Re-Grading the Clippers' 2019 Decision to Acquire Kawhi Leonard & Paul George

The Kawhi Leonard era in Los Angeles is over. After seven seasons that included the first conference finals in franchise history, the Clippers have finally moved on from Leonard.

The Clippers certainly didn't achieve as much as they hoped they would during the Leonard era. Despite going farther than they have ever gone in the postseason, the Clippers also only had three playoff series wins in that span.

There will be plenty of discussion about whether this era of Clippers basketball was a success or a failure. While that is certainly up for debate, what is equally interesting is looking back at the decision to sign Leonard.

Obviously, it's impossible to analyze the decision to bring in Leonard without the Paul George trade. Acquiring PG13 was the condition for Leonard to sign with the Clippers, so we have to evaluate the decisions together.

Revisiting the Paul George Trade

First of all, let's look at what the Clippers gave up to acquire George and Leonard.

In July 2019, the Clippers signed a four-year, $141 million max contract with Leonard following his title with the Toronto Raptors. Kawhi was choosing between the Lakers, Raptors, and the Clippers. Reportedly, it was the Clippers' acquisition of George that pushed things to their favor.

For George, the Clippers sent Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, four unprotected first-rounders (2021, 2022, 2024, 2026), a protected first-rounder (Miami's 2023), and two first-round pick swaps (2023 and 2025) to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Who did OKC select with those picks?

2021: Tre Mann with the No. 18 pick
2022: Jalen Williams with the No. 12 pick
2023: Was pushed to a future year
2024: Was traded out of OKC
2025: Thomas Sorber with the No. 15 pick
2026: Aday Mara with the No. 12 pick

OKC being a massive winner in this deal is undeniable. They landed SGA and Jalen Williams, who led them to a championship in 2025. SGA won two MVPs and is one of the three best players in the league. The draft haul allowed the Thunder to make more moves to build one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the league.

Does that mean the Clippers lost the trade? Not quiet.

It Was an Unsuccessful But Worthy Gamble By the Clippers

Yes, the Clippers had won 48 games the season before making this move. But they were nowhere near a title contender. SGA had exceeded expectations in his rookie campaign, but most of the Clippers' success was on the shoulders of aging veterans like Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, and Danilo Gallinari.

The Clippers had not won a playoff series in four seasons and were stuck in a purgatory of being a good regular-season team that didn't have enough to be a dangerous playoff team.

A big swing was needed, and they had the assets to go for it. The Warriors dynasty was over after the injuries to Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant, and new teams were vying to be the title favorites. The Lakers had put Anthony Davis and LeBron James together earlier that offseason, and the Clippers felt they had to be aggressive.

It's now forgotten, but George was coming off a season where he finished third in MVP voting in Oklahoma City. He was in his prime and was coming off the best season of his career. Leonard had just won a title in Toronto and was considered the best player in the league.

Even with James and AD joining forces, there was a legitimate argument that George and Leonard were the best duo in the league.

Before the 2019-20 season, the Clippers had the best preseason odds to win the title. Barring a collapse against the Nuggets in the bubble, they could have won it all. In 2021, they had an equally great shot and made it to the conference finals, but Kawhi Leonard got hurt, and they ended up losing to the Suns.

Even though they ultimately came up short, the Clippers put together championship-caliber teams. If they had a little more luck, they could have made it to the NBA Finals. And that is the most you can ask from an organization. They went for it and were title favorites. Unfortunately, only one team out of 30 wins every year.

When you go all-in on a team, and you don't end up winning a title, there will be understandable criticism. Mortgaging your future for the present is risky for this reason. If you sacrifice the future in win-now moves and don't end up winning now, the moves you have made will look worse in hindsight.

Those moves look particularly bad for the Clippers because OKC absolutely nailed the assets they received. The Clippers obviously wouldn't have traded away SGA if they knew he had MVP potential. If anyone in the league thought he had that kind of an upside, he wouldn't have been the No. 11 pick in the draft. So, criticizing LA for giving him up is not entirely fair.

Plus, not every team would have been able to develop SGA and Jalen Williams the way the Thunder did. OKC turning into a dynasty thanks to the haul they got from LA makes the Clippers look worse, but that has more to do with how well the Thunder are run as an organization.

If you run the last seven years since the Leonard and George acquisitions, the Clippers would likely end up winning more playoff games than they did. One conference finals appearance is certainly a low-end outcome for the Clippers in this era.

But it's important to have a process-based rather than results-based evaluation. It's easy to say that the Clippers made a big mistake in hindsight.

In reality, the process was understandable. They overpaid, to be sure, but in the context of a franchise that has never won anything in its history, it made sense. Leonard was the best player the Clippers have ever acquired. If it meant that they had to overpay to pair one of the best players in the league with another MVP candidate, it was still worth doing it.

Gilgeous-Alexander ending up being who he is will hurt the Clippers' grade, to be sure. Perhaps LA could have held firm on not including him in the deal. Even then, the 2019 offseason moves shouldn't be considered a mistake by the Clippers, just because things didn't work out in the end.

Thunder grade: A+
Clippers grade: B+

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