LeBron James and Anthony Davis are arguably the most talented duo in the NBA today, but that duo was almost a Big 3 in 2019 NBA free agency.
The Los Angeles Lakers went full force in trying to sign Kawhi Leonard but he ultimately chose to join the Los Angeles Clippers instead.
The move has served to reignite the Lakers-Clippers rivalry to a level higher than it has ever been. However, the fact remains that until Leonard made his decision, many were wondering what would happen if the Lakers were able to produce a Big 3 of James, Leonard, and Davis.
Exactly how close the Lakers were to ever signing Leonard is up in the air as only he truly knows the answer to that. But Davis spoke with Dave McMenamin of ESPN and said that he believes his team was extremely close to forming that Big 3:
“I don’t really know Kawhi like that — I don’t think no one really knows Kawhi like that. But obviously we were hopeful,” Davis says. “I definitely thought that it was a possibility that we could get him. … I’m not going to be a haggling guy. Especially when he came and said he didn’t really like the media [attention] and people pressuring him.
“But I think there was a time where all of us felt like we were really, really close to getting Kawhi.”
The entire Leonard saga is what makes free agency so fun to follow for fans. Everyone was picturing the idea of Davis, James, and Leonard together and how that would look. Davis and James were right in line with everyone else:
So close that Davis and James started envisioning what the Lakers would look like with arguably the biggest Big Three of all time roaming the court.
“I think it [has] always been about the Big Three,” Davis says. “We were talking like, ‘Man, we get Kawhi, man, this is what we can do. We can do it like this, this, this, this. …'”
Even without Leonard, this Lakers duo has everyone excited about the upcoming 2019-20 NBA season after just one preseason game.
The two have excellent chemistry and there is still plenty of room for them to grow. Now Leonard is on the other side and when the two teams meet on Opening Night, all eyes will be on Staples Center for the first of many showdowns between the Lakers and Clippers.
