Kawhi Leonard’s recruitment of JaMychal Green was crucial for LA Clippers

JaMychal Green had bigger deals on the table this summer, but he ultimately decided to return to the LA Clippers thanks in part to Kawhi Leonard.

When the news that Kawhi Leonard would be joining the LA Clippers first broke on social media, fans reacted accordingly by losing their minds. Leonard’s decision was the storyline of the summer, and after winning an NBA title in his first season with the Toronto Raptors, many expected he would return to the North or join up with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Instead, he joined the “other” LA team — and reportedly asked Paul George to come with him.

We’ve since learned that the recruitment story wasn’t entirely accurate. Per The Athletic (subscription required), George already intended to find a way to the Clippers before he learned that Leonard would be signing there as well. The two did speak prior to the decision being made, but from the sounds of it, George’s mind was already made up.

It should be noted that there are conflicting reports regarding the accuracy of the recruitment story, but because The Athletic‘s report denying his involvement is more recent, we’ve chosen to stick with it.

But just because Leonard supposedly didn’t recruit George doesn’t mean he was completely silent. It’s likely that some of the Clippers’ current players chose to re-sign with LA due to Leonard’s presence, and a report from ESPN’s Zach Lowe gives backing to that claim.

According to Lowe, Leonard reached out directly to backup big JaMychal Green and told him that a decision to return to Los Angeles would pay off. And after sitting on the free agent market for over two weeks, Green officially re-signed with the Clippers on July 18.

Green, 29, was an essential piece for the LA Clippers post-All-Star break. He joined the team via trade from the Memphis Grizzlies, which received Avery Bradley in exchange for him and Garrett Temple.

Green made 24 regular season appearances for LA in 2019, in addition to two starts. In just under 20 minutes per game, he posted averages of 8.7 points and 6.5 rebounds while connecting on 41.3 percent of his looks from three-point range.

Once the Clippers reached the postseason, Green became an even more effective weapon, both on and off the bench. He recorded double-digit scoring in four of LA’s six playoff appearances and shot a blistering 52.2 percent from deep on 3.8 attempts per game.

After the first three games, center Ivica Zubac was removed from the starting rotation in favor of Green, who proved to be a much more formidable option. The numbers show that he was more effective off the bench, but the amount of spacing Green provided allowed the Clippers to be more creative with their sets and run a more up-tempo style of offense.

Green couldn’t have looked better, and in a contract year with the NBA world observing his every move, one thing became increasingly clear: He was due for a big payday.

It’s unknown how much money Green was offered to play elsewhere this summer or by whom, but it’s been reported on multiple occasions that he declined contracts with a larger guaranteed salary than the one he agreed to receive from the LA Clippers. Lowe noted loyalty as one reason for his decision to stay, but Leonard played a significant role as well.

Few teams can offer the same chances to win an NBA title next season as the Clippers can, and considering the number of teams that actually had the cap space available to sign Green by the time the main part of free agency was wrapping up, they surely had the best of the bunch.

Even with the additions of Leonard, George and others to the Clippers’ roster this summer, Green still figures to play a significant role for the team. He could very well challenge Zubac for the starting center position, and even if he doesn’t get it, he’ll still be one of the first few guys off the bench.

Green played particularly well alongside Montrezl Harrell this past season, and it may be wise to keep the two together when possible. According to Basketball-Reference, Green and Harrell outscored opponents by 2.0 points per 100 possessions — 1.6 points less than Harrell and Lou Williams combined for, which was one of the league’s most deadly combinations in 2018-2019.

Of course, the sample size for Harrell and Green together is much smaller than the time Harrell spent playing with Williams. Since Green joined the team well after the halfway point of the season, Harrell and Williams recorded roughly 1200 more minutes together.

But in those 400-ish minutes together, Green and Harrell looked like a two-man wrecking crew. Both were able to feast on the glass without getting in each other’s way, and Green’s ability to pop out to the three-point line allowed both players to create to the best of their abilities.

Assuming Green does come off the bench (and it’s looking like he will), he’ll be one of the most important contributors to a unit that ranked first in bench points per game last season on a team that will be in the hunt for its first-ever title in 2020.

All that being said, it seems Leonard was right in his promise to Green. Sacrificing a few extra millions to come back to the LA Clippers should certainly pay off in the long run.