Kawhi Leonard Injury update

[MartinToVaught]

We are more likely to be a 30-win team with the $150 million albatross taking up a roster spot and never playing than if we had someone who can actually play games in that spot instead. It doesn't need to be a superstar or a lottery pick, just someone who actually plays games and doesn't suck would be enough to make us better. We won 42 games a few years ago with a worse roster on paper than we have right now, and easily could have won more if it wasn't for Doc and Austin.

You can't have a $150 million boat anchor who never plays and expect to beat other teams who don't have that problem.

[Bobbymcgee]

I don't think Chicago would even trade Zach LaVine for Leonard at this point.

[KingCrimzzon]

We are more likely to be a 30-win team with the $150 million albatross taking up a roster spot and never playing than if we had someone who can actually play games in that spot instead. It doesn't need to be a superstar or a lottery pick, just someone who actually plays games and doesn't suck would be enough to make us better. We won 42 games a few years ago with a worse roster on paper than we have right now, and easily could have won more if it wasn't for Doc and Austin.

You can't have a $150 million boat anchor who never plays and expect to beat other teams who don't have that problem.

While this is true, you cant sell this low on Leonard right now. It seems the going rate for these kinds of deals is like 2-3 FRPs and some salary match. This would be a nice haul and probably could be obtained at the deadline if he's playing and serviceable (this applies to Harden too). So we dont have much of a choice but to ride this thing out until we can get some value.

[og15]

We are more likely to be a 30-win team with the $150 million albatross taking up a roster spot and never playing than if we had someone who can actually play games in that spot instead. It doesn't need to be a superstar or a lottery pick, just someone who actually plays games and doesn't suck would be enough to make us better. We won 42 games a few years ago with a worse roster on paper than we have right now, and easily could have won more if it wasn't for Doc and Austin.

You can't have a $150 million boat anchor who never plays and expect to beat other teams who don't have that problem.

While this is true, you cant sell this low on Leonard right now. It seems the going rate for these kinds of deals is like 2-3 FRPs and some salary match. This would be a nice haul and probably could be obtained at the deadline if he's playing and serviceable (this applies to Harden too). So we dont have much of a choice but to ride this thing out until we can get some value.

Sadly yes, if you're going to sell super low, the return offers would be a guy with a large contract that you don't want anyways.

[esqtvd]

Sadly yes, if you're going to sell super low, the return offers would be a guy with a large contract that you don't want anyways.

You mean, like I said in the first place.

The problem is the return. A HEALTHY Kawhi could put most any top contender over the top, but all they'd have to offer is spare parts and high 20s draft picks. Kawhi is NOT a 29 year old PG or KD--whose deals never really panned out, BTW--so he's of no value to 3/4 of the teams. The massive 5-FRP haul is probably dead since the new CBA came in and if we ever see it again, it won't be for a creaky max albatross.

Until the Clippers get their picks back, treading water and trying to finish over .500 is the only smart move with the new $2B Ballmerdome. 30-win teams will turn it into a mausoleum and a laughingstock. The Toilet.

Everybody has a great point about Kawhi not being any kind of "face of the franchise." There is no value-added at all for all those tens of millions at this point. But at least there's hope. Unless we can get more than somebody's expiring contracts and monkey picks, there's no percentage in dumping him for the sake of dumping him. After this team gets some familiarity together and a defensive identity, adding Kawhi to it can create some excitement and win some games.

Somebody might bite at the trade deadline, but how do you match his $49 million in salary without giving up your own key contributors?

There was an interesting observation on Twitter last night--In their haste to screw Ballmer and GSW and some other deep pocketed teams, the owners screwed small market teams like Minnesota and Denver too. The Wolves didn't get fair value for KAT, and the Nuggets' bench is a toxic waste dump.

[og15]

Sadly yes, if you're going to sell super low, the return offers would be a guy with a large contract that you don't want anyways.

You mean, like I said in the first place.

The problem is the return. A HEALTHY Kawhi could put most any top contender over the top, but all they'd have to offer is spare parts and high 20s draft picks. Kawhi is NOT a 29 year old PG or KD--whose deals never really panned out, BTW--so he's of no value to 3/4 of the teams. The massive 5-FRP haul is probably dead since the new CBA came in and if we ever see it again, it won't be for a creaky max albatross.

Until the Clippers get their picks back, treading water and trying to finish over .500 is the only smart move with the new $2B Ballmerdome. 30-win teams will turn it into a mausoleum and a laughingstock. The Toilet.

