Report: Kawhi Leonard Will Re-Sign with Clippers After Declining Contract Option

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The doomsday scenario didn’t come to fruition for the Los Angeles Clippers as Kawhi Leonard has reportedly “decided” he’s going to re-sign with the franchise.

Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes reported Friday the “terms are being discussed,” but Leonard won’t be leaving in free agency.

Haynes reported Sunday the five-time All-Star was opting out of his contract and turning down his $36 million player option for next season. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN added that “the expectation is that Leonard will negotiate a new deal to stay with Clippers.”

Paul George is starting his four-year, $176.3 million extension, but losing Leonard would have been nothing short of a disaster for the Clippers. They mortgaged their future to bring him into the fold and would have had little to show for his brief time with the franchise.

Los Angeles basically had no choice but to throw as much money as it could Leonard’s way, but that’s not to say this move isn’t without some risk once it’s finalized.

The 30-year-old put together another solid regular season, averaging 24.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists while shooting 51.2 percent from the field, the second-highest of his career.

During the playoffs, he looked like the player who won the Finals MVP with the Toronto Raptors in 2019. The 6’7″ forward had two 40-point outings in the first round against the Dallas Mavericks and 65 combined points between Games 3 and 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Utah Jazz.

But he missed the final two games of that series and the entirety of the West finals with a knee injury. He eventually underwent surgery for a partial tear of his ACL, raising serious questions for next year and beyond.

Kevin Durant missed an entire season after rupturing his Achilles tendon in the 2019 Finals and returned to form in 2020-21.

Perhaps Leonard can rebound in a similar fashion, but Los Angeles is still potentially facing a lost season in 2021-22 in the event he misses most or all of the campaign.

From a durability perspective, Leonard isn’t Durant, either. Since making just nine appearances in 2017-18 because of a quad injury, he has been one of the stars most associated with the trend of “load management.”

The NBA said in November 2019 it determined the Clippers “reasonably determined that Leonard is suffering from an ongoing injury to the patella tendon in his left knee.” As a result, Los Angeles was careful in managing his workload.

The partial ACL tear and patella tendon problem aren’t in the same knee, but the cause for concern is obvious.

By getting a commitment from Leonard, the Clippers resolved their biggest piece of business for this offseason. Until he’s back on the court, though, the organization’s future remains a bit cloudy.