Former Lakers president of basketball operations says he would’ve landed Kawhi Leonard as a free agent.
The NBA free agent class of 2019 was among the best free agent classes of all time.
Names like Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, Kyrie Irving, Khris Middleton, and Kevin Durant headlined this insanely stacked free agent class.
Alongside those handful of All-Stars and future Hall of Famers was then Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard, who had the opportunity to choose whatever team he wanted to play for at the time. Some experts considered Leonard, the best free agent in the class.
The Raptors, Los Angeles Clippers, and Los Angeles Lakers were in on Kawhi, and all had a serious shot at signing the two-time Finals MVP. Ultimately, the Clippers signed the two-time champion, and now we’re here.
However, NBA and Laker legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson believes Leonard would have been a Laker if he had remained the president of basketball operations.
When asked on the “All the Smoke” podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson about how close the Lakers were to acquiring Kawhi, Magic immediately interrupted and had this to say.
“Oh, I would have had Kawhi. When I come in and close a deal, it’s done. I do my homework, I do my research. So when I get you in that room, I already know what you want, and I’m going to just lay it out to you.”
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One thing you can’t say is Magic isn’t confident.
Whether Magic could’ve pulled off adding Kawhi will remain a “what if” scenario.