Everybody has a great point about Kawhi not being any kind of "face of the franchise." There is no value-added at all for all those tens of millions at this point. But at least there's hope. Unless we can get more than somebody's expiring contracts and monkey picks, there's no percentage in dumping him for the sake of dumping him. After this team gets some familiarity together and a defensive identity, adding Kawhi to it can create some excitement and win some games.

Somebody might bite at the trade deadline, but how do you match his $49 million in salary without giving up your own key contributors?

There was an interesting observation on Twitter last night--In their haste to screw Ballmer and GSW and some other deep pocketed teams, the owners screwed small market teams like Minnesota and Denver too. The Wolves didn't get fair value for KAT, and the Nuggets' bench is a toxic waste dump.

There can always be unintended consequences, but they've locked in their CBA now, so they'll have to live with it until there's time to renegotiate.

Lesson probably not learned though. Maybe it normalizes and fewer non top tier guys are given max contracts

[esqtvd]

Let's add one more element to the discussion--it's bad form to trade away anyone who signed with you of their own free will as a UFA, especially in the first year or two of the deal. They could have picked their own destination and signed there in the first place, and a S&T would have cleared the necessary cap space.

The stench of what Ballmer did to Blake is still in the air. That's why PG demanded a no-trade clause. He was not going to end up in Detroit like poor Blake did.

[KingCrimzzon]

Let's add one more element to the discussion--it's bad form to trade away anyone who signed with you of their own free will as a UFA, especially in the first year or two of the deal. They could have picked their own destination and signed there in the first place, and a S&T would have cleared the necessary cap space.

The stench of what Ballmer did to Blake is still in the air. That's why PG demanded a no-trade clause. He was not going to end up in Detroit like poor Blake did.

I would also like to add that ownership doesn't have anyone they feel they are ready to move on to like they did with Blake Griffin. This probably means A) the tampering allegations are highly likely to be true and B) they still think that Kawhi is the star they want. Despite the conventional wisdom to trade him when he has value again, they probably won't because they are still delusional in him being their superstar.

[Ballings7]

Kawhi is becoming an albatross and acquiring him has been a disaster.

I genuinely can't think of anything good he's done for the Clippers. It's just been endless drama, disappointment, and franchise-ruining demands. The one WCF run was all thanks to Mann and Kenny Atkinson while Kawhi was in street clothes like always.

Now, after hundreds of millions have been spent on a player who never plays, the team's somehow getting sued for playing him too much! You can't make this up. This is the type of **** that only happens to the Clippers.

they wouldn't have beat Dallas without Kawhi, so it disingenuous to say they would have made the WCF without him

100% -- no Kawhi, no Utah, and no WCF either, in 2021.

Also, while it was the regular season.. that 26-5 run is a franchise highlight for sure. No 26-5 run without Kawhi; some of the most fun basketball I've seen.

Kawhi proved when healthy he is still a top 5 player in the league last season (and in the 2023 playoffs), but he just can't stay healthy.

For Kawhi and this team, it probably is long-term better to trade him at this point, and probably should of been done this past summer. I would not be surprised if Kawhi is traded at the deadline or next summer at least.

Scrap up, trim down, and get ready for 2026 off-season.

Doesn't matter to me when people talk about the marketing stuff and Kawhi so much, is that something the could be better from Kawhi? Yes, but at the end of the day I care about Kawhi's game and level of play on the court, and his significance to the league when he retires. Kawhi's personality and the negative events he had earlier in his life shaped how he grew up as a human being, and thus lack of emotions or "character" personality-wise, and only opens up in more private spaces.

Kawhi will be a first ballot HOF and at the end of the day, a legitimately all-time great player, from people who truly know the game and respect what comes from the game. All this talk from the Media will be noise and ramblings in the future, from people who didn't appreciate his game/enough. Kawhi is prominently, credibly, and positively synomous with the LeBron James era, and was one of his few actual rivals that got the better of him multiple times.

Media have their preferences and desire their ability to "connect" with a player, present things to followers/viewers, and get material to boost their own status and career -- so when a player that is as good as Kawhi is doesn't meet that expectation and standard and doesn't really present himself to the Media past the average; they're sour. Means absolutely nothing to me at the end of the day. Tough cookies.

Yes Kawhi can't stay on the court, but this is in the context of when he has played.

I care about what happens on the court the most in terms of what appeals for a player, not off of it (within reason).

