3rd most likely offseason scenario
The Lakers sign:
- Kawhi Leonard
- Kevon Looney
- JaVale McGee
- Patrick Beverly
Most experts believe that Kawhi is either going to re-sign with the Raptors or go to the Clippers. Leonard has given no sign that he’s interested in staying up in Canada and if the Raptors lose to the 76ers or Bucks it’s easy to imagine Kawhi wanting to come back home to LA.
The Clippers have been courting Kawhi the entire season by sending different executives to several Raptors games. Does Kawhi care about something like that? He’s one of the few players in the NBA who doesn’t care at all about having his ego stroked by a few front office guys.
Here are the players the Clippers have under contract for next season:
- Danilo Gallinari
- Lou Williams
- Montrezl Harrell
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- Jerome Robinson
- Landry Shamet
- Sindarius Thornwell
- Tyrone Wallace
The Clippers don’t have enough cap space to sign two max players and the lineup listed above looks pretty bad, so why would Kawhi go to the Clippers? Perhaps he really has no desire to be the Lakers 1b behind 1a LeBron. Maybe he does crave the challenge of trying to carry a team by himself.
There’s no way the players that the Clippers have under contract for next season, along with Kawhi, will win a championship, so it makes sense for him to consider the Lakers.
If Kawhi does sign with the Lakers he’ll earn $32 million next season, which would leave the Lakers $5 million to go out and sign Looney, McGee, and Beverley to low-salaried contracts.
If this scenario plays out the Lakers would trot out this lineup next season:
Starters:
- Lonzo Ball
- Brandon Ingram
- Kawhi
- LeBron
- McGee
Bench:
- Beverley
- Josh Hart
- Kyle Kuzma
- Looney