonging his goal of returning home to Southern California. Does he join the plucky LA Clippers? A team that would allow for a return home, but a team that even with Leonard would likely lack what it takes to truly compete without another star (hint hint). Or does he join LeBron and AD on the Lakers? Replace the Warriors dynasty with another, a move that would place a target on his back but almost certainly more rings on his fingers.
None of these options were good enough for the board man.
So Kawhi Leonard manufactured an option of his own - a return to LA on a team good enough to compete for titles, but not one so clearly better than the rest that the season’s outcome would appear inevitable.
Enter Paul George, the missing piece of the puzzle and the Robin to Leonard's Batman, leaving us with a very happy Clippers organisation and a shell-shocked rest of the NBA.
Now don’t get me wrong, the Clippers are good, very good. They have become immediate title contenders and a genuine favourite to come out of the West, but they are not the powerhouse that almost was. They are not a team where LeBron James is potentially the second or third best player, and for that teams other than the Lakers should be thankful.
What now?
What we have is a league full of questions. How good are the Jazz and the Lakers? Who can find a way to score against a defence containing Pat Beverley, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard? Are the Pelicans a playoff chance? Is Jamal Murray a max player?
What’s so refreshing about these questions is, they are all relevant; the answers to them will all matter and a barrage of three’s from Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant won't prove them to be meaningless.
This isn’t to say things are better off without the Warriors likely dominance – we need to appreciate the greatness that was – but things are far less certain, just like when we were waiting for Leonard to make his decision, we don’t know what’s going to happen and that’s a fun way for things to be.
Players and fans alike should welcome the repercussions of Leonard’s decision and the uncertainty that comes with it. We have more teams with a genuine chance to win the NBA title this year than there has been in a long time.
Half the teams in the league believe season 2019-20 will belong to them, but inevitably all those teams will be wrong except for one. However, proving half of the NBA wrong is not an easy feat for any team to accomplish, so be ready to see a higher level of intensity, competitiveness and will-to-win than ever before.
The two-time finals MVP got exactly what he wanted, he’s back home in LA, he’s on a team with a great chance to win it all and he’s executed all this without forming a team too good to be defeated.
Kawhi Leonard is perhaps the best player in the NBA, on perhaps the best team in the NBA, and he has offered the rest of the league a challenge: I’m going to win, I’m going to do it my way and I dare you to stop me.
I don’t know how the NBA is going to respond, but I can’t wait to find out.
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