It was almost 2 a.m., and I had just watched an episode of "Stranger Things" in bed. Like any idiot millennial, I compulsively grabbed my phone from the nightstand and opened Instagram. At the top of my feed was something that shocked me more than any of the monsters in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana ever had: a Los Angeles Clippers logo posted by Jeremy Castleberry, Kawhi Leonard's best friend (and assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors last season, the San Antonio Spurs before that). The caption, since deleted, was an exercise in minimalism: "@kawhileonardofficialfanpage" and a raised-hands emoji. 

"Kawhi is going to the Clippers," I said, stunned, seeing that the Clippers logo had also been posted to Leonard's "official fan page," which is run by his sister. I couldn't believe I was finding out this way, but I shared Castleberry's post on CBS Sports' NBA Slack. "Holy f--- are you kidding me," a colleague replied. 

Then came the tweets. It wasn't just Kawhi; the Clippers were also acquiring Paul George, who wasn't even known to be on the trade market and was barely a year removed from celebrating his new contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder onstage with Nas at a house party thrown by Russell Westbrook. I got out of bed and hastily wrote a column. 

My overall take hasn't changed that much since I threw together my initial thoughts: Pairing Leonard and George is a dream scenario, and the Clippers will be perennial contenders as long as they are both healthy (and they don't bolt after two years). There is downside in trading as much as they did and investing in two franchise players with recent injury issues, but they'll live with that. Opportunities like this almost never present themselves. 

The Clippers' jackpot feels a bit like the Miami Heat's in the summer of 2010 and a bit like the Orlando Magic getting Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady 19 years ago, the latter of which informed Doc Rivers' approach to this recruiting effort. McGrady, though, was only 20 then, and he had yet to make an All-Star Game. This is more like if Orlando had managed to sign Hill and Tim Duncan, its other free-agent target at the time. At 28 and 29, respectively, Leonard and George are both MVP-caliber players right now. The Clippers will enter the season as title favorites. 

At his and Leonard's introductory press conference, George said that the way they play on both ends of the floor is a "lost art." An executive accurately told the Washington Post's Ben Golliver that you have to go back to Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen to find a perimeter duo that could score and hound opponents as well as them. Like "Stranger Things," though, these Clippers have the vibe of a throwback but have been engineered for success in the modern era. George and Leonard are two-way wings who can guard four positions, create clean midrange looks in isolation and make spot-up 3s. If you admire Patrick Beverley and adored last year's scrappy Clippers, you must appreciate how these particular stars make them even tougher. If you are obsessed with defensive versatility and floor spacing, you must love that the front office has surrounded them with the kind of role players necessary to win big in 2019. It's been almost two months since Leonard made his decision, but it's still hard to believe how everything fell into place. 

Glowing quote

"I'm just FIRED UP to be here today. IT'S PRETTY COOL, PRETTY DAMN COOL. WOOO! I'm just delighted. I'm proud of what we did last year. We had a hell of a team. Played the right way. HARD. GRITTY. TOUGH. RESILIENT. That's what the Clippers are about. It was a great season. GREAT SEASON. Forty-eight wins. GREAT SEASON. Not what we want. But a VERY GREAT SEASON. I'm so proud of the guys we have. I'm so proud of the guys who are coming back. We got the guys who I think will be perfect to put together with Paul and Kawhi to really give us the chance to do the only real thing we want to do. Like I say, being No. 2, being No. 4, PFFT! We're only here for one reason. We want to win it all!" -- screaming Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, at the introductory press conference for Leonard and George

What could have been

Maybe there was a world in which the Clippers could have acquired Leonard without trading so much for George. It's hard to know how serious Leonard was about re-signing with the Raptors or joining the Lakers. Could they have pushed harder for Kevin Durant or Jimmy Butler? Would Leonard have wanted to play with Kemba Walker? Those guys all seemed to have their minds made up before free agency officially started, so this might all be moot. 

If the beginning of free agency had played out the same way, but the Clippers hadn't made this happen, they would essentially be in a holding pattern. It wouldn't be awful: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would still be around, and they'd still have a bunch of picks they could use in trades. They'd likely be a lower-rung playoff team again, with the front office working on bigger plans. 

Taking the temperature

Positive fan: The Beverley deal was fair value and I'm so happy the front office brought back JaMychal Green. He always reminded me of Patrick Patterson, and hey, the Clippers have him, too -- hope he's healthy. That Rodney McGruder move at the end of last season was sneaky and smart, and Moe Harkless gives Doc another multi-positional defender. What a cool front office! Did anything else happen this summer?

Skeptical fan: …

Positive fan: Oh, right. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George play for the Clippers now. Almost forgot.

Skeptical fan: Good one. I see that, in your exhaustive accounting of their moves, you neglected to mention that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and a boatload of picks are gone. Or that Leonard and George only signed two-year contracts. Or that they did nothing to address their issue with rim protection. Is Green going to have to start at center in the playoffs again?

Positive fan: Maybe? I don't really care if it's him, Montrezl Harrell or Ivica Zubac. That's a solid rotation in the regular season, and I don't understand why you're presenting this as if it's some kind of fatal flaw in May and June. Take a look at the Warriors' centers over the last few years and get back to me.

Skeptical fan: That would be a great point if the Clippers' smallball option was Draymond Green instead of JaMychal. I can't wait to see how they defend Anthony Davis, and it'll be pretty interesting if they wind up having to deal with Joel Embiid in the Finals. 

Positive fan: Look, the Clippers were a good team last year without any superstars, and now they have two of them. Every team is trying to find big wings who defend opposing stars and space the floor. Every team is trying to find skilled playmakers who can get buckets against great defenses in crunch time. Kawhi and P.G. are extreme outliers because they do EVERYTHING, and they're going to make each other better. It's too perfect. It's unbelievable. Tell me who is beating this juggernaut. 

Skeptical fan: I mean, the Clippers are obviously contenders, but I'm annoyed by the idea that I'm supposed to just pencil them in as the favorites. Let's not crown them before we see how this works and what their competition looks like. I'm not sure if their offense is going to be pretty -- no one on this roster is an outstanding passer -- and I see a bunch of teams that will enter the season believing they have a real shot at a championship. I'm not saying that I'm down on the Clippers because they aren't flawless; I'm saying their flaws could matter at the absolute highest level. 

Eye on:

Landry Shamet was a sniper as a rookie, and he is especially valuable because he can hit 3s on the move. Opposing defenses are going to go crazy trying to account for his pindowns with two stars on the court, and he will have opportunities to make plays, too. Shamet played off the ball last season but was a point guard in college, and, with Leonard and George around, he should find more holes in the defense to attack. I'm curious how often he chooses to do that, and how much improvement he'll show with floaters and finishes. Shamet quickly proved to be a useful player for two playoff teams, and with a bit of development and strength he could be more than that.