The Los Angeles Clippers have been right up there with his current Toronto Raptors team as the odds-on favorites to land Kawhi Leonard in free agency.
The Clippers are apparently putting every asset they have from a financial perspective in to adding a top-end free agent. That list includes either Leonard or Kevin Durant.
A report from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on Thursday morning noted that the Clippers are internally panicking over the possibility that Leonard could sign with the New York Knicks.
“The Clippers have a great organization and they’ll be fine but interiorly, they’re hyperventilating right now,” Windhorst noted. “I think Kawhi will give the Knicks a look.”
This is rather interesting in that New York is said to be turning its focus from Durant to Leonard.
The Clippers’ hopes of landing Leonard rests on two things. They are coming off a surprising playoff appearance in 2018-19 and have a solid young core. Secondly, Leonard is a native of Southern California and has been linked to both Los Angeles-based teams.
Windhorst did go on to note that he believes Leonard ultimately decides to re-sign with the Raptors on a short-term deal. It would be akin to the one-and-one deal Durant has taken with Golden State over the past two years.