Should the Clippers Trade Kawhi Leonard or Extend Him? The Decision That Defines L.A.’s Offseason
The Los Angeles Clippers have a decision to make that will shape the rest of their decade, and it comes down to one man. Do they extend Kawhi Leonard or sell high while the league still views him as one of the best players a team can acquire?
Leonard turns 35 in June. That number alone should give any front office pause when the conversation turns to a long-term extension. The Clippers have poured years and a fortune into building around him, and the playoff payoff has never matched the investment.
League executives have Leonard right next to Giannis Antetokounmpo as the top prize on the trade market if he becomes available. That tells you everything about how much value he still holds, even at his age and even with his injury history hanging over every season.
The Case for Selling High
When healthy, Leonard is still a two-way monster who can take over a playoff game. The trouble is the word healthy. The Clippers have built entire seasons around the hope that he holds up, and too often he has not been on the floor when it mattered most.
If the front office believes the contention window has closed, the move is to trade him now while his name still commands a haul. A package of young players and picks would let Los Angeles reset around a younger core instead of paying premium money to a player on the back nine of his career.
The Case for Running It Back
On the other side, stars like Leonard do not grow on trees. If Steve Ballmer thinks one more healthy postseason can deliver a title, you keep him and chase the ring. Ballmer has never been shy about spending, and he did not build a new arena to wave the white flag.
The risk is obvious. Extend a 35-year-old with a long injury history and you could be stuck with a contract that ages poorly and clogs the books for years. The Clippers have flirted with that nightmare before, and another version of it could set the franchise back a half decade.
There is also the matter of what kind of return is actually out there. A contender desperate for a playoff closer might part with a young building block and a stack of first-round picks, and a haul like that could reshape the roster overnight. Los Angeles will not know the real market until the front office picks up the phone and starts gauging interest around the league.
My take: the Clippers should at least listen. When two MVP-caliber names are the headliners of a trade market, the team that moves first and decisively usually wins. Los Angeles has to decide whether it is building for next year or the next five. That answer determines everything.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
