What Horford, Butler coming off the board means for the LA Clippers

The LA Clippers were reportedly planning on pairing Kawhi Leonard with a star, but that hope seems lost now that Al Horford and Jimmy Butler have deals.

Coming into the day, we identified four star players that the LA Clippers would likely take a look at during the free agency period. Three of those players — Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler and Al Horford — are now off the board. The only one remaining is Kawhi Leonard, who will reportedly take a few more days to make his decision.

Each of the players listed above were ones that LA would have been able to pair with Leonard, had they moved Danilo Gallinari‘s contract before they agreed to deals with other teams today. Of course, the Clippers could still move Gallinari, but with few (if any) other All-NBA caliber players available, the goal of pairing Leonard with another star seems dead at the moment.

That doesn’t put the Clippers out of the race for Leonard, not by any means. It just doesn’t help their case, really.

Leonard was rumored to want to join the Clippers with another star player in free agency, and names like Durant’s and Butler’s had been lumped into that conversation. But with Durant signing with the Brooklyn Nets and Butler going to the Miami Heat via sign-and-trade (and Horford signing with Philadelphia), the Clippers are essentially out of options on that front.

The Clippers do still have other paths to take in order to make their best possible pitch to Leonard, though. Patrick Beverley and JaMychal Green, two of LA’s most consistent contributors, are yet to sign elsewhere. If LA can find a taker for Gallinari, re-signing both players and Leonard isn’t out of the question.

Leonard taking his time in free agency also doesn’t help the Los Angeles Lakers. As it stands, the Lakers have little to offer in terms of depth, and it’s hard to imagine their front office remained calm on Sunday while tons of quality role players — likely ones they were looking to sign — came off the board in the early goings.

Meanwhile, the Clippers aren’t yet in a position where the upcoming season(s) come with the pressure of winning a title. It isn’t necessarily Kawhi or bust for them this summer, even though that’s certainly what they’re all pushing for.

It’s understandable if fans of the LA Clippers are beginning to lose hope, but Leonard was never going to make his decision on the first day of free agency, anyway. For the time being, the Clippers, Lakers and Raptors should each still be considered in the running to sign the two-way star.