The Clippers could have multiple suitors this summer.
The Los Angeles Clippers went 42-40 this season and got knocked out by the Golden State Warriors in the play-in tournament.
After everything they went through, that's how it ended.
Houston noticed.
Sam Amick of The Athletic recently laid out the Rockets' offseason thinking after their first-round loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, and he didn't dance around it.
The Clippers' franchise player is definitely on their radar.
“They have the assets to put a good package together for Giannis or Kawhi Leonard,” Amick said. “I don't see Kevin Durant moving.”
What Houston Could Offer
The Rockets went 52-30 this season and they have the pieces to make a serious offer.
Alperen Sengun averaged 20.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 6.2 assists while earning his second All-Star selection, and his name has already come up as a trade centerpiece.
He is 23 years old on a five-year, $185 million extension, so the money actually lines up against Leonard's $50.3 million final-year salary.
Jabari Smith Jr., Reed Sheppard, and draft picks could get thrown in too depending on how aggressive Houston wants to be.
A recent trade proposal from ESPN had Sengun, Sheppard, and Steven Adams going to Los Angeles for Leonard and Brook Lopez.
That would hand the Clippers a legitimate young center and another backcourt piece next to Darius Garland, which is not nothing.
Should the Clippers Trade Kawhi With the Fifth Pick
Here's the thing about Kawhi Leonard right now.
He just averaged 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists while shooting 50.5 percent from the field across 65 games.
That might be the best version of him the Clippers have ever had on the court.
But he turns 35 in late June and has one year left on his deal.
The Clippers also landed the fifth overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft after a deadline deal with Indiana fell their way, and that pick complicates everything.
If the front office is really trying to build around youth and flexibility, trading Leonard while teams are lining up for him is probably the smart play.
Garland averaged 18.8 points and 6.7 assists after arriving from Cleveland at the deadline, and combining a Houston haul with a top-five pick in what scouts are calling one of the deepest drafts in recent memory would give Lawrence Frank something real to work with.
Leonard has said he wants to stay.
Frank has talked about building around him, but the Clippers already tried this.
They traded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a mountain of picks for Paul George, paired him with Leonard, and the team never got past the second round.
Going back to that same well feels reckless at this point.