The publicly quiet Kawhi Leonard was very blunt with his new team before signing with the Clippers to conclude the NBA’s most thrilling offseason drama.

“He said, ‘I want to play for you,’ and he pointed at me,” head coach Doc Rivers said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “He said, [owner] ‘Mr. Ballmer, I love the things you do and what you stand for.

“But your team is not good enough and if you don’t change your team, I’m not coming.’”

And so the Clippers, coming off a first-round playoff exit as the eighth seed, presented Leonard a list of players they thought he would fit well with, Rivers said.

Leonard chose fellow southern California native Paul George, and soon after, the Clippers sent an unprecedented package — unprotected first-round picks in 2022, 2024, 2026 and previously acquired Heat first-round picks in 2021 and 2023, along with highly touted former first-round pick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari — to Oklahoma City for George.

Rivers — who was fined for tampering after fawning over Leonard during the postseason — said Ballmer was “nervous” about giving up so many picks, but Rivers spun it as the Clippers trading for George and Leonard.

The Thunder originally rejected the deal, and Rivers joked they’d have to move the Clippers to Seattle if the rival Lakers swooped in to sign Leonard.

It was widely assumed Leonard would either re-sign with the Raptors, whom he led to their first NBA championship last season, or a team that was already brimming with superstars — like the Lakers, who have LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

“We had a meeting with Kawhi at my house in Malibu and we felt we had the inside position,” Rivers said. “The Lakers had a meeting with Kawhi and they built this whole thing up for him to come to their new practice facility and he said, ‘No, you can come to my hotel room.’ But with us he said, ‘Yes, I’ll come to your house.’ When we heard that it felt like he was telling us he wants to come here.”

As long as they made Leonard’s wish came true. They did, and Leonard signed a three-year contract worth $103 million, which includes an opt-out clause in 2021.