[MartinToVaught]

Let's add one more element to the discussion--it's bad form to trade away anyone who signed with you of their own free will as a UFA, especially in the first year or two of the deal. They could have picked their own destination and signed there in the first place, and a S&T would have cleared the necessary cap space.

The stench of what Ballmer did to Blake is still in the air. That's why PG demanded a no-trade clause. He was not going to end up in Detroit like poor Blake did.

It's even worse form for a player to make the team trade away the next 10+ years of their future upfront just to get them to sign and then barely play any games.

Kawhi is not a sympathetic figure here. Even the national media, who's otherwise as rabidly pro-"player empowerment" as it gets, is trashing him daily now. The Clippers have jumped through so many hoops, for so long, and for so little in return that it would be impossible for any rational observer to blame them for wanting to move on from Kawhi.

[esqtvd]

Let's add one more element to the discussion--it's bad form to trade away anyone who signed with you of their own free will as a UFA, especially in the first year or two of the deal. They could have picked their own destination and signed there in the first place, and a S&T would have cleared the necessary cap space.

The stench of what Ballmer did to Blake is still in the air. That's why PG demanded a no-trade clause. He was not going to end up in Detroit like poor Blake did.

It's even worse form for a player to make the team trade away the next 10+ years of their future upfront just to get them to sign and then barely play any games.

Kawhi is not a sympathetic figure here. Even the national media, who's otherwise as rabidly pro-"player empowerment" as it gets, is trashing him daily now. The Clippers have jumped through so many hoops, for so long, and for so little in return that it would be impossible for any rational observer to blame them for wanting to move on from Kawhi.

Only 2 or 3 years. They let PG leave. And Kawhi signed in February, on the heels of the best win streak in years and we were arguably the best team in the NBA. The 213 Project was finally coming to fruition. Kawhi signed for less than max years/money and didn't demand a no-trade contract.


Since the Clippers are screwed in the draft for the next 2-4 years anyway and there's no benefit in tanking because of the pick swaps, re-signing Kawhi and Beard cost the Clippers nothing except money, which Ballmer has plenty of. Might as well enjoy the new arena, try to win a few games and have some fun. It's really just that simple.

Watch on YouTube

I suppose they could have gone after DeRozan and Klay Thompson instead but they're just as old and I don't see that as any kind of upgrade. None of the other UFAs made it to the open market and re-signed for the max with their own teams. Beard is already proving his worth and if Kawhi even plays 50 games, we're at least looking at a winning season instead of a 50-loss misery.

[LamarWho]

LMAO even the KTLA news anchor is taking a stab at Kawhi

Watch on YouTube

[Scoundreldays]

So is Kawhi actually going to play this season?

[Clemenza]

So is Kawhi actually going to play this season?

Really I just want him to play a nice stretch of games so we end up with a better record than Houston and we get to keep our pick. He can sit out the playoffs for all I care if we were to make it that far.

[disoblige]

So is Kawhi actually going to play this season?

I have him in my fantasy. How much you think he will play this season? After reading the lawsuit, I think 10. Would you agree? Should I drop him in fantasy?

Edit: Nvm, I dropped him. The lawsuit is very concerning. The fact is he isnt even practicing shows that he is far from healed.

Read on Twitter

[Scoundreldays]

So is Kawhi actually going to play this season?

I have him in my fantasy. How much you think he will play this season? After reading the lawsuit, I think 10. Would you agree? Should I drop him in fantasy?

Edit: Nvm, I dropped him. The lawsuit is very concerning. The fact is he isnt even practicing shows that he is far from healed.

Read on Twitter

I honestly think this will be a repeat of 2018 for him. Need to fire whoever thought it was a great idea to give him that extension.

[madmaxmedia]

So is Kawhi actually going to play this season?

Really I just want him to play a nice stretch of games so we end up with a better record than Houston and we get to keep our pick. He can sit out the playoffs for all I care if we were to make it that far.

Bingo, that’s the #1 most important thing right there. That’s the most realistic shot at improving the team the next couple of seasons, even if it’s a mid 1st at best. You usually don’t end up with a star there, but hey we drafted SGA early mid 1st…

If we can get Kawhi for 50 games I think we can do it, we’re tied so far with a superhuman effort from Norm.

[madmaxmedia]

Who comes back first- Zion or Kawhi?

[esqtvd]

WARNING--NSFW

Pat Bev spoke to Kawhi
very encouraging

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[og15]

WARNING--NSFW

Pat Bev spoke to Kawhi
very encouraging

Read on Twitter

Saw that, Pat Bev gives us more of an update than other sources lol