The LA Clippers finally cemented their status as being on the wrong side in one of the most lopsided trades in NBA history.
It's hard to blame Lawrence Frank and Steve Ballmer for wanting to unite a pair of the most dominant two-way wings of their generation in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The franchise has been a mockery for much of its existence, taking a backseat to nearly every sports entity in the general area. Trying to create a championship window out of thin air is admirable, but not at the total expense of the club's future.
Frank's best move in his seven years running the organization was acquiring Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on draft night in 2018. Coming away with such a dynamic player plucked straight from the John Calipari Kentucky guard tree in a relatively lackluster class was an instant success.
The lasting legacy of the Clppers Paul George trade
His stats didn't jump off the page as a rookie, but the traits on display were undeniable. It's fine to think the Clippers didn't believe SGA would ever become a bona fide top-five player in the sport, but it's a lazy narrative to suggest he didn't flash All-Star potential.
Trading for George promptly was necessary to land Leonard, but Clippers management panicked. Even with the former locked down after signing a max extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2018, it was clear that was never his long-term destination.
Sam Presti could've sat on the asset and waited to field a better deal with players at the forefront, but five first-round picks and a pair of swaps are hard to match. The Clippers had to include Danilo Gallinari to match salary, but were the Thunder about to turn that trade down if SGA wasn't a part of the transaction? That seems rather unlikely.
Here's the full picture of how the haul turned out for the Thunder:
If gift-wrapping an MVP candidate to a Western Conference foe wasn't enough, handing them one of the best rising two-way wings in the league isn't much better. The Thunder scooped up Jalen Williams 12th overall in 2022 after having a meteoric rise at Santa Clara University. With the addition of Chet Holmgren the following season, Oklahoma City has quickly developed a formidable championship nucleus.
The Clippers still owe two remaining pick swaps, meaning this deal has plenty of room to evolve. If the Thunder can hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy in the coming years, this transaction could rank among the worst in sports history. For now, it is a stark reminder that you can't buy a title, no matter how badly you want one.