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Kawhi Leonard Rumors
The Clippers recently re-signed James Harden and added Brook Lopez and John Collins to go with Kawhi Leonard. The team won 50 games this past season despite having Leonard play in just 37 of them and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Nuggets in seven games. “We just thought the Clippers presented an opportunity for Brad to really be the best version of himself, to get back to being exactly who he is, which is a multiple time All-Star and All-NBA player,” Bartelstein said. Beal made three All-Star teams and an All-NBA team in his 11 years in Washington.
Vivek Jacob: Kawhi Leonard will make an appearance at Masai Ujiri's Giants of Africa Festival. Leonard will mentor campers, open a new 🏀 court in partnership with Giants of Africa at St. Ignatius School, and host a clinic for 50 local youth in one of Kigali’s most underserved districts.
Shams Charania: They looked into a few other options at the guard and wing positions but settled on Powell. From both the Jazz and Clippers perspectives, I'm told neither team was going to re-sign Powell or John Collins long-term. So both teams were able to go get players they feel will help. The Clippers wanted a lob threat, specifically for James Harden. Kawhi Leonard is playing more at the three and the four now. That gives them more versatility with John Collins.
Ohm Youngmisuk: Lawrence Frank thanks Norm Powell. He says Clippers have targeted John Collins for a long time and believe James Harden can really take advantage of Collins' athleticism as a rim threat. Collins also allows Kawhi to move back to small forward. A lot of versatility in front court.
Clippers were reluctant to sign Norman Powell to a contract extension before his trade to Miami
Michael Scotto: Sources: The Los Angeles Clippers were reluctant to give Norman Powell a long-term extension as he enters the final year of his deal ($20.48 million) with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden signed through the 2026-27 season. The Clippers are prioritizing significant cap space in 2027
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Los Angeles Clippers star forward Kawhi Leonard has several New Balance 480 V2s on the horizon, which he previewed last month at the Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks. Leonard made an appearance at a number of runway shows last week, where he was spotted in three previously unseen 480 V2s. He was seen at the Emporio Armani show wearing a reflective white-based colorway before switching to a tonal neon yellow iteration at the Louis Vuitton show.
Justin Russo: Lawrence Frank mentioned tonight that Kawhi Leonard ended up training "all the way until the end of the Finals" in order to keep up with his work and make sure that his body could go through the long sustained rigors of a potential deep playoff run. Leonard came out of it fine.
Law Murray: Lawrence Frank says that Kawhi Leonard trained all the way through the 2025 NBA Finals. Adds that he will now continue with his normal summer routine, healthy.
Erik Slater: Asked Noa Essengue if there are any NBA players he studies or models his game after: “I’d say guys like Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, Kawhi. They can really do everything on the court. Play defense, dribble, shooting.” pic.x.com/5cWSMsvftS
Chris Mannix: Pascal Siakam, on what he learned from @Kawhi Leonard: "Being even-keeled. I think Kawhi, no matter what happened, he is always the same. That's something I try to have for me. It's like no matter good or bad, make shots, miss shots, it doesn't really matter. Just be yourself."
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Kevin Durant is expected to be traded before the 2025 NBA Draft, and league sources tell RG the Toronto Raptors are among the teams seriously evaluating a deal, despite not being on Durant’s preferred destination list. It’s a familiar dynamic for Toronto, which took a similar approach in 2018 by acquiring Kawhi Leonard and capitalizing on a one-year window to win an NBA championship.
Tom Haberstroh: Jalen WIlliams just did something -- score 40+ in a Finals game -- that the following players have never done: Larry Bird Hakeem Olajuwon Karl Malone Kawhi Leonard Dirk Nowitzki
Marc Stein: What you're hearing now on Kevin Durant, there are teams out there that are saying, you know what, we know he's only under contract for one more year at about 55 million. We're willing to gamble on him. And the Toronto Raptors are one of those teams. And the Toronto Raptors have already done this. They've already gambled on a Hall-of-Fame-bound forward who had one year left on his deal, traded for Kawhi Leonard, won a championship, and immediately lost Kawhi Leonard.
One additional team to monitor, sources said, is the Clippers, who have the contracts to make another move to augment the roster around Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, presuming the latter either opts into his contract or signs a new deal this offseason. Multiple league sources said they were skeptical the price for Durant in a trade would get to a place where Phoenix would be satisfied with it. What does seem clear is that this saga could easily be wrapped up on, or by, draft night on June 25. And with the weak free agent class and the lack of teams with cap space, one source said this year's draft could easily wind up being an even busier night than normal -- and it could be the high point of activity this summer.
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