2019 NBA free agency: The winners and losers of Kawhi Leonard’s decision

Winner: NBA parity

NBA parity literally hung in the balance with Kawhi Leonard’s free agency decision. If he stayed with the Raptors and they ran it back, they would’ve been the presumptive favorites to repeat. Had he joined the Los Angeles Lakers, they would’ve assembled the greatest Big 3 in NBA history, easily swinging the title odds in their favor.

Instead, he chose the Clippers, wooing Paul George to join him and thus creating yet another aspiring contender. The Raptors may have lost their chance at realistically winning another title, but Kawhi’s decision is an amazing one for the kind of league parity people have been complaining about since before the Golden State Warriors dynasty first rose to power.

In any given year, the NBA can usually be whittled down to 3-4 teams with a realistic shot of winning it all before the season begins. This year, it’s wide freaking open. Obviously the Lakers and Clippers are now at the top of the food chain, but the banged up Warriors still have Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson should return sometime after the All-Star break.

The Brooklyn Nets just added Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, and though the latter will miss the entire 2019-20 campaign, it’s a move that puts this revamped team on the map. The 60-win Milwaukee Bucks brought nearly everyone back, but losing Malcolm Brogdon adds a dose of intrigue in the East. The Indiana Pacers are regrouping and will get Victor Oladipo back on the court in a few months.

The Raptors will still be good. The Philadelphia 76ers made major moves with the additions of Al Horford and Josh Richardson while bringing Tobias Harris back. The Miami Heat traded for Jimmy Butler. The Boston Celtics replaced Kyrie with Kemba Walker. The Denver Nuggets are overlooked in the West as a young core that already snagged the 2-seed last year. The Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs aren’t going anywhere.

All this says nothing of the Utah Jazz, who may deserve to be the favorites to come out of the West after adding Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic and solid depth pieces in the offseason. And this is all without mentioning the non-contenders who could still make the playoffs after adding complementary pieces or exciting young talent, such as the New Orleans Pelicans, Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks.

For the first time in a long time, the NBA is wide freaking open. League parity has never been better, and frankly, not knowing how it all will unfold in 2019-20 is going to make for an awfully exciting campaign.

Loser: Los Angeles Lakers

Did you miss that part about assembling the greatest Big 3 in NBA history? While basketball fans at large are amped about such a wide open season, the Los Angeles Lakers had no interest in league parity. They wanted the perfect addition to their superstar duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and a potential dynasty in the making, but ultimately couldn’t get the job done.

To be fair, the Lakers regrouped as well as could be expected after waiting nearly a whole week for Leonard to make his decision. At that point, most of the solid depth pieces were already off the board for a team that barely had five players under contract. That very well could’ve spiraled into a double-whammy of both missing out on Kawhi and being unable to add decent role players

However, even if Danny Green is a great consolation prize, he and a combination of DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, JaVale McGee, Troy Daniels, Quinn Cook and Jared Dudley just doesn’t compare to the Klaw and a similar group of supporting role players. The Lakers are still very much in the title mix, but landing Leonard to act as a safeguard against an aging LeBron and an injury-prone AD would’ve cemented their place as the outright favorite.