Once upon a time, the Los Angeles Clippers mortgaged everything to pair up Kawhi Leonard with Paul George. They built a team that was supposed to rival the Los Angeles Lakers for supremacy in the city. Fast forward to 2026, that duo is gone and it's Leonard quietly telling everyone there are no championship aspirations left for his franchise this season.
Clippers beat writer Joey Linn asked the franchise superstar what the team needed to do for them to break into that contender tier. The response from the two-time NBA champion was extremely telling.
"Just development over time," Leonard said. "I think it's over now. It's the second half, fourth of the season left. But every day is a day to grow, a day to learn and get better. So, you just gotta keep looking over time and see in two weeks if we get better. And see what happens from there."
Kawhi Leonard hints Clippers are taking a future-minded approach
Did you catch it? It sure sounded like Leonard admitted this season is all but done for the Clippers in terms of any real titles hopes. Granted, that should not be too surprising.
Leonard, himself, has been playing tremendous basketball for the majority of the year. The Clippers still dug themselves an ugly hole at the beginning of this campaign.
To their credit, they did a tremendous job bouncing back from the rough start. They climbed out of the Western Conference basement and back into the Play-In standings. Then, the trade deadline arrived.
That key threshold of the NBA season saw the Clippers get rid of two core pieces in James Harden and Ivica Zubac for added youth. Darius Garland was on his way back to their organization, along with Bennedict Mathurin, as the two main selling points of their trade returns. There's also the matter of acquiring the Indiana Pacers' protected first-round pick for this season.
The moves still all signaled the same thing: the Clippers were prioritizing an approach that did not just revolve around saving what was left of this season. Leonard simply said as much out loud. There is no real pathway to a championship in 2025-26 for the other Los Angeles team.
In a way, both teams in the city are thinking about the future right now. With the Lakers, theirs will just be much more immediate with Luka Doncic at the helm and an offseason makeover looming.