Kawhi Leonard's time with the Clippers appears likely to come to an end in the next couple years.
Leonard and the Clippers have come under fire this summer amid reports from podcaster and journalist Pablo Torre, who reported that the team circumvented the salary cap by Leonard signing a no-show endorsement deal with the now-bankrupt company, Aspiration, that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and minority owner Dennis Wong were invested in.
In the wake of this reporting, more details have been released surrounding thew tumultuous tenure of Leonard since joining the Clippers in 2019. Between multiple investigations, extensive requests before signing with the team and his regular injury concerns, the Clippers' decision to build their future around Leonard has reportedly become a mess.
The Clippers are done basing their future around Leonard, per ESPN's Baxter Holmes. Multiple general managers and executives across the NBA expect Leonard to play out the remaining two seasons on the extension he signed in 2024, but his future remains up in the air after that. One former Clippers staffer told Holmes, "They're done building around [Kawhi] ... They know that and he knows that."
Among Leonard's requests before joining the Clippers was to acquire Paul George from the Thunder. To do so, the Clippers had to trade Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to Oklahoma City. Gilgeous-Alexander was named MVP and won his first NBA Finals this year, while the Clippers are now deeply entangled in the layers of mess that signing Leonard has caused them.
The Clippers might be ready to move on for Leonard once his contract expires, but it seems they'll be dealing with the ramifications of his time in Los Angeles in the years to come.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kawhi Leonard's Future With Clippers Growing Murky Amid Investigations Into Team.
