Clippers remain committed to building around Kawhi Leonard, James Harden

Clippers remain committed to building around Kawhi Leonard, James Harden

I was planning on doing a post about everything I was wrong about from the 2024-25 NBA Season (that I can remember), and smack dab at the top of that list will be the Los Angeles Clippers. I projected them to be a bottom-4 team in the West, yet they were a top-5 team, winning 50 games for the seventh time in franchise history with a top-5 defense and NET Rating.

The biggest part of that was the health and performance of James Harden, but also the late-season surge from Kawhi Leonard after missing the first half of the season due to an ailing knee injury.

Regardless of their injury histories and age–the Clippers entered the season as the third-oldest roster–general manager Lawrence Frank is still committed to building around those pillars.

“I definitely believe in those two,” Frank said Monday, according to ESPN. “We’ll keep on taking cracks at it and at the same time, we’ve always been open-minded and learning the errors of our way and finding areas where we can correct them and get better.

“I think looking at next year that we can be better with more games from Kawhi. … We have a great level of appreciation for what James did this year. I’m going in with the intent that if he doesn’t pick up his option that we’re going to be able to reach an agreement that works well for James and works well for the Clippers.”

In games that both Harden and Leonard started in each of the last two seasons, Los Angeles went 69-38 with a plus-8.5 NET Rating when both were on the floor.

Since Harden signed a two-year deal last season, he won’t be extension-eligible this offseason. But he will have a $36.3 million player option–accounting for 23.5 percent of the projected cap–that he will likely pick up. Leonard has two more years left on his contract beyond 2024-25 for roughly $50 million a pop, and he will be extension eligible after 2025-26.

The only player that is extension-eligible this offseason is Norman Powell, who had a career year in his first full-time season as a starter. He averaged 21.8 points on 48.4/41.8/80.4 shooting splits this season as one of the Clippers’ most potent two-way threats.

The Houston Rockets’ biggest need heading into offseason couldn’t be more clear

The conscious decision that Los Angeles must make is whether they pay Harden $40-plus million per year heading into his age-37 season and Leonard heading into his mid-to-late 30s. They aren’t getting any younger–or healthier. In today’s NBA–or any NBA, but especially this one with the CBA–paying aging stars either max dollars or close to max dollars isn’t it.

The Clippers have a solid foundation of veterans, but before they get even more expensive and old, they have to think about what’s necessary to have sustained success. I’m not sure paying both of those players large dollars at this stage of their careers is the wisest move, but I have been wrong before and will be wrong again.

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