Kawhi Leonard had the benefit of health for the first time in a long time in the 2025-26 season and with it he showed exactly why he's still one of the premier stars in the NBA. 

In 65 games, Leonard hit a new career-high in average points with 27.9 while adding 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game. He was a game-changer on the floor and while his offense was statistically stunning, his defense, which has long been revered, was just as impressive. 

The season that he had brought the Los Angeles Clippers back from the brink and it netted Leonard an All-Star selection and MVP nods. Now, which his stock as high as it's been since Leonard first joined the Clippers back in 2019, the team is left with a difficult decision. 

Do they ride it out with Leonard or do they capitalize on his season and trade him away?

The Clippers have put the pedal to the floor when it comes to a rebuild and they've shown that they're not afraid of parting ways with talent already when they traded both Ivica Zubac and James Harden at the deadline. 

Those moves have already paid off considering that they received Darius Garland in exchange for Harden and the fifth-overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft in exchange for Zubac, along with future first and second round picks and talented young players Bennedict Mathurin and Isiah Jackson.

Receiving the fifth-overall pick was a masterful gambit by Lawrence Frank that did have the benefit of luck, but it also sets the Clippers up for the future. 

Looking toward the future completely appears to be in the Clippers' best interest, and using Kawhi Leonard to get there would continue the theme they've established of looking ahead and abandoning their past strategy of rotating in established stars to try and brute force their way to a championship.

In that respect, any kind of trade that the Clippers should consider would have to be something with the future in mind, either through young players or through draft picks, especially picks in the upcoming draft considering the level of talent that will be available. 

Acquiring one of the top-four picks in the draft would be a long shot at best, but either the Chicago Bulls, picking at four, or the Memphis Grizzlies, picking at three, would be possible candidates that could bite at the possibility of picking up Leonard. 

Though again, that seems unlikely, and looking further down the draft order would be the Clippers' better shot. 

The likeliest candidate in that direction would be the Golden State Warriors, picking at 11, who are feeling the pressure of winning one more time with Steph Curry and have been one of the teams checking in on trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo, meaning their interested in picking up a big superstar. 

The Clippers could also reach out to the Oklahoma City Thunder, picking at 12, to ry and regain the first-round pick that originally belonged to the Clippers before a trade between the two teams. Though, the Clippers would likely exercise caution in trading with the best team in their conference and making them that much better. 

Trading with the Thunder would only be worth it if, in addition to the 12th overall pick, the Clippers acquired some existing players, like Jared McCain, Ajay Mitchell or Thomas Sorber.