Taking a closer look at five NBA Championship contenders, now that Kawhi Leonard has made his free agency decision
With the Golden State Warriors dynasty at least temporarily disrupted, the landscape of the 2019-20 NBA season hinged upon where Kawhi Leonard would decide to call home for the next few years.
The Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, and Toronto Raptors fans were put on a roller-coaster ride of emotions the past few days, thanks to the oscillations of premature reports, all having their own idea of where Kawhi would “likely” sign. The suspense is finally put to rest. Kawhi Leonard is going to be a Clipper, most likely for the next four years.
If that wasn’t enough to digest, the Clippers also bagged Paul George like a thief in the night without losing a significant portion of their core. Here’s the clincher though, turns out Kawhi played a pivotal role in convincing Paul George to make a complete 180 degree turn from the “I’m here to stay” word that he gave a year back as his free agency announcement which got the entire Oklahoma state celebrating. Who would have pegged Kawhi as a recruiter? Talk about taking matters into your own hands.
Kawhi’s move to the Clippers (or rather his decline of the Lakers offer) combined with the hit that Golden State has taken, has finally dispersed the league and has brought back a substantial element of competition and suspense that the league desperately needed. With no team overly stacked and multiple teams equally poised for a shot at the NBA title, a championship actually means something (yes, a shot at Kevin Durant.) It’s an exciting time to be an NBA fan.
A point of emphasis has to be made about how the league has opened up because of his decision to head to the Clippers rather than create another super team and suck out all the intrigue out of a season. Let’s take a deeper look at five teams who have a legitimate shot at an NBA championship now that Kawhi’s blockbuster move marks the end of the bulk of major free agency signings.