Before losing star forward Paul George when he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers this past offseason, the Los Angeles Clippers were engaged with the Golden State Warriors in negotiations for a potential trade, and they were reportedly eyeing one of the team's rising young stars.

According to The Athletic's Sam Amick, the Clippers "had serious interest in Warriors fourth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga and would have likely done the deal if he was included along with the first-round pick." However, sources told Amick that Kuminga "was never truly available."

Golden State was known to be the team most interested in acquiring George before he became a free agent, but it resisted shipping away its young talent to add the veteran. Amick further explained that the Warriors initially considered including Kuminga in the deal before ultimately deciding to retain him, which pretty much ended the Clippers' interest in continuing negotiations.

"The two teams did discuss scenarios that included Kuminga, team sources said, but the Warriors later pulled him off the table. Considering he was the only young Warriors prospect whom the Clippers truly saw as a potential star, that was the real X-factor in it all," Amick stated.

The Clippers pivoted after losing George by adding depth to their roster with multiple role players. Team owner Steve Ballmer recently said they were able to "upgrade our team" with the new additions despite losing a nine-time All-Star. Amick agreed that Los Angeles improved despite falling short of acquiring Kuminga.

"In the end, the Clippers chose to maintain the ability to target their own role players for these next few years rather than take on what Golden State offered, while having to navigate the second-apron hell that came with it," Amick stated.