Kawhi Leonard Reportedly Wanted To Team Up With Damian Lillard In 2019

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The Los Angeles Clippers once again fell short of their goal of winning an NBA Championship. This time, however, they can't be to blame, as Kawhi Leonard's injury was a massive blow for them and they still fought hard in the Western Conference Finals.

So, now that Leonard has the chance to opt-out of the third deal of his deal with the Clippers - although it seems unlikely at this point - Steve Ballmer will have to convince his star of staying put.

And, according to Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer, we should keep an eye on the Clippers and the Portland Trail Blazers, as Kawhi Leonard was reportedly looking forward to teaming up with Kawhi Leonard in 2019:

"Damian Lillard is disgruntled with the Trail Blazers, according to Yahoo’s Chris Haynes. It’s worth noting that in 2019 Lillard was on Leonard’s list of stars he wanted to team up with, league sources say. But Lillard has four seasons remaining on his contract. Portland doesn’t need to trade him. If it came to the point where a trade was inevitable, Los Angeles wouldn’t have many goodies to add to a trade involving George, and if the Blazers would rather have younger players and picks, the Clippers would easily be outbid," read the report.

Then again, it's worth noting that Lillard won't be a free agent any time soon and that the Clippers would have to offer a massive plethora of assets to convince them of even listening to any offer.

But, should Lillard's discontent continue to grow, the possibility of him trying to pull off a James Harden kind of move and force his way out of the team could still be there.

There's not much - if anything - going on about this right now, but if Kawhi wanted to play with him before, we don't see how that could've changed, as Lillard has only gotten better.