Kawhi Leonard Contract Details Reveal He Just Tightened Clippers Window Even Further
By Will Fowler
Clipper nation, go crazy. You got your guys.
After Kawhi Leonard and Paul George packed their bags and headed to the West Coast, oddsmakers quickly your team the favorites to win the NBA Finals in 2019-20.
And based on the newest details of the contracts of Leonard and George, you better hope they're right.
Leonard has signed a two-plus-one and aligned his contract with Paul George -- with both players having the ability via player option to enter 2021 free agency. https://t.co/ZK3Z5huqiu
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 10, 2019
Giving Leonard the potential to jump ship with George after just two years?
That's risky.
The Clips should absolutely be considered among the favorites to win next year's title -- after the mini destruction of the Golden State superteam, the league has gone from "Warriors vs. Eastern Conference Winners" to an association with plenty of teams possessing the firepower to make a deep run. The duo of Leonard and George may very well lead that pack.
But, just a week after acquiring the big names, the window may already be closing -- especially if both players decide to hit free agency in 2021.
The Kawhi Leonard surprises don't stop. In the end he chose to sign just a two-year deal with the Clippers with a player option for Year 3 ... sacrificing even more guaranteed money and putting him on the exact same track as Paul George
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 10, 2019
The moves certainly won't stop here for the Clippers, though. Jerry West is a living genius, and he understands that the time is now, maybe more for his team than any other team in the NBA.
But he better act fast. Because if things go wrong, 2021 could be an awful summer in Los Angeles.