The Clippers may be staring at the end of the Kawhi Leonard chapter, but not everyone around the team seems ready to turn the page.
Leonard has been at the center of Los Angeles’ biggest hopes since the team signed him in 2019. The vision was obvious from the start: a title push built around one of the league’s elite two-way stars.
Instead, six seasons in, the Clippers have reached the conference finals only once, then dropped three straight first-round series from 2022 to 2025. This season, they didn’t even make the playoffs.
That track record has put Leonard’s Clippers tenure under a harsh spotlight. He remains one of the best players in the NBA, but his time in Los Angeles has also been defined by injuries, load management, and postseason disappointment. The situation has only grown messier with the alleged involvement in a questionable deal with a now-defunct company backed by team owner Steve Ballmer that was reportedly designed to get around the salary cap.
There is still league interest, too. The Toronto Raptors and the Dallas Mavericks have both been linked to Leonard, and Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo! Sports thinks the Clippers would be missing the moment if they didn’t act.
“The Clippers are foolish if they don't trade Leonard. At age 34, he just had the best regular season of his entire career, posting 28 points on nearly 50-40-90 (shooting splits), while playing 65 games. And even that only makes the case stronger for the ultimate sell-high to end a disastrous era,” wrote O'Connor.
He also pointed to how much the franchise has already shaped itself around Leonard.
“The Clippers bent their entire franchise around Kawhi. They lived with the silence, the injuries, the uncle, and the special treatment. And now, Leonard is entering the final year of his contract while the franchise is dealing with the ongoing Aspiration mess.”
Dallas, according to the report, would be willing to put PJ Washington, Klay Thompson, and draft capital into a deal.
Still, the Clippers aren’t acting like a team ready to move on. Azarly reported that Ballmer and the organization remain committed to Leonard unless he asks out or a highly favorable trade package comes along.
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