The Los Angeles Clippers might have a significant offseason decision to make regarding franchise superstar Kawhi Leonard. Leonard had a career-best season in scoring in 2025-26, but the transitional Clippers still failed to make the Playoffs. He carried the team through a midseason shift to becoming younger, as James Harden and Ivica Zubac were traded for Darius Garland, Bennedict Mathurin, and the No. 5 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
With the Clippers looking toward the future, it might mean the end of Leonard’s time with the franchise, as the 35-year-old forward could compete for a championship somewhere else while allowing the Clippers to regain future assets by trading him. He averaged 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists last season.
One of the interested teams is expected to be the Golden State Warriors, who might use either Jimmy Butler’s $56.8 million contract in a standalone deal for Leonard with draft compensation, or a combination deal with Kristaps Porzingis and Draymond Green making the bulk of the package. The Miami Heat are also expected to be in the race, with potential packages built around Andrew Wiggins and young center Kel’el Ware.
The Athletic’s LA Clippers reporter Law Murray reacted to potential trade packages for Leonard from the Warriors, Heat, and Minnesota Timberwolves on ‘The Third Apron’ podcast. Murray dismissed the Clippers’ potential interest in packages from either the Warriors or the Heat.
“I don’t think the Clippers should be interested in taking back those current Warriors (Draymond Green or Jimmy Butler) or in Andrew Wiggins’ case, a former Warriors champion.”
The Clippers don’t control their 2027 first-round pick, so bottoming out and tanking with Butler’s contract sitting on their books as he recovers from an ACL tear is untenable for this franchise. Similarly, it’s hard to quantify how impactful Green and Porzingis could be on the Clippers compared to a potential Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle package from the Timberwolves.
This is a trade situation that will likely play out over the summer. Murray seemed to indicate the Clippers would prefer the Timberwolves’ package in a potential Leonard deal, since it guarantees them win-now players with Leonard’s fit in Minnesota also being a strong one.
“The Timberwolves [trade] is probably the best of those. It makes sense for Minnesota. I’m sure Minnesota would love to pair McDaniels, who works out with Kawhi, with Anthony Edwards. That allows them to look at next season and say ‘we can take another leap here’ whereas the Clippers would get the better players out of all the potential trade packages. It’s not the best draft capital, but it’s the best players.”
“Even though Rudy Gobert is old, he’s in incredible shape, and you know what you’re getting out of him. He’s a walking top-10 defense by himself, and he has another 2027 player option. Worst-case scenario, you have these guys for two years making this money. Best-case scenario, you get decent players who’ll be raising your floors defensively and offensively, you’ll have some things to figure out.”
The proposed Leonard trade deal also sends two first-round picks alongside Randle and Gobert for the rights to Leonard and Bradley Beal. This offer would be much stronger than anything the Warriors could offer, unless they overpay by attaching more than four future first-round picks in their offer.
Randle averaged 21.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.0 assists last season, while Gobert averaged 10.9 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks. Randle did fall off in the Playoffs, but his production guarantees the Clippers stay competitive with Gobert anchoring the defense, and perimeter scorers such as Garland and Mathurin also playing big roles in the offense.
Green averaged 8.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists last season, and could be a defensive anchor for the Clippers, but it’s hard to imagine him having success outside of Steve Kerr’s system. Gobert would be a safer choice as a defensive stalwart. Porzingis averaged 16.7 points and 5.2 rebounds last season, and is way too injury-prone and inconsistent for the Clippers to prefer acquiring him over Randle.
Watching Leonard alongside Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels would be fascinating, with second-year center Joan Beringer and veteran Naz Reid filling in the starting five roles left open by Gobert and Randle’s departure. This trade could work for all parties, but it will be dependent on how interested the Clippers are in moving on from Leonard.
We should know more closer to draft day, as they decide how to use their No. 5 pick.
