Kawhi Leonard is basically a lock to decline the $36 million player option he has available to him this coming offseason in favor of a bigger contract.
As soon as that happens, the Los Angeles Clippers will suddenly find themselves in a very unstable situation.
In 2019, the organization staked its whole future on a Leonard-Paul George dynamic duo being the cornerstone of a championship run.
Clearly that didn’t end up working out as planned, with the Clippers ultimately getting embarrassed by the Denver Nuggets in last year’s playoffs.
Since then George has been trying to work through persistent injuries that are seemingly getting worse, and Leonard alone has been unable to carry the squad past the third seed in the Western Conference.
This week, an interesting new report came out.
According to NBA insider Evan Massey, the Golden State Warriors are planning to make a serious run at Leonard in the offseason.
REPORT: The Warriors are expected to pursue Kawhi Leonard in free agency, via @massey_evan
🍿🍿🍿 pic.twitter.com/xExLOow1o9
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) April 12, 2021
While the Warriors’ interest in Leonard is new, the prospect of him possibly ditching LA for a different city is not. Previously, a different team was said to be the only one he was “intrigued” by if he decided to leave the Clippers. What that means now that the Warriors are in the hunt remains to be seen, though.
Just give LaMelo Rookie of the Year now. https://t.co/jyuEfUi2x4
— Game 7 (@game7__) April 8, 2021
Leonard is currently averaging 25.8 points on 51.5 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent shooting from three. Beyond that, he is also putting up 6.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists this year.
If the Clippers don’t win a title again this year, things could start to get really interesting as it pertains to Leonard’s future.
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