Reports: Clippers to Sign Kawhi Leonard, Acquire Paul George in Trade with Thunder
Kawhi Leonard has agreed to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers, Yahoo! Sports' Chris Haynes first reported on Friday night. It will be a four-year, $142 million max deal, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Clippers also acquired All-Star Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder for a record-setting collection of draft picks.
Leonard, 28, had been linked to the Lakers, Nets, Knicks and Raptors prior to his decision to sign with Clippers. According to Wojnarowski, Leonard had been recruiting George to Los Angeles, who requested a trade from the Thunder.
The 15th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft, Leonard spent seven seasons with the San Antonio Spurs before being traded to the Raptors prior to the 2018 season.
After being limited to nine games with the Spurs in 2017-18, Leonard appeared in 60 games for Toronto in the regular season and averaged 26.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
Leonard helped the Raptors overcome a 2–0 deficit in the Eastern Conference Finals with four straight wins to send his team to the NBA Finals.
He scored 36 points in a Game 4 win over the Warriors that gave Toronto a 3–1 series lead. In Game 6, he posted 22 points in a 114–110 win that gave the Raptors their first NBA title in franchise history.
In addition to being a two-time NBA champion and Finals MVP, Leonard earned Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2015 and 2016, is a three-time All-Star and has two All-NBA first-team selections.
