Wow, a guy takes a few days off and the whole league changes. So, just 2 weeks ago we were awaiting the Kawhi Leonard decision, and with it came huge changes.
Western Conference
- LA Clippers – Well, from the beginning Kawhi Leonard said he wanted to go “home.” He did not disappoint the LA faithful by choosing the other LA team. The Lakers were said to position themselves to get Kawhi to go play for them, but the shrewd Jerry West has done it again grabbing the NBA biggest Free Agent in 2019 (KD’s injury moved him out of that slot). On the surface, I would say that Kawhi alone would make the Clips a top 2 team with maybe Houston and Lakers. Leonard signs a 3 year deal at $103.1MM. OKC could have been in the mix, but immediately after this decision, the Clips pull off a total coup by trading for Paul George to pair with Kawhi. The Leonard contract matches up with Paul George’s deal remaining. The Clippers give up 5 first round draft picks, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari, which means that the Clippers can maintain the majority of their young core with the 2 great wings in Leonard and George. This vaults the Clippers to the top of the West in 2019-20. Hard to argue that now.
- Rockets – So, the Rockets seemed to be hamstrung with the Chris Paul contract, but not so fast, they found a trade partner in Oklahoma City to pull off another blockbuster trade for, wait for it, Russell Westbrook. So, Westbrook and Harden are reunited in Houston this time. Tyson Chandler also signs a 1 year deal with the Rockets.
- LA Lakers – The Lakers missing out on Kawhi do pick up Danny Green to fill in the lineup and some desperately needed shooting around Anthony Davis and Lebron James. The Lakers also go in on a 1 year deal for Demarcus Cousins, reuniting Davis and Cousins yet again. The Lakers also picked up Avery Bradley who was waived
- Thunder – The Thunder made a ton of moves – first the Westbrook trade for Chris Paul and 2 first round picks with another year swap of picks. Paul has said he wants to go to Miami to play with Jimmy Butler, but trade talks have stalled. Then, Jerami Grant to the Nuggets for a 1st round pick.
The big moves definitely shift the balance of power in the West. The Clips are the team to beat. The Lakers should compete, but I still like the units in Denver, Utah and Portland over Houston as I don’t see Westbrook and Harden playing great together.
Eastern Conference
No real big deals, but the conference gets much weaker with the loss of Kawhi. The Leonard move will allow Boston, Philly, Milwaukee and even Brooklyn be contenders in the 2019-20 season.
The other big news is the Sixers’ signing Ben Simmons to a huge 5 year, $170MM extension. Not bad for a guy who can’t hit a shot outside of 10 feet. The Sixers need Simmons to play up to that contract, but with the Kawhi departure and Durant injury should be playing for the Eastern Conference title in 2020.
That will close out my coverage of the NBA, as I switch to Fantasy Football and general NFL coverage next week. However, I give the NBA a lot of credit for being almost more exciting after the season as during.
Wegs