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Over the weekend Kawhi Leonard stunned the NBA world when he signed with the LA Clippers after recruiting Paul George and asking him to request a trade from the OKC Thunder.
Oklahoma City is trading All-Star Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers for a record-setting collection of draft choices, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019
Kawhi Leonard has agreed to a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 6, 2019
At the time Leonard was expected to sign a 4-year max contract worth $141 million.
Sources: As expected, Kawhi Leonard: four-year, $142M maximum contract.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019
Today, Kawhi threw another curveball and surprised the NBA community when he decided to sign a short-term contract with the team.
Kawhi Leonard has signed his Los Angeles Clippers contract — a three-year, $103M maximum contract with a player option in the third season, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 10, 2019
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
The deal not only gives Kawhi the flexibility to leave the Clippers after two years but it also allows him to sign the veteran max.
Kawhi Leonard’s 2+1 contract with Clippers preserves his ability to opt out as a 10-year veteran (after 2 years, $67M) and sign a 35% max deal in 2021. He’d only have Early Bird rights with L.A. then, so it would project to be 4 years, $196M (or 4/$188M with any other team).
— Albert Nahmad (@AlbertNahmad) July 10, 2019
It’s still pretty stunning how shrewd Kawhi has been during this entire free agency period but it seems like he’s been making all the smart moves.
What makes it surprising is that Cris Carter — believed to be as close as anyone to Team Kawhi — reported last week that Leonard was not discussing short-term deals. In Carter's defense, I'm not sure we've ever seen a superstar free agent whose summer was this FLUID
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 10, 2019