Leonard, George join forces with Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers made a huge decision.
That meant Kawhi Leonard could finally make his.
The Clippers will be landing Leonard as a free agent after they acquire Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder in a massive trade for players and draft picks, a person familiar with the negotiations said.
George will be traded for at least four first-round picks, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity early Saturday because none of the moves has been finalized. And Leonard made his decision to sign with the Clippers after the team swung the deal to land George, the person said.
ESPN, which first reported the trade, also said the Thunder was getting Shai GilgeousAlexander and Danilo Gallinari from the Clippers.
Leonard going to the Clippers means that for the first time, a reigning NBA Finals MVP will be changing teams before the following season. Leonard was also being pursued by the Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors, the team he led to last season’s NBA title.
The most the Clippers can offer Leonard is $142 million over four years, which is the deal he is expected to sign. Players could sign with new teams as early as noon on Saturday.
The Lakers, meanwhile, who seemed only a few days ago to be the heavy favorites to land Leonard, pivoted quickly by surrounding newcomer Anthony Davis with familiar faces.
They agreed to terms with two players who played with Davis on the New Orleans Pelicans: Demarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo. Then they signed one of Leonard’s Raptors teammates, Danny Green.
Cousins agreed to a one-year deal, the terms of which were unclear. He spent last season on a one-year deal with the Golden State Warriors as he recovered from an Achilles tendon tear he suffered the year before. Cousins didn’t play until mid-january and also missed a significant portion of the playoffs because of a torn quadriceps muscle.
Rondo returns after spending last season with the Lakers. Though he had two injuries that kept him out for an extended period of time, Rondo was seen as a calming veteran presence for a young Lakers team. Lebron James often raved about his basketball intelligence.
Rondo will sign a two-year deal for the veteran minimum.
The Lakers also reached agreements with guard Quinn Cook and center Javale Mcgee. Cook agreed to a two-year, $6 million deal; Mcgee will get a two-year contract for $8.5 million.
Leonard will be entering his ninth NBA season, is a three-time All-star, a two-time champion and one of only three players in league history to win the NBA Finals MVP award with multiple franchises.
Notoriously a man of few words, at least publicly, Leonard is generally considered to be the best two-way player in the NBA. And he just turned 28 last week, still very much in his prime.
So, too, is George. The 29-year-old, who is owed roughly $105 million for the next three seasons, spent the past two years alongside Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City. George averaged a career-best 28 points last season.
Williamson out for summer league
The Pelicans say that Zion Williamson, the No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA draft, will not play any more at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas because of a bruised left knee. The team said the move is precautionary.
Williamson scored 11 points in nine minutes of his debut game against New York on Friday night. But he took a knee-to-knee hit in the first half and was ruled out at halftime of a game that was eventually shortened after the tremors of an earthquake were felt in Las Vegas.
Pelicans vice president of basketball operations David Griffin says Williamson “will move forward from this incident without issue.”