SOCAL BASKETBALL “SHAKEN AROUND” BY NBA TRADES

The earthquakes from the 4th of July weekend aren’t the only things shaking up Southern California. With the NBA preparing for the 2019-2020 basketball season, new players have emerged their way to Los Angeles and it has everybody talking about it nonstop! Both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers have big names making LA their new NBA home. Everybody, prepare for a bunch of bandwagon fans that will suddenly be reppin’ the West Coast as their best coast.

Major Players Coming Back to Their Roots

The Clippers jolted NBA fans young and old when they made their announcements that they would be getting free agent Kawhi Leonard who currently belongs to the Toronto Raptors, and 2019 ESPY Award winner Paul George who currently belongs to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Both small forwards are no strangers to the SoCal region, with Leonard being from Los Angeles and George being from Palmdale.

Leonard has had two NBA Championships and has earned the title of Finals MVP after he led the Toronto Raptors to their first NBA Championship. During Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers, Leonard hit a shot from the corner at the buzzer that bounced off the rim four times before falling to give the Raptors a 92–90 victory over the 76ers to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. He finished the game with 41 points on 16-of-39 shooting.  This was the first Game 7 buzzer beater in NBA history that will go down as one of the greatest moments in Leonard’s career and in NBA history. This has made him a living legend among his other NBA counterparts.

Paul George of the Thunder is a seasoned player who is a six-time NBA All-Star and five-time All-NBA Team selection, as well as a four-time member of the NBA All- Defensive Team. He was named Western Conference Player of the Month for February after he scored 45 points and hit the game-winning floater with 0.8 seconds left in the second overtime to lift the Thunder to a 148–147 win over the Utah Jazz.

Redemption for the City of Angels

The Lakers have given their fans a hope of redemption after announcing that they would be getting power forwards and centers DeMarcus Cousins of the Golden State Warriors and Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans. Both NBA superstars hailed from the University of Kentucky and it has made LA basketball fans go absolutely insane, as they should! It’s been a long time coming for us!

Before moving to the Lakers, Cousins played for Golden State Warriors, making his debut in January of 2019. He scored a season-high 28 points to go with 13 rebounds in a 116–102 win over the Denver Nuggets back in April, but was soon ruled out

indefinitely after suffering a torn left quadriceps in Game 2 of the first round of the playoffs. However, he did make a comeback just in time for Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors. Soon after the defeat, he signed a one-year contract with the Lakers.

Anthony Davis has come a long way from his days as a Wildcat at the University of Kentucky. Davis started the 2018-2019 season with the Pelicans by scoring 32 points, 16 rebounds and a career-high eight assists to go with three blocks and three steals in a 131–112 win over the Houston Rockets. He became the eighth youngest player to reach the milestone of having 10,000 career points at 25 years old. In the beginning of 2019, Davis informed the Pelicans that he would not sign a contract extension in the coming off-season, and requested a trade with eligibility to become a free agent in the summer of 2020. In July, the Pelicans reportedly agreed to trade Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and three first-round draft picks, including the Lakers’ No. 4 overall selection in the 2019 NBA draft.

NBA Title Heading Towards LA!

With the 2019-2020 season fast approaching, Los Angeles has a chance to come back with a bang and even win an NBA title this coming season. The odds are definitely in the Lakers and Clippers favors with their new team additions. Is this the answer to our prayers that we LA basketball fans been waiting for? Staples Center will definitely be the most sought out place to hangout!