The LA Clippers held their Media Day, marking the start of the 2021-22 season. Star forward Kawhi Leonard is not expected to participate in most of camp as he's recovering from surgery on his partially torn ACL.
Leonard was a free agent entering this past offseason with an opportunity to explore his options. Although most expected him to stay, Leonard's mysterious and quiet nature left the door open for anything.
A few days into free agency, most teams with salary cap space verbally committed their money elsewhere. News then came out that Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers agreed to a four-year, $173 million deal.
The surprising part of the deal wasn't that Leonard returned, but rather the type of contract he chose. Leonard could've signed a two-year deal with a player option for the second season. He would then opt out of that and sign a five-year, supermax deal worth $235 million.
So why didn't Kawhi go with the option that would've secured him significantly more money?
“Because I wanted to play,” Leonard told members of the in-person media. “I mean, the best situation for me to me was to do it one and one and then opt out and sign a long-term five-year deal, but there's a lot of concerns that that brings up for you guys and your job and it creates storylines that I'm going to leave the team. One thing, I wanted to secure some money, and I wanted to be able to come back if I was able to this year. If I would have took the one and one, I probably would have not played just to be cautious and opted out and took a five-year.”
By electing to sign the three-year deal with a player option for the fourth year, Kawhi Leonard aligned his contract up with Paul George's. Both players will have the ability to opt out of their deals ahead of the 2024-25 season, when the Clippers are expected to open their new arena, the Intuit Dome.
“I'm here,” Leonard affirmed. “I'm here to be a Clipper. I'm not going to another team unless something drastic happens, but I'm here for the long run.”
"I'm here. I'm here to be a Clipper. I'm not going to any other team. I'm here for the long run."
Kawhi Leonard explains his decision to sign the 4-year deal as opposed to the 1+1 and then the 5-year max deal. pic.twitter.com/37Oc9fNrGx
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) September 27, 2021
Leonard wouldn't dive into specifics as far as how long he'll be out or how his recovery from the operation is going, but he did say he's become more involved with the coaching staff.
“When that available date comes, we'll be ready for it, and it'll be out in the public.
“It's very challenging, since being injured and not really feeling like I was injured. That's the challenge of it, just seeing how quickly I can get better and how much stronger I can get than what I was when I'm healthy. That's where I pretty much turn my mindset to. Now just watching games as a coach, being in the coaches' meetings and trying to make myself relevant as possible.”
With Leonard out, Paul George will pick up where he left off last postseason and lead the Clippers.
“He gave it all he had that last playoff run. It was even hard to watch them, like I said, just being hurt. But they did their thing. Everybody did, stepped up, played in a great way, did a good job. Yeah, and this season, it's going to be different. I'm not there to really start training camp, but I think he's motivated enough and knows what he can do. He always knows — he's been proving himself over the years in this league, from becoming a defender to a leader scorer to a two-way player.”
The Clippers will head to San Diego for training camp for the next week before returning home for their first preseason game on October 4th.
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