Lawrence Frank argued that they still see their franchise superstar as a long-term piece.
The Los Angeles Clippers still see Kawhi Leonard as a key part of their long-term picture.
Los Angeles Clippers / Schedule
Addressing the media on Monday, Clippers president Lawrence Frank set the record straight about their commitment to Leonard beyond the franchise star's current contract situation.
“We definitely see a scenario where he’s part of the group going forward," Frank said (h/t Joey Linn). "Look — Kawhi when healthy is arguably one of the top-5 players in this league. No one is playing better than him over this last 7-week stretch. Similar to what we did in other summers, we always get together with Kawhi and his representatives and we lay out what the plan is.
"The number one priority for Kawhi is the same number one priority for the Clippers organization."
Leonard will remain under contract with the Clippers for the next 2026-27 season, in which he'll be paid $50.3 million.
Following the Clippers' stunning trade deadline moves that saw the unforeseen departures of James Harden and Ivica Zubac, all eyes in the league are now monitoring what might be next for Leonard.
As reported, multiple teams have engaged with the Clippers just hours before Thursday's trade deadline about Leonard's market availability. Yet in the end, the ball club chose to stick with their franchise superstar.
Leonard will be playing on a much younger, yet promising Clippers squad bannered by Darius Garland and Ben Mathurin. As such, Frank reiterated that the star forward remains stapled to what would be their plans ahead.
"We want to win a championship. How do we do it together? This is what it looks like. Yes, we’ve been very transparent with how we’ve treated the 2027-28 [cap] space. And that’s kinda what factored into the nature of James’ [Harden] last contract and the mutual option. We also, because we prioritized it, it’s not just used in free agency. Darius is a great example of that… Would you rather have space or would you rather have Darius? We rather have Darius. Same thing with Kawhi," Frank added.
"We can continue and look forward to building with Kawhi, while still acknowledging we’re going to need more. We’ll go through every step of what that looks like, whether it’s free agency, whether it’s a trade, whether it’s the draft… But Kawhi has been a great partner, and I anticipate him being a great partner moving forward.”
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