Several Members Of Los Angeles Clippers Want To Part Ways With Kawhi Leonard

Several members of the Los Angeles Clippers want to part ways with NBA star Kawhi Leonard, sources told DallasHoopsJournal.

Leonard joined the Clippers in the offseason of 2019. LAC has never been to the NBA Finals and Leonard has played in only 42% of its games.

“This has been a nightmare,” a Clippers source said about the Leonard era. “He’s an incredibly talented player when he’s healthy, but as everyone knows, he’s rarely healthy and his camp is just so difficult to deal with. His time here, thankfully, is coming to an end soon.”

Leonard will make $50 million from the Clippers in 2025-26 and $50.3 million in 2026-27. The NBA legend becomes an unrestricted free agent in the offseason of 2027.

Leonard and the Clippers had a 3-1 lead against the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the 2020 playoffs at the Walt Disney World bubble. LAC blew the lead and lost the series in seven games.

A two-time Finals MVP, Leonard tore his right ACL against the Utah Jazz in the second round of the 2021 playoffs. The Clippers defeated the Jazz but lost to the Phoenix Suns in the conference finals.

Leonard missed the entire 2021-22 season due to his ACL injury. Without him, the Clippers missed the 2022 playoffs.

One of the best two-way players in the NBA, Leonard played in 52 games for the Clippers in 2022-23. He suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee in the first round of the 2023 playoffs against the Suns and LAC lost the series.

Leonard played in 68 games for the Clippers in 2023-24 and made the All-NBA Second Team. However, his surgically repaired right knee bothered him in the first round of the 2024 playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks and he only played in Games 2 and 3.

A two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Leonard played in just 37 games for the Clippers last season. LAC lost to Denver in the first round of the 2025 playoffs in seven games.

Leonard and the Clippers are currently in hot water. According to Pablo Torre of Pablo Torre Finds Out, the now-bankrupt company Aspiration paid Leonard $48 million for a “no-show job” intended to circumvent the NBA salary cap.

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested $10 million in Aspiration in March 2023. The billionaire invested $50 million in Aspiration 18 months before that.

Ballmer introduced Aspiration to Leonard in November 2021, three months after the Clippers had agreed to a four-year, $173 million extension with Leonard. Two months earlier, in September 2021, the Clippers announced a lucrative $300 million partnership with Aspiration.

Aspiration paid Leonard $1.7 million days after Clippers minority owner Dennis J. Wong made an almost $2 million investment in the company. This took place in December 2022.

Leonard also got $20 million in Aspiration shares directly from co-founder Joe Sanberg.