The Los Angeles Clippers have worked hard to where they are right now as a team that's embarked on a rapid rebuild and infused their team with a lot of young talent, especially by using moves involving trading away their superstars in Ivica Zubac and James Harden for players and assets.

But, the Clippers do still have one more superstar that's been heavily mentioned in trade speculation this past offseason and that's Kawhi Leonard. 

Coming off a career best season, Leonard has been one of the most talked about trade prospects since the regular season and especially now Giannis Antetokounmpo is off the board, Leonard stands out as the most talented player that's been mentioned in trade talks. 

A plethora of teams have been linked to Leonard, especially in the last week, and even now that the 2026 NBA Draft has passed and teams obviously can't make their draft picks from this past raft available, the Clippers still have the potential of a huge haul on their hands that could upgrade their team depth even further. 

But, despite all of the factors that could sway the Clippers toward trading away Leonard, a recent report from ClutchPoints has indicated that the Clippers are committed to winning with Leonard and aren't interested in trading him away. 

“Owner Steve Ballmer and executive Lawrence Frank have always supported Kawhi, especially throughout the NBA's investigation into the whole ordeal with Aspiration this past year, and Frank has made it abundantly clear that the organization's plan is to win with Leonard. That mindset has not changed yet, and the Clippers are not actively seeking trades involving Leonard, multiple sources told ClutchPoints."

There are both basketball and sentimental reasons to keep Leonard around for Los Angeles. 

On the basketball side of things, Leonard did just assert that when healthy he is at least a top-10 player in basketball, if not higher, and keeping that level of talent around to anchor an otherwise very young team could help the Clippers stay competitive now while also letting their roster mature. 

In terms of sentimentality, Leonard was the first real superstar to join this new era of the Clippers, with essentially every move and superstar acquisition the Clippers have made since being in service of Leonard to help bring him and Los Angeles a championship.

Throughout that process, Leonard has been plagued by injuries and hasn't been able to realize the full potential the Clippers were expecting. 

Now that Leonard has been mostly healthy and the Clippers have built a strong supporting cast around him to both aid him on the court and learn from him off of it, the Clippers could feel a sense of obligation to see things through with Leonard.