Kawhi Leonard has declined his $21.3 million player option with the Toronto Raptors, keeping hope alive that he might join the LA Clippers. However, Yahoo Sports reports that Kawhi is still “seriously considering re-signing” with Toronto.
Hope is not dead just yet.
Kawhi Leonard, superstar and Finals MVP for the Toronto Raptors, has reportedly declined his player option. With the LA Clippers remaining the frontrunner outside of Toronto with a ghost of a chance to acquire his services, this move is Step One (or really, Step Zero) on the road to him leaving the team he just brought to an NBA championship victory.
The Clippers have kept Leonard as a focal point of their free agency acquisitions, for obvious reasons: He’s shown interest in the organization, is from Southern California, prefers them over the Lakers, and he’s one of the greatest basketball players on the planet today. It’s not rocket science why Lawrence Frank, Jerry West and company want to make a major play for him.
However, such hopes have to be tempered with the knowledge that he may very well re-sign with the Raptors, who are the only team in the NBA capable of offering him five years and $190 million. There’s also the danger of multiple other teams that are gunning to acquire him.
At 27, Kawhi is in his prime and over the course of the 2018-2019 season, has shown an appreciation for Toronto’s commitment to load management for the All-Star, after his famous break with the San Antonio Spurs over the extent of severity from a quad injury.
While this is by no means a confirmation of Leonard’s change of venue, declining the player option is the first step required to get there.
Meanwhile, the Clippers are linked to another potential acquisition: that of veteran star Al Horford, who recently declined his own player option with Boston to enter free agency.
(There’s also still the possibility of Kevin Durant coming to the Clippers, but who knows where that stands currently, as the superstar recovers from a rupture Achilles injury.)
A lot needs to happen, but there is a world where Al Horford and Kawhi Leonard don Clippers jerseys, which would take the team from a solid playoff team that pushed the Warriors to 6 to a legitimate title contender.
If they weren’t before, the members of ClipperNation are certainly crossing their fingers now.