Paul George and Kawhi Leonard were almost teammates on the Toronto Raptors in the summer of 2019.
George revealed on his podcast, Podcast P with Paul George, that he and Leonard nearly paired up on the Raptors.
This would have kept Leonard in Toronto following the Raptors winning the 2019 NBA Championship:
“I was close to going to Toronto. We were deciding to go to Toronto or the Clippers. Ultimately the Clippers put something better, you know a better package together, a better trade package together that sent me to LA but I was close. I was close. He was gonna re-sign to Toronto and we were just gonna go to Toronto.”
At that time the Oklahoma City Thunder were reportedly asking for Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and four unprotected first-round picks for George and Russell Westbrook, according to Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star.
However, the Raptors felt it was being used as leverage by the Thunder to try and get the most out of the Clippers which they did.
The Clippers paid a steep price for George, shipping out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, five unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps to the Thunder.
Once the Clippers acquired George, Leonard signed in Los Angeles as a free agent. The Clippers instantly became title favorites, but never lived up to the hype. The Clippers only made one Eastern Conference Finals appearance in five years of the George and Leonard era.
George then opted to leave Los Angeles as a free agent this summer, joining the Philadelphia 76ers on a four-year max deal.
Masai Ujiri shares update on Sasha Vezenkov’s situation
Sasha Vezenkov is still a member of the Toronto Raptors.
With rumors persisting of Vezenkov wanting to return to Europe and Olympiacos signing him to a long-term deal, he remains under contract with the Raptors.
Raptors president Masai Ujiri provided an update on where things currently stand with the 28-year-old.
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