LeBron James Affects Kawhi Leonard's, Klay Thompson's Move To Lakers

Potential moves for Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson to the Los Angeles Lakers depend on how they view playing second fiddle to LeBron James, according to Klay's father Mychal.

The Lakers signed James to a four-year deal earlier this summer and are expected to explore the free agent market in 2019 with the hope of landing a big star to complement the Akron native.

Two of those options are reportedly Leonard and Klay, both of whom could become unrestricted free agents next year. Leonard, now with the Toronto Raptors, seemed to be the ideal choice especially as he wanted to play in his native Los Angeles.

However, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne recently stated that if given a choice, the Los Angeles franchise would instead prefer Klay. There is also a scenario that could see the Lakers get both players next year, though it is a long shot in reality.

Mychal was recently speaking to ESPN podcast "Mason and Ireland" and believes the way both players view being behind in the pecking order will ultimately play a role in which one joins James in Los Angeles, should they both become free agents.

"You are talking about guys for whom pecking order becomes really important," Mychal said. "The perception of how people are going to look at you is important for these guys. If Klay came to L.A., which he should, then he knows he is going to slot in behind LeBron. But it is fine because he has done it before [for the Warriors], it is not a big deal."

"Kawhi is a top-five guy who is a Finals MVP. I know what the pitch is ‘you come here, you win another title and in two or three years LeBron is going to be 35 years old and you will transition and become the guy.' But that doesn’t mean Kawhi wants to go through that. But on the other hand, he might love the idea of being in LeBron’s shadow. He doesn’t have to do anything," he said.

Leonard wants to be the main man however. Before getting traded to the Raptors, ESPN reported Leonard no longer had a preference to play with James as he did not want to play second fiddle to the 33-year-old, with the Clippers being his top choice.

This was backed by recent comments from former player and ESPN analyst, Jalen Rose.

"If Kawhi Leonard does leave Toronto, it won’t be for the Los Angeles Lakers," Rose said. "I think he wouldn’t want to play alongside LeBron James because I think that casts a shadow to his personality that he really doesn’t want."

"Classic media thing — he came out and said he wanted to play in California and everybody in the media was like 'He’s going to the Lakers'. He didn’t say that. If he leaves Toronto, in my opinion, it’s going to be for the Los Angeles Clippers. That’s said by the guy who initially told the world in January that the situation was fractured between Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs."

As for Klay, he would certainly be fine playing in the shadow of James, but the question is whether he will leave the Golden State Warriors, who are gunning for a fourth championship in five years this season.

Mychal seems to want his son to move to Los Angeles, especially as Klay was born and raised there while the former happened to win a pair of titles with the Lakers in the eighties. At this point, it seems unlikely especially as Klay outlined his goal of being a Warrior for life.