In the two years that Kawhi has been with the Clippers, chaos, disaster, and disappointment have followed.
Despite having, arguably, the best roster in the Western Conference, Kawhi and the Clips have been unsuccessful in reaching the Finals, and were a complete laughing stock for months following their 2020 playoff collapse.
Interestingly, Leonard has the chance to opt-out of his deal and leave the Clippers this season. Instead, NBA insider Marc Stein is reporting that he will probably return for another run in Clipperland:
“The most likely scenario, league sources say, remains Leonard opting out to re-sign with the Clippers — or, in Steve Ballmer’s worst nightmare, to shock the league by signing elsewhere. Leonard’s well-known affinity for Southern California has led various rival front offices to presume that he would have no interest in switching teams for the third time, but the notion that Leonard is unattainable seems to be waning a bit as the Aug. 2 start of free agency nears.”
On one hand, Stein did note that Kawh is falling away from that "unattainable" tag. So, there's still a chance he can be swayed to sign with a new team.
But with his home residing in L.A., and the Clippers still being a pretty good place to be overall, it is most likely that he closes out his career with the franchise.
It's obviously good news for Clips fans, but the organization still has a lot of work to do if they want to bring home their first-ever NBA Championship.
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