Hours after a magnitude-7.1 earthquake rocked Southern California, another "tremor" in the NBA hit LA – two-time NBA Finals MVP, free agent Kawhi Leonard who just led the Toronto Raptors win the team's first championship, accepted a four-year, 142-million-U.S.-dollar deal from the Los Angeles Clippers, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday.

That's not the only good news for the Clippers as Woj continued to break: six-time All-Star forward, candidate of the 2019 NBA MVP, Paul George of the Oklahoma City Thunder joined the Clippers too in exchange for Danilo Gallinari, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, four unprotected first-round picks, one protected first-round pick and two pick swaps.

Ironically, both Leonard and George, back when they requested to be traded by the San Antonio Spurs and the Indiana Pacers respectively, picked the Los Angeles Lakers as their No.1 destination. In the end, the two joined hands in LA, but at the Clippers.

Woj: Leonard is not interested in making 'Big 3'

Before Leonard's decision, the Clippers had been only his third option after the Raptors, where he won his second ring, and the Lakers, where James and Davis are waiting for him. As for the Clippers, though they had enough space for two maximum contracts before the free agency market had begun, the team failed to introduce any big name – they only kept Patrick Beverley with a three-year, 40-million-U.S.-dollar deal.

According to Woj, Leonard did not want to join James and Davis to make another super team and he preferred to work with another star to turn one team into a champion. In his negotiations with the Clippers, Leonard made it clear to Steve Ballmer, owner of the team and Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations: he won't sign unless the Clippers land George.

According to Woj, one of the reasons that it took so long for Leonard to decide where he wanted to go is that he was trying to convince George wo join hands with him at the Clippers. And in order to do that, George would need to request the Thunder to trade him and he did.

By the way, OKC was willing to let George go partly because of the irresistible offer by the Clippers but it could also tell what a disappointing teammate Russell Westbrook has been. Kevin Durant left him after eight years working together; George had been defending Westbrook for two years and but he finally chose to go. "Mr. Triple-Double" is already 30 years old and judging by his playstyle and the size of his contract, the Thunder won’t be able to send him away. The good news is that the team's general manager Sam Presti will have enough draft picks to do what he does best: selecting promising youngsters.

What does this trade mean to the league?

For starters, the Clippers will join the turbulent Western Conference next season as one of the most competitive contenders. Offensively, Leonard and George could drop 54.6 points together in the regular season and 59.1 points in the playoffs last season; the team also have three-time Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams who made one of the league's best screen play partners with Montrezl Harrell.

Defensively, the Clippers can send Beverley, Leonard and George as their outside defense. How intimidating is it? In data, the three made in total 11 All-Defensive Teams of the Year and Leonard is two-time Defensive Player of the Year. On the court, in today's NBA, Leonard is the best one-on-one defender; George is one of the best double teaming defenders thanks to his long limbs and quickness; as for Beverley, he is a nightmare to whoever confronts him with his physical, aggressive defense.

The Lakers would not like the news but fortunately for them, they can still build a competitive unit around James and Davis. In less than two hours after Leonard's decision, the purple and gold found use for their 32-million-U.S.-dollar space by landing Danny Green (two-year, 30 million), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (two-year, 16 million) and JaVale McGee (two-year, 8.2 million).

By contrast, the Raptors, just like their fans, experienced what it felt like to fell from heaven to hell in less than a month. Without Leonard, the team were even worse than last year – back then they still had DeMar DeRozan. Kyle Lowry and Marc Gasol are already 33 and 34 years old respectively, not to mention that they already proved that neither of them is capable of leading a team by himself. As for Pascal Siakam, before he learns how to play with his left hand, he is not the guy for the Raptors. Betting on Leonard brought the Canadian team their first championship, but losing him so quickly was not how the team had expected it to end.

Toronto's fall means relaxation for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers which will no doubt be the two biggest competitors for the throne in the Eastern Conference – the Brooklyn Nets will have to wait for another season for Kevin Durant to come back from injury. Milwaukee managed to keep most of their squad which brought them the league's No.1 60 wins last season. Philadelphia gave Tobias Harris a five-year, 180-million-U.S.-dollar contract and added Al Horford to their franchise with a four-year, 1.09-million deal – they are done trusting the process and must win at the moment. Don't be surprised when you hear that Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ben Simmons spend decades practicing shooting 3-pointers in the gym every day.