Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
The Los Angeles Clippers now appear to be stuck in between bottom-end playoff contention and complete irrelevance in the Western Conference.
With Kawhi Leonard injured again, Los Angeles fell to the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
Within weeks, fellow star Paul George opted out of his contract and signed with the Philadelphia 76ers. Sure, the Clippers retained James Harden. But George’s exit coupled with Leonard’s injury issues has everything up in the air. No, making fringe moves is not going to change things.
It’s leading to respected media mind and former NBA player Kendrick Perkins into taking the stand that Los Angeles should blow it up and trade Leonard.
“If I’m the Clippers, I would consider trading Kawhi Leonard right now, because they’re just stuck in the middle,” Perkins said, via ESPN.
Leonard just signed a three-year, $149.5 million extension with the Clippers back in January. This seems to suggest he’ll be on the team long-term.
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It’s complicated.
The Clippers are moving into a state-of-the-art arena in Inglewood next season. Owner Steve Ballmer does not want to begin this new era of basketball for the organization in rebuild mode.
On the the other hand, these Clippers are not anywhere near championship contenders. They lack draft assets to pull off a blockbuster trade. Meanwhile, Leonard’s injury issues have become a major thing.
At 33 years old, it’s also an open question how much value the Clippers would get back in any Leonard trade. Would it be worthwhile to start a rebuild, especially after re-signing Harden? We doubt it.