Ex-Portland Trail Blazers guard Earl Watson said Damian Lillard confided in him about joining a super-team. Did Kawhi Leonard want him to join the Clippers?
Earl Watson, ex-teammate of Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, tweeted on August 12, saying that Dame had been approached about joining a super team before he signed his last extension. Now we know that Dame signed his supermax extension in August 2019, so there is a good chance that this approach about teaming up came from Kawhi Leonard.
Since @Dame_Lillard won’t say it, I will! Before Dame’s last extension he was approached to join a super team! He immediately called me & I’m assuming it’s because he respects me! I asked him, “what do you want to do”?! Cont...
— Earl J Watson (@Earl_Watson) August 11, 2020
He didn’t waste a second before he responded, “Big EJ, I want to stay in Portland, build it with my teammates & beat every mf super team”! My response was, “Real ones do things others are afraid to endure”! Cont...
— Earl J Watson (@Earl_Watson) August 11, 2020
Everyone knows that Kawhi wanted to come back to Los Angeles in free agency of 2019, and the rumors at the time were that he was going to the Lakers or the Clippers. We also knew that he wasn’t going to either place on his own, but he didn’t want to sign with the Lakers as he wasn’t keen to team up with LeBron James.
Did Kawhi have Dame on his list of potential teammates? I think Kawhi called Dame about joining him on the Clippers. The way the trade worked with Paul George going from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Clippers, is that Kawhi wasn’t signing until they were sure they would bring George in.
Kawhi needed another top-ten player to help turn the Clippers into championship contenders. There are no confirmed reports of Dame being called by Kawhi, but the chances are high. In the end, George ended up being the target as the Clippers traded their future away by giving a multitude of picks plus young stud Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
I’m obviously grateful that Dame didn’t try and force a trade last season. He is loyal to not only this franchise but the process of building a team organically and sticking with his guys.
After the Clippers were dumped out so unceremoniously in the second round, their fans can only dream of having a shot-creator like Dame as their point-guard. I’m glad he put pen to paper with his extension, rather than forcing a trade and building another superteam in a big market.