After seven years, 329 games, $294M in salary, 35 playoff games, three series wins, nearly 200 words spoken aloud, and $48M in endorsement money that led to zero trees planted, the Kawhi Leonard Era is over for the Los Angeles Clippers.
The team sent Leonard to the Toronto Raptors, where he gave Canada their lone major professional title in the last 33 years by defeating the Golden State Warriors, Kevin Durant’s Achilles tendon, and Klay Thompson’s ACL in a hard-fought 2019 NBA Finals. “The Claw”
heads back to the Great White North in exchange for Brandon Ingram, two first-round picks, a first-round pick swap, and Gradey Dick, to the delight of Clippers fans who want a naughty word on their team jerseys.
This officially closes the door on the once-promising Clippers era that started in 2019. After the “Lob City” Clippers won the hearts of Southern California fans and very few big playoff games, the Clips and owner Steve Ballmer said goodbye to Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan over two seasons to build around Leonard.
The Clippers clinched their recruitment of Leonard with massive under-the-table payments a trade for Paul George, a deal that cost them future two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and six first-round picks, one which turned into All-NBA forward Jalen Williams. That team looked like title favorites in 2019-20, but unfortunately, they still had Doc Rivers as their coach. Which meant they blew a 3-1 lead in the playoffs.
Leonard tore his ACL during the 2021 playoffs, while the Clippers advanced to the Western Conference Finals with him on the bench. He missed the next season, got hurt in the Clippers’ first-round losses in 2023 and 2024, then lost in the first round while healthy in 2025. The last game of his Clippers career saw Draymond Green shut down Leonard in an epic Warriors comeback that was arguably the greatest 9-10 play-in game win in franchise history.
Now the Clippers have nearly moved on completely. George is frustrating the fans of Philadelphia. James Harden is revitalizing the gentlemen’s club economy of Northeast Ohio as a Cleveland Cavalier. Patrick Beverley is somewhere bragging on a podcast or punching a relative. And Doc Rivers has retired from coaching, until the Shanghai Sharks decide to shake up their team some time in 2028.
They’re left with Brandon Ingram and the somewhat-regrettable $82M left on his contract for two years, plus Dick, the No. 13 pick from the 2023 draft and a three-point specialist who can’t actually shoot. The real prizes are the Raptors’ unprotected first-rounders in 2031 and 2033, while the pick swap for next season effectively gives the Clippers the Raptors first-round pick instead of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s.
Now the Clippers team is centered around Ingram, 26-year-old point guard Darius Garland, and 19-year-old rookie guard Keaton Wagler, the No. 5 pick in last week’s draft. That indicates the Clippers may no longer being going for it hard every season, not that it generally got them out of the first round anyway.
As for Leonard, Canada has universal health care, which should be great for his injury history, and plenty of trees. Whatever happens with the NBA’s investigation of Leonard’s seemingly-illegal deal with Aspiration, he’s already fled the country! Plus, with Leonard, Scottie Barnes, and young big man Collin Murray-Boyles, the Raptors have a potentially-terrifying defense and a real window to contend — along with some scary risk on the 2031 and 2033 picks.
As for the Warriors, their biggest nemeses in Southern California — Leonard and LeBron James — are both splitting town. Time for Dubs fans to develop a healthy dislike for Ingram and, I dunno, Deandre Ayton? It’s just not the same.
