By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
The Los Angeles Clippers have signed free agent forward Kawhi Leonard. He has signed a four-year deal with the team.
He took less than the max to sign with the team. He will receive $140.8 million.
Leonard now gets his own team, which is want he wanted. In addition, he gets to play in his backyard, as he is a Los Angeles native.
Plus, he also helped construct a championship team with the hand that he forced. He got the Clippers to acquire Paul George in a blockbuster deal, as well.
Leonard and George join a team that was the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs. They had a 48-34 record, only trailing the Golden State Warriors (57-25) in the Pacific Division.
Tobias Harris led the Clippers in scoring at 20.9 points per game before his trade. Once he was dealt to the Philadelphia 76ers, Lou Williams finished the season as the leading scorer with 20.0 points per game.
The two-time NBA Champion will be joining his third NBA team. Leonard spent one season with the Toronto Raptors after spending the first seven seasons of his career with the San Antonio Spurs.
This past season, he helped guide the Raptors to their first championship in franchise history. Toronto defeated the Golden State Warriors in six games to win the NBA Finals.
He appeared in 60 games, including 60 starts. Leonard averaged a career-best 26.6 points per game with 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.4 blocks in 34 minutes per game.
Before joining the Raptors in a blockbuster trade, he made 407 appearances, including 380 starts. He averaged 16.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.7 blocks in 30.4 minutes per game.
