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Stephen A. Smith Doesn’t Know If It’s In Clippers ‘Best Interest’ To Keep Kawhi Leonard Around

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Stephen A. Smith had a hot take this morning when he declared that it might be the best course of action for the Clippers to let Kawhi Leonard go

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 03: LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) during the NBA regular season basketball game agains the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, Feb. 3, 2020 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif. (Photo by Ric Tapia/Icon Sportswire)

Just last week, FS1 talking head revealed that he had sources inside the Clippers organization tell him that Kawhi Leonard is fed up with how the team doctors downplayed his injury during the playoffs. So much so, that Bayless believes Kawhi Leonard has probably played his last game as a member of the organization.

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Skip Bayless’ old pal, Stephen A. Smith, agrees that Kawhi Leonard might be done in Los Angeles. But he has a different take.

Stephen A. thinks it might be in the Clippers’ best interest to move on from their superstar.

“Let me be clear about something. Kawhi Leonard is a top-five talent in this game. He is elite. But when you take into account the load management, when you take into account that his personality doesn’t actually gravitate towards leadership… then you combine that with the fact that he’s not necessarily reliable, at least this postseason. He hasn’t gotten any younger or what have you. You look at the elevation of Terrence Mann, this second year player, who clearly is not on Kawhi’s level, but if you look at the athleticism, the youth, the fervor, the “want it” mentality… and you’re talking about building a culture then I’m sorry. I think that it’s something that [Steve] Balmer and the crew have to think about long term.”

Kawhi Leonard has a player option for $36 Million for the 2021-22 season. Even if he is pissed off at the teams handling of his injury, it’s hard to imagine him turning down all that cash.

With that being said, the Clippers could still trade that money to another team, who would likely extend Leonard to a long term deal.

If Kawhi Leonard hit the market, yet again, he’d still be a hot commodity for many teams. But we’re starting to see a trend with Kawhi, and teams might want to be wary.

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