Clippers predicted to fully blow up over offseason, deal $150 million superstar forward after dealing James Harden, Ivica Zubac at trade deadline originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Even after starting a win streak, the Los Angeles Clippers decided to pretty much blow up their team at the trade deadline, dealing superstar James Harden and star Ivica Zubac. However, there is one piece they didn’t move, to the surprise of many.
That piece is franchise star Kawhi Leonard. According to Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes, the Clippers will probably try and deal him over the offseason, to completely start their rebuild.
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“The LA Clippers shipped out James Harden and Ivica Zubac at the deadline, leaving Kawhi Leonard as the glaringly correct answer to ‘Which one of these doesn't belong?’...This summer, he'll be entering the last year of his deal and will earn $50.3 million. Assuming the Clippers want to resume their effort to turn the page, a Leonard trade will become even more logical than it already is. And by then, several teams will have talked themselves into the parallels of 2019, when the Toronto Raptors knowingly traded for him as a rental. If he continues to play at his current level, it'll be easy enough for a suitor to believe a one-year engagement with Leonard could produce the same championship results Toronto's did.,” Hughes wrote.
So far this season, Leonard is averaging 27.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.1 steals in 32.8 minutes per game. Wherever he goes, he would be a superstar as long as he stays healthy.
The only problem, as Hughes mentions, is Leonard is owed $50 million for one final year. So, whoever is interested in him has to go into talks knowing two things: he could be a rental, and they better be ready to pay up.
If the teams who are interested are OK with that, then this is probably a trade the Clippers will make. They need to rebuild, and to do that, they need picks, and dealing Leonard is definitely a solution.
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