The Los Angeles Lakers should not pursue Kawhi Leonard with their new found cap space that allows them to sign a third max contract player like Kawhi nor any other free agent eligible for a max contract (see Kyrie Irving).
Laker history with superteams and team chemistry are two reasons why adding--for our hypothetical--Kawhi Leonard to the Laker roster is a bad move.
Growing up in the 80's in Los Angeles, my favorite NBA team of course was the Showtime Lakers who played at the Fabulous Forum where celebrities were in abundance, where the Laker girls were a hit, and where Dancing Barry danced all the way up to the cheap seats where my mom and I sat.
Superteams
This superteam term did not enter our popular culture until Lebron and Chris Bosh joined Dwayne Wade in Miami in 2010. At first, they were the pariah's of the NBA but they eventually won two championships.
Were the 80's Showtime Lakers a superteam? Not by today's standards of free agents talking among themselves and choosing a destination. The Lakers got Magic and James Worthy through the draft. They weren't a super team, they were a championship team (hometown bias)!
The Lakers may have formed the first ever superteam.
In 2003, the Laker roster included Kobe Bryant, Shaquile O'Neal, Gary Payton, and Karl Malone--with Payton and Malone chasing rings in full
transparency. That team lost to the Pistons in the NBA finals--and, Payton and Malone retired without a ring.
The Laker foundation of Kobe and Shaq as a formula to win a championship fell to the wayside because of conflicting personalities and the debate of whose team it was (Kobe or Shaq's?).
Yes, there have been successful superteams (the Heat above), the 2007-08 Three Amigos Celtics, and others.
However, for the Lakers historically, having more than two superstars on their roster (2003 roster) is not a recipe for success as a superteam.
Chemistry
I love Kawhi Leonard as a person and a player. The way he led the Raptors to the championship this year was a run for the ages. He was the only superstar on his team with an abundance of role players.
Quiet Assassin One of the qualities I like about Kawhi is his quiet way he goes about demonstrating his talents as a basketball player. His mental fortitude and lack of emotional shenanigans reminds me of the legendary tennis player Bjorn Borg.
However, this same quality as a quiet assassin also gives me pause regarding how he would fit in with a roster of LeBron, AD, and Kyle Kusma.
In his rookie season in 2011-12 with the San Antonio Spurs, Kawhi experienced growing pains with then Spurs superstars at the time (Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili). It took two years for the Spurs to win with Kawhi. If he comes to the Lakers, there is no time to accommodate growing pains with Lebron turning 35 this year. The time to win for the Lakers is now.
Besides, looking at the short term, if we look at the long term and his time with the Spurs as a template, it does not look good. Controversy and accusations were in abundance during Kawhi's last year with the Spurs. Yes, winning a championship with the Raptors probably validates Kawhi's side over the Spurs' side--yet, Kawhi has some responsibility of the Spurs' demise last year.
Yes, Kawhi brought the first NBA championship to the North--yet, off the court, there are so many unknowns about him. Do the Lakers want to have this unknown on their team? Yes, I believe they do since they made cap room for a max player.
But, should they? I say "No" and the Laker's should spread this newfound cap room to fill the roster with role players a la the Raptors (with full knowledge of the recency bias of their championship).
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