The Los Angeles Clippers have a real opportunity in their hands to transform their team and secure their future, it's just up to them to seize it. 

They put their rebuild into motion at the trade deadline by dealing away James Harden and Ivica Zubac to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers respectively and gained a haul of talented young players and draft picks in return, with one pick already translating into a fifth-overall selection in the upcoming draft. 

Those moves alone have already set the Clippers up for the future, but they still have one big star left on the roster that they could leverage into an even better future foundation for the team and that's Kawhi Leonard. 

Granted, the Clippers have indicated that they'd like to retain Leonard for the future, but with him fresh off one of the best seasons of his career, Leonard's stock is high and the Clippers could use that too secure even more young players or draft picks to bolster their roster.

Leonard has been listed with Giannis Antetokounmpo as the two premier trade targets this summer, and a recent report from HoopsHype said that rival executives across the league are "monitoring Kawhi Leonard's future closely" in anticipation of his being put on the trade block after all. 

The fact that Leonard is so highly regarded at the same time that Antetokounmpo is likely on the trade market puts the Clippers in a uniquely advantageous position. With so many teams vying for Antetokounmpo and the Bucks likely demanding a high price for their franchise star, Leonard looks like a worthy consolation prize.

With the Clippers' rebuild already underway, they don't need to ask for a completely team-changing haul for Leonard the way that Milwaukee does for for Antetokounmpo and that lower price for an equivalently perceived player puts them in a good place ot negotiate for the precise pieces or picks that they want. 

Trading Leonard away would be the last step the Clippers would need to take to completely change their team and, although it would be the end of this current era of Clippers basketball where the team made several aggressive pushes toward a championship, it would set them up for the future. 

This will be the summer of potential for the Clippers as they can decide the direction of the team for years to come with just a few strategic moves, Leonard being the centerpiece of it all. 

It seems that the rest of the league is aware of that and now the ball is in the Clippers' court to execute the final stages of their plan.