Paul George Claims He Was Close To Joining Kawhi Leonard In Toronto Before They Landed With The Clippers

Paul George released his latest episode of Podcast P on Monday, and in it he offered a fascinating look at his free agency and how he ultimately ended up on the Sixers with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

George detailed the nearly year-long negotiations with the Clippers, and how a “disrespectful” first offer of two years, $60 million, followed by frustration with them initially not being willing to give him the same deal as Kawhi Leonard, led him to sour on things in L.A. and look for a full 4-year max. He thought he would end up with the Warriors, but that trade never went through and he pivoted to Philly.

That will be a fascinating “what if?” to look back on in a few years, but it’s apparently not the first time George has almost ended up in different spot in the summer. According to George, the first conversation he had in the summer of 2019 about teaming up with Kawhi Leonard involved Leonard re-signing in Toronto and George being traded to the Raptors.

We likely will never know how close this really came, as George may have thought it was a more realistic option than it actually was, but it is fascinating to learn that was at least under consideration for a couple of reasons. For one, it means Kawhi was willing to stay but also wanted to cause a major shakeup for the roster that just won a championship in order to do so. It also might explain why the Clippers paid such a heavy price for George, sending a boatload of picks and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to OKC to facilitate the deal. If the Raptors were in play, you can bet OKC was asking a huge price of them as well, and if word got back to the Clippers that Toronto was in the mix with guys like Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, that would explain putting so much on the table. Clearly the Raptors weren’t willing to meet the demands of the Thunder to make this happen, but it would’ve changed the trajectory of three franchises pretty dramatically had it gone down.