Los Angeles Lakers: Nothing wrong with Kawhi Leonard’s waiting

Now that Kaawhi Leonard has signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers fans feel slighted by how long he waited to make a decision.

Most of the NBA free agents were off the board fairly early with one huge exception: Kawhi Leonard. The Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and Toronto Raptors waited for Leonard’s decision while the bulk of the free agents signed elsewhere.

Leonard ultimately signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, who made a very surprising move that came out of nowhere and also traded for Paul George. If anything, bravo to the Clippers for keeping everything under wrap.

As soon as Leonard signed the Los Angeles Lakers started using that cap space to fill out the rest of the roster on the role players that were still available. And as it stands today, the Lakers actually filled out a decent rotation for next season.

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This has not stopped people from conjuring up conspiracy theories, most notably that Leonard intentionally delayed his decision so he, and the Clippers, could sabotage the Lakers and make sure they did not get any of the big role-playing free agents.

If you want to submit yourself to that thought then nothing I say is going to change your mind. However, as frustrating as it could be waiting this long for a free agent only for him to sign elsewhere, there is absolutely nothing wrong with what Leonard did.

Yes, he kept the Lakers in the mix knowing the entire time that if the Los Angeles Clippers were to trade for George that he would be signing there. Some would say that is stringing the team along and is selfish, I would argue that it is the right thing to do.

Yes, there is a bit of selfishness driving that thinking process but every player in the NBA has the right to be selfish and do what is best for their careers. Leonard did not owe the Lakers nor Laker fans anything and signing somewhere just to make the most amount of people happy is absolutely insane.

Leonard kept the Lakers around as a plan B. A plan B that he could turn to if the Clippers could not turn those assets into a superstar running mate. There is nothing wrong with having a plan B, and if you relate it to your own life, it becomes obvious that this is not a bad thing to do.

So you have two job offers on the table. One with a company that you would much rather work for, and another that has a bigger name but you know you would not be as happy for. The company you want to work for needs a week to iron out the details, the one you don’t really want to work for is offering you a job right away, but is willing to wait.

You’re not going to take the job offer from the company you don’t want to be with right away as you know you would be happier elsewhere. However, you are not going to tell that company no right away as it is nice to have that guarantee in your back pocket in case the other company ends up being unable to hire you.

That is essentially what Leonard did and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. He did not do it to sabotage the Los Angeles Lakers.

He did it to give himself a security blanket that way if the Clippers couldn’t build a contender right away that he could actually sign with a contender. He did what is best for him, so what.