As the aftermath of the Los Angeles Clippers' historic punishment unfolds, the Los Angeles Lakers should be thanking they're lucky stars. They dodged a massive bullet. Remember, in the summer of 2019, the Lakers were in play for Leonard, and he apparently wanted to go there first instead of the Clippers.
However, due to the Clippers agreeing to outside deals with Kawhi and his Uncle Dennis, he ultimately chose them over the Lakers. Credit Jeanie Buss for turning them down and saving the Lakers from the nightmare of dealing with Kawhi, while also setting the Lake Show up for bigger and better things.
That's not to mention them dodging the historic punishment the league handed down to the Clippers. So much for a rivalry between the two franchises. Instead, the Lakers are far better off than expected.
The Lakers dodged a massive bullet that the Clippers took head-on
The Lakers probably can't help but laugh at the fate of the Clippers. Everyone thought that the Clippers were going to be incredible with Kawhi and Paul George. Instead, the Lakers won a championship in 2020, while the Clippers made it to only one Western Conference Finals in seven years with Kawhi.
During that span, the Lakers added superstar Luka Dončić for the basketball equivalent of a bag of chips. Now can build around him for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile. The Clippers don't have anything near that type of building block. The gap between the two franchises is only growing.
The closest thing they have is Darius Garland, and while he is a 25-year-old all-star, he has a concerning injury history. Simply put, he probably isn't going to be a big building block. And with the Clips out of five first-round picks, they can't rebuild through the NBA Draft or make big trades.
The Clippers have put themselves further in the Lakers' rearview mirror
It's almost fitting that the Clippers broke the rules to try and one-up the Lakers, only for them to fail spectacularly. It has always been difficult to take their franchise seriously, with them always being the poster child of dysfunction.
Whether it be trading a young Moses Malone for practically nothing, promising to make Blake Griffin a Clipper for life and then trading him months later, or bringing Chris Paul back for a retirement tour only to send him home early for trying to help. They have always been a disaster; we are just living through the latest Clippers debacle.
Look, the Lakers will always be the Lakers, while the Clippers—well, they'll always be the Clippers, unfortunately for their fans. Sorry, y'all. Still, the Lakers were wise to turn down the opportunity to sign Kawhi, knowing that it would eventually come back to bite them. The Clippers didn't and are paying for it now.
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