Kawhi Leonard is showing the LA Clippers that he’s exactly what they need

Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard has been doing the most for his Raptors in the playoffs, and his performance should be exciting the LA Clippers and their fans.

Kawhi Leonard may not have the prettiest laugh or the best-looking shoes, but his game is a thing of beauty — and in these playoffs, he’s showing the LA Clippers why he’s exactly what they’ve been missing.

As if his career-year with the Toronto Raptors wasn’t enough to get teams interested in the three-time All-Star, Leonard has been an absolute monster in the postseason. Through nine games, he’s posted averages 32.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists in just over 36 minutes per game. And if that’s not enough for you, he’s also connecting on 50 percent of his attempts from deep and 58.7 percent overall.

Those are scary-good numbers for any player, let alone someone who played in just nine total games last season due to a confusing (and controversial) leg injury.

If we focus solely on his current series against the Philadelphia 76ers (a much stronger foe than the Orlando Magic) those numbers actually improve, too.

Through the first four games, he’s averaged 38.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists with .618/.464/.829 shooting splits. Again, absurd stuff, especially considering the Raptors as a whole are only scoring 98.3 points per game against Philly — meaning he’s been responsible for nearly 39 percent of his team’s scoring total, not including points created by assists.

Yet as important as those things are, the numbers aren’t the biggest reason why the LA Clippers need to do everything in their power to land Leonard.

The main reason is because he’s the missing piece to this team that could vault them straight to title contention.

Leonard has taken over games on both ends of the floor for the Raptors, hitting big shot after big shot on one end and playing his invasive brand of defense on the other.

He provided a perfect example late in Sunday afternoon’s Game 4, when he hit a huge three-pointer over Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons to extend Toronto’s lead to four with just over a minute remaining.

There was another moment earlier in the fourth when he gobbled up one of Jimmy Butler’s attempts in the paint and then ripped the ball right off his back. He was called for a foul, but the effort was probably enough to make Butler think twice about challenging him again.

Yes, the Clippers had Patrick Beverley to make big plays on defense this season and yes, Lou Williams was a bucket whenever he was needed to be. But Leonard is both of those things and more, all wrapped into one, six-foot-seven-inch package.

Of course, nothing about Leonard’s future is remotely close to certain at this point, and it’s important that I echo what my co-expert, Ryan Snellings wrote this past weekend.

As exciting as it is to think that a perennial All-NBA player like Leonard could be rocking royal and red next season in Los Angeles, it’s important that we, the fans, don’t get too hopeful and act like it’s a given that he (or any other free agent, for that matter) will become a Clipper this summer. LA will likely be one of the top two teams in the running to sign him, but we need to stay humble. If and until Leonard puts pen on paper, it’d be foolish to act like him joining this team is guaranteed.

That being said, it’s easy to understand why we get so optimistic about the guy. With him on the team, there’s no limit to what the LA Clippers could accomplish.