Kawhi Leonard, other targets remain unsigned entering Day 3

As the LA Clippers enter day three of free agency, their top target, Kawhi Leonard, remains available. Who else is still on the board?

Day two of free agency came and went without Kawhi Leonard signing anywhere, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a stressful day — especially for fans of the LA Clippers.

It was a big day for having fake sources, as several announcements from “insiders” on Twitter claimed that Leonard to the Los Angeles Lakers was a “done deal” and that the signing would be made public on Monday night. The news even reached all the way up to Fox Sports’ Chris Broussard, who passed along a report that initially came from Lakers Reddit. A story was posted about it, but was soon deleted after the publisher realized what was going on.

Needless to say, Leonard is still a free agent, and is probably still undecided about his NBA future. There have been few, if any credible leaks regarding when his meetings with teams will be taking place, what his mindset is, or where he will end up signing. In short, no one knows anything, and we should probably stick to relying on the real reporters to break the news about where one of the league’s most dominant players will go this summer.

The LA Clippers did make some non-Kawhi moves on Monday though, and good ones at that. In addition to the Patrick Beverley signing (which technically came on Monday on the East coast), LA found themselves getting involved in the Jimmy Butler trade to help their facilitate the deal and return some pieces to their own franchise.

In addition to a lottery-protected 2023 first round pick via the Miami Heat (the Clippers own the 2021 pick, as well), LA managed to return Maurice Harkless for the low-low cost of taking back his salary. That’s it. That’s all the Clippers gave up.

Harkless is a solid pickup, and if you’re interested in reading more about him, I wrote a brief summary about what he could bring to the team just a few moments ago. Click right here if you want to see that.

In short, Harkless is a Clipper through and through. He plays hard on defense, has a high basketball IQ, and he wants to get Kawhi on the team. We missing anything?

I wouldn’t expect the Clippers to make any other moves on Tuesday, unless it’s agreeing to terms with Leonard on a deal to come to Los Angeles. The Harkless trade brought them right down to about the exact amount of cap room they’d need to offer Leonard a max deal, and there’s no way the Clippers do anything to compromise that space unless they’ve been informed that Leonard won’t be choosing them.

Outside of Leonard, though, there are some quality free agents that have remained unsigned.

DeMarcus Cousins, an All-Star center from 2014-2018, is still yet to agree to terms with a team during this free agency period. He had a less-than-impressive season with the Golden State Warriors and he’s clearly on the decline, but he’s easily the biggest name on the market outside of Leonard.

On Monday night on SportsCenter, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that there is virtually no market for Cousins at the moment, and that he may not even be offered the mid-level exception — meaning he’d have to sign for the minimum. He at least seems worthy of that, so it’ll be interesting to see where he ends up, if anywhere, this offseason.

Danny Green, Leonard’s longtime teammate, also remains unsigned entering day three. He’s been connected to the Clippers, Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and the Toronto Raptors, though it seems as though he may be waiting for Leonard to make a decision before he makes his own.

Because of the Harkless trade, the Clippers no longer have the room to take him on, so a move to the Lakers or Mavericks seems to be the most likely option right now. He’ll demand a solid chunk of change, so if the Lakers choose to sign him, they would be effectively out of the Leonard race — that is, if he signs before Kawhi does.

Former LA Clippers forward JaMychal Green also remains a free agent through day two, which should come as a bit of a surprise to those who watched him play last season. Green averaged 8.7 points and 6.5 rebounds in less than 20 minutes per game as a member of the Clippers in 2019, and the 6’9″ forward also connected on 41.3 percent of his makes from three-point range.

I believe there is a scenario in which the Clippers could take him back while still maintaining the space to sign Leonard, but if Green gets a big offer from another team later today, I would expect him to take it.

The movement in free agency has slowed, which isn’t saying much since it was such a flurry on day one and during the beginning parts of day two. It seems as though much of the league is on standby while Leonard prepares to make his decision, and since no one has the slightest clue about when that will happen, it isn’t clear how long the remaining free agents will remain without a home.

As always, be sure to keep it here as we try to keep you as up-to-date as possible on all happenings with the LA Clippers.