Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has maintained a firm stance against trading Kawhi Leonard, according to Anthony Slater of ESPN.
Leonard has one year left on his contract. He will make $50.3 million next season.
The Golden State Warriors tried to acquire Leonard this season, but Ballmer didn’t want to part ways with the future Hall of Famer.
“League sources said Ballmer has maintained a firm stance against a Leonard trade, preferring to continue building around his star forward,” Slater wrote.
The Clippers have the fifth overall pick in this year’s draft. They acquired Darius Garland in the James Harden trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Isaiah Jackson and Bennedict Mathurin, along with draft picks, in the Ivica Zubac deal with the Indiana Pacers.
Leonard averaged 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game this season. The small forward played in 65 games, the most games he’s appeared in since the 2023-24 season, but the Clippers missed the playoffs after losing to the Warriors at home in the 9-10 play-in game.
A top-75 player of all time, Leonard has played for the San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors and Clippers. He holds career averages of 20.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game in the regular season and 21.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in the playoffs. Leonard has been traded once in his career. San Antonio traded him to Toronto in 2018.
Leonard is a two-time champion, two-time Finals MVP, two-time Defensive Player of the Year and seven-time All-Star. He doesn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract and turns 35 on June 29. The California native joined the Clippers in 2019 in free agency. LAC has never reached the NBA Finals in franchise history.
Along with the Warriors, Leonard has been linked to the Miami Heat in trade rumors. It will be fascinating to see if Ballmer keeps or trades Leonard, who has been interviewed by NBA investigators as part of the ongoing investigation into allegations that the Clippers circumvented the salary cap to compensate him.
