The LA Clippers seemingly decided to blow it up at the NBA trade deadline, opting for young players and draft picks over established veteran stars. James Harden and Ivica Zubac were jettisoned with Darius Garland, Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson and two first-round picks in their place. And supposedly, rival teams tried to pry away the third piece of the puzzle in Kawhi Leonard right up until the final hour of the trade deadline, as per NBA insider Marc Stein.
“League sources tell The Stein Line that the LA Clippers were hit with multiple trade inquiries for Kawhi Leonard in the final hour before last Thursday’s 3 pm ET trade deadline sounded after it had become known league-wide that the Clippers had agreed to send Ivica Zubac to Indiana,” Stein reported.
Stein suggested that Leonard’s situation is one that teams are monitoring, and there is expected to be continued trade interest once the offseason arrives. Leonard will be entering the final year of a three-year contract he signed with the Clippers ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Since starting off the season at 6-21, the Clippers have made a miraculous turnaround having won 17 of their last 21 games. They are now firmly in the race for the play-in presently in ninth place in the Western Conference standings with a record of 25-27.
It’s been the play of Leonard that has been a major reason behind the Clippers surge in the standings. He’s appeared in 39 games at a little over 32 minutes per game. He’s been averaging a career-high 28.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.1 steals with splits of 49.5 percent shooting from the field, 38.9 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 91.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
While initially being left out of the All-Star Game, Leonard was recently named as an injury replacement, making this his seventh career All-Star appearance.
