The Kawhi Leonard era might be ending soon for the Los Angeles Clippers, and it’s safe to say it won’t be looked back upon as a great one. Not only have the Clippers failed to come close to winning a title with Leonard, but he’s also missed a lot of time with injury, and the whole Aspiration scandal now hangs over them, too.
All things considered, the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Plaschke believes Leonard is the worst free-agent signing in Los Angeles sports history.
“Seven years later, Leonard has abused an organization, alienated a fan base and basically collected nearly $300 million of Steve Ballmer’s money and burned it.
“Seven years later, he has been injured, apathetic, entitled, disconnected and generally nothing but a pain in the backside for a reenergized franchise that deserved so much better.
“As the Clippers stare down another offseason Leonard dilemma — he’s in the middle of this Aspiration mess and in the final year of his contract — one thing is clear.
“Kawhi Leonard was the worst free-agent signing in Los Angeles sports history.”
Plaschke called Leonard lamer than Anthony Rendon, more disheartening than Jason Schmidt, more frustrating than Allen Robinson, and an even bigger joke than Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng. That was brutal.
It was, of course, the Los Angeles Lakers who had signed Mozgov and Deng to ridiculous contracts in 2016. They were both given four-year deals, with the latter getting $72 million and the former $64 million.
By the time 2019 came around, the Lakers weren’t just throwing money at anybody. They were notably interested in Leonard, who had become a free agent after leading the Toronto Raptors to the NBA championship in 2019. The Lakers already had LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and were looking to put together a formidable Big 3.
It was the Clippers, though, who managed to win the race for Leonard. He reportedly had a condition for joining them, however. The Clippers had to acquire Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder, and they did.
The Clippers gave up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, and a whole lot of draft capital for George. It wasn’t seen as a terrible trade at the time, but it has turned out to be one.
Gilgeous-Alexander has become a two-time MVP with the Thunder and led them to the championship in 2025. Two of those draft picks also turned in Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace. Williams made the All-NBA Third Team in 2025, while Wallace is one of the best defenders in the game today.
While the Thunder were putting together a terrific roster, the Clippers kept coming up short in their quest to win a title. That was largely because Leonard and George missed a lot of time due to injuries. The latter is not even on the team anymore, having left for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2024.
The George debacle is another reason why Plaschke is slapping this label on Leonard. He also ripped the seven-time All-Star for how he carried himself behind the scenes.
“From the moment he joined the team, under the direction of his powerful uncle Dennis Robertson, Leonard made it clear that this was all about Kawhi, his needs, his demands, his team.
“He wanted the Clippers to hire some members of his support staff. He wanted to skip media obligations and community events. He didn’t want to live in Los Angeles, instead commuting from San Diego County. And he didn’t want the Clippers to follow the NBA’s transparency rules involving injuries. They were basically told to never talk about Leonard’s nagging injuries.”
Plaschke called Leonard, who averaged 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.9 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game in 2025-26, a selfish basketball mercenary who exploited a desperate franchise. He was supposed to be the one to lead the Clippers to their first-ever NBA championship, but failed miserably at the task.
Now, all of this would have been bad enough, but then came the Aspiration scandal in 2025. It was alleged that the Clippers had attempted to circumvent the salary cap by paying Leonard $28 million via the now-bankrupt environmental company. Both parties have denied this, but they are still under investigation.
With all that has happened, it’s hard to argue against Plaschke here. There probably hasn’t been a signing that has proven to be this damaging to any team in any city, let alone Los Angeles.
Plaschke hopes Leonard, who has played just 331 out of a possible 554 regular-season games for the Clippers, does get traded this summer. He is reportedly open to returning to the Raptors or the San Antonio Spurs, and it will be interesting to see how this situation pans out.
