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Philadelphia 76ers’ Paul George Drops Truth Bomb on Botched Kawhi Leonard Link Up With East Team

Originally posted on Hardwood Heroics | By Paolo Songco | Last updated Jul 9, 2024 12:53 AM ET

Philadelphia 76ers news: The Paul George-Kawhi Leonard era for the Los Angeles Clippers is officially over. George made sure of this when he decided to turn his back on LA in favor of a max deal with the Sixers.

George’s partnership with Leonard in LA ends after a rather unfruitful five-year run — one that apparently, could have happened elsewhere.

Philadelphia 76ers News: Paul George Reveals Botched Toronto Raptors Move

In a recent episode of his podcast, George revealed that before he decided to join the Clippers in 2019, he held talks with the Toronto Raptors regarding a potential move to Canada. George added that Leonard, who at that time was coming off a championship run with the Raptors, would have re-signed with Toronto if George came to town:

“I was close to going to Toronto, like we were deciding to go to Toronto or the Clippers,” George said, via Law Murray of The Athletic. “Ultimately, the Clippers put something better. You know, a better package together, a better trade package together, that sent me to LA. But I was close. He was going to re-sign to Toronto, and we were going to go to Toronto.”

Apart from the fact that George came extremely close to becoming a Raptor, another big takeaway here is that he and Leonard were very much determined to link up half a decade ago. They got their wish when they both joined the Clippers at the same time but as we all know, that partnership did not exactly deliver the desired results.