The Los Angeles Clippers locked up superstar forward Kawhi Leonard for at least the next three seasons, inking him to a 4-year, $176 million contract extension, with the 4th year being a player option. By securing the 2-time Finals MVP to a long-term deal, the Clippers now have both their star players in contract until the 2023-24 season, with Paul George signing his own 4-year, $190 million deal last December.

Clippers Nation must feel relieved with this development as their squad should remain championship contenders through the next three to four years. However, it is still worth wondering if PG13 will 100% still remain in the Clippers' future plans following Leonard's extension.

Perhaps the easy answer to that is a “yes” considering L.A.'s moves over the last couple of summers. For the most part, the Clips have kept their core in tact. Obviously, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are the two main pieces and everything revolves around them. But all signs point to them looking to establish continuity in these next couple of years.

They re-upped Marcus Morris last offseason with a 4-year, $64-million deal and extended the same deal to Luke Kennard, whom they acquired during the 2020 NBA draft. They were also able to bring back Reggie Jackson to a team-friendly 2-year deal worth $22 million.

With that, it is hard to envision the Clippers not seeing Paul George as part of their future plans. In fact, PG13 should be their no. 1 option for majority of the 2021-22 season, with Leonard still out indefinitely due to a partially torn right ACL. Their title hopes next year may seem murky with Leonard's availability uncertain. But George should be up to the task to lead his troops once again, especially after they made the Western Conference Finals for the first time in their franchise's history.

Granted that Leonard returns healthy and is the same dominant player he was during the 2021 postseason, there is good reason to believe the Clippers' championship window will remain open as long as he is around. With that, it's highly unlikely for the Clips to move on from George.

He and Leonard have built great chemistry with each other. Moreover, the Clips brought back one of his good buddies in Reggie Jackson.

Had Kawhi Leonard not gotten hurt in this past postseason, who knows just how much deeper the Clippers would have gone. Leonard was absolutely playing out of his mind until his injury and Paul George annihilated his Pandemic P image with his valiant effort of leading his squad throughout the conference finals. It was certainly possible they could have won the 2021 NBA title if Leonard did not get injured.

Still, it's hard to rule out this idea completely. George has had some playoff meltdowns in the past. If his performance in last year's playoffs was the anomaly, and he plays poorly in the next postseason, thereby leading to another disappointing playoff exit, then perhaps the Clippers could look to find a new partner for Kawhi Leonard. If there's a trade out there for a better player than PG13 (and there aren't too many of them), L.A. might just consider pulling the trigger.

Nevertheless, as it stands, Paul George should remain locked in as one of the Clippers' main pieces in their pursuit of an NBA championship.