Although his signing with the Lakers seems imminent, Kawhi Leonard is doing his due diligence.

Leonard met with Magic Johnson to gauge just how much the Lakers wanted him when Johnson was still with their front office and what his level of control would be, according to Broderick Turner of the LA Times.

“There was one interesting question [Leonard] had for Magic: ‘Did you guys try to trade for me when I was in San Antonio?’” Turner said on Spectrum Sportsnet. “And the answer was ‘yes, but because it was Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs, and our history, they were asking for 2,000 draft picks – well, not 2,000 – like four draft picks, first-round draft picks, and we just couldn’t do that.’ And that was one of his questions.”

Leonard’s place in Toronto is a known entity, and while almost every other free agent was signed within the opening hours of free agency, he is content with taking his time and gathering as much information as he can about his potential new employers.

After the backlash he received surrounding his injury with the Spurs, health is of particular importance to Leonard — he wants to ensure he has the freedom and control to act in his best interests. The Raptors utilized “load management” to help ease the two-time Finals MVP through the regular season. Toronto parted ways with beloved DeMar DeRozan for Leonard despite the uncertainty surrounding his quad injury.

Before he teams up with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, he wants to ensure his own well-being.

“LeBron James was able to bring on his own trainer, his own medical people,” Turner said. “[Kawhi] wants to know if he can do that as well. LeBron James brought on some people that weren’t with the Lakers, and he wants to know, ‘can I bring with a couple of my guys?’… And as far as I know, the Lakers would be willing to do that, because you do those things for superstar players.”

Under president Masai Ujiri, the Raptors have been one of the most stable and well-run organizations in the league, making the playoffs every year under his command and winning their first championship this year. Ujiri has recently stated he plans to stay in Toronto for the foreseeable future.

Los Angeles can’t come close to saying the same, a topic Leonard’s uncle Dennis Robertson wanted to investigate with Johnson.

“The uncle’s questions were, ‘what’s really going on in the organization between you, Jeanie [Buss], Rob Pelinka, everyone? Is it as dysfunctional as we’re reading and hearing?’” Turner said. “And the response was ‘we had some issues, but we’re past that. I’m past that. We’re still a family, such as you fight with your brothers and sisters sometimes, well, I had somewhat of a disagreement with my sister.

“’And Rob Pelinka, yes, I said he was a back-stabber, but that happened then. Now I want the Lakers to be a championship team. Having Kawhi here would do that.’”

If Leonard does in fact decide to head home to Los Angeles, it won’t be with a lack of information.