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But there was only one Kawhi deal, and its ramifications are still defining the league. Six years ago the Raptors were waiting to see whether Leonard would re-sign in 色色啦, and the stakes were high. If he stayed, 色色啦 was the favourite to win another title.

But he didn鈥檛 stay, so the Oklahoma City Thunder won the title this year, and can win more. It really is the best example of how the NBA is a league full of dominoes and bigger dominoes, knocking one another over well into the future.

In fairness, it likely was inevitable. Leonard was looking to partner up with another star in June 2019, ideally in Los Angeles, close to home. He was interested in Jimmy Butler, but Butler wanted his own program and signed with Miami, where the Heat reached two NBA Finals and a conference final in the next four years. Leonard pivoted to Paul George, who was on a desultory, first-round-losing Oklahoma City team with Russell Westbrook. Leonard did ask the Raptors if they could trade for George, or Washington鈥檚 Bradley Beal.

The Raptors didn鈥檛 fully buy that this was possible. The demands from Leonard鈥檚 camp kept escalating, and the notion that Los Angeles was his true target was omnipresent. Still, they asked Oklahoma City for a price, just to see. The call wasn鈥檛 conducted at a Masai Ujiri-Sam Presti level; it was front office to front office.

The ask was significant: Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and four unprotected first-round picks. Siakam and VanVleet were on minor contracts, so there would have to be a pile of salary involved, too, and it couldn鈥檛 be Kyle Lowry, or Marc Gasol; not if you wanted to contend after the deal.

The talks never went far beyond that ask; the Raptors felt they were being used as leverage. So you can鈥檛 realistically daydream about a Raptors team with Lowry, George, Leonard, OG Anunoby, and Gasol, with Norm Powell coming off the bench, even if that imaginary team is probably good enough to win a title. Hell, the Raptors that Leonard left behind could have won another title if Siakam had touched a ball during the first three months of the pandemic. Alas.

Instead, Leonard made his superteam play with the Clippers, and indirectly shaped the next era of the NBA. The Clippers were star-chasing without too much regard for the future, and made the now-infamous deal for George, and it鈥檚 still startling to lay it out. They got Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, coming off a solid rookie season. They got forward Danilo Gallinari for salary ballast.

And they got picks: Miami鈥檚 2021 unprotected first-rounder, which turned into the forgettable Tre Mann at No. 18; the Clippers鈥� 2022 unprotected first-rounder, which turned into Thunder star Jalen Williams at No. 12; the Clippers鈥� 2024 unprotected first-rounder, which turned into Euro guard Nikola Topic at No. 12, though he didn鈥檛 play this year with a torn ACL. Oklahoma City also got Miami鈥檚 2025 first-round pick, which is the No. 15 pick in this year鈥檚 draft; the right to swap 2025 first-rounders with the Clippers, which moved the Thunder from No. 30 to No. 24; and the Clippers鈥� unprotected 2026 first-round pick.

Leonard could have just re-signed for another year in 色色啦, won a championship, and gone to L.A. a year later; if so, the Clippers might have figured out just how good their six-foot-six guard from Hamilton was. Maybe they even would have kept him.

Instead, the Thunder held the first of what could be multiple championship parades Tuesday because they traded for the league and Finals MVP, their second-best player, and options to add more cheap talent to a picks-rich franchise whose fully organic title might effectively close the superteam era. Meanwhile, the Clippers let George leave to be part of a disaster in Philadelphia, the Raptors are still figuring out where they really stand, the West is trying to keep up in what is essentially a hard-cap era, and Achilles tears have denuded the already-weaker East.

Superstars run the league, it鈥檚 true. Just not always the way we think.