Los Angeles Lakers fans should thank Kawhi Leonard

Los Angeles Lakers fans should thank Kawhi Leonard for signing with the Clippers because it will keep the pressure on the team’s front office

On July 7, 2019, Los Angeles Lakers fan received the devastating news that was a direct hit to their ego. Kawhi Leonard chose to sign with their hometown rival Los Angeles Clippers instead of the Lakers. To add injury to insult, the Clippers also added Paul George via trade almost immediately after Kawhi’s announcement, making them a true contender to win an NBA Championship.

But, Lakers fans shouldn’t be too angry at Kawhi.

Since 2017, the only players that remain still on the roster are Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma. All the “promising” young players that the team had compiled were flipped for Anthony Davis to begin the summer.

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Oh, and Magic Johnson resigned, in a somewhat surprising fashion, before the summer too. At the same time, the Lakers also elected to move on from Luke Walton, ultimately striking a deal with Frank Vogel to be the team’s new head coach.

Vogel is a good coach but, for some reason, wasn’t viewed as such when the Lakers job opened. Nevertheless, the pressure is on him, he is in the hot seat and now more than his staff consist of two former coaches in Jason Kidd and Lionel Hollins, with more pressure coming off the first one. Kidd has publicly told that he wanted the Lakers coaching position; now imagine working with a person that wants your position and would be in your toes every mistake you make.

However, that’s not the last thing that the Lakers’ front office demonstrated in terms of their internal chaos. Before making the trade for Anthony Davis, the Lakers were in extreme pressure to bring a star-caliber player to complement LeBron James. With Davis demanding a trade and putting the Lakers on the list of desirable destinations, Pelinka committed a fatal mistake in not listening to the people that work for the Lakers and know how the CBA works. Because of that, the LAkers needed to include a third team so they could clear enough cap space to make room for Davis.

Imagine if Kawhi signed with Lakers, aside from being the clear favorites to win the title this year they could have become a dynasty if Anthony Davis re-signs the following season. The Thunder would have stayed the same in hopes for contending, the Rockets could explore a trade but with the Thunder competing they should never trade Rusell Westbrook. Rob Pelinka would be viewed as a genius and the front office would be stable like never before.

Now that Kawhi decided to sign with the Clippers, the spotlight should be on the Lakers’ front office. The last time the Lakers made a trade for a superstar that was entering the last year of his contract, it went terribly wrong. That was when the team traded for Dwight Howard, who never quite fit with Kobe Bryant. Dwight would eventually leave after one season with the Lakers, but it was an utter disaster.

This should put enough pressure on the front office because the last thing a fan need is a front office that believes that they have the support of their fanbase no matter what. If this happens, the teams have the luxury to make any decisions for their own sake instead of the main focus that brings more fans. With the Clippers growing into a legit contender the Lakers’ front office’s main focus is to restore their glory.

Anthony Davis is an unrestricted free agent after this season, and who knows what he will do. It’s been made public that he will test the free-agent market, and any team with salary-cap space will be interested. The Lakers’ front office is under a microscope still, as it should be.