League Sources Reveal Kawhi's Most Likely Free Agent Destination

Following the Los Angeles Clippers' western conference finals loss to the Phoenix Suns, the Clippers revealed that Kawhi Leonard had partially torn his ACL and has undergone surgical repair. ACL repairs, regardless of the severity of the tear, tend to take players out for entire seasons. With this in mind, many expected that Kawhi Leonard would not be as sought-after in the offseason due to the possibility that he will miss the entirety of the 2021-2022 NBA season.

This timeline hasn't stopped several other teams, including the Dallas Mavericks, from preparing to recruit Leonard in the offseason. Marc Stein reported earlier today that despite these preparations, the most likely scenario for Leonard is that he will remain with the Clippers. While it comes as a surprise that Leonard doesn't seem to want anything to do with offseason recruiting, a return to the Clippers makes sense in the context of the last few years of his career.

Leonard has left two championship-contending teams in order to make his way to Los Angeles, making it hard to believe that he would leave his hometown to ring chase with another team. If Leonard were to leave the Clippers, however, the damage would be catastrophic, and it wouldn't be surprising to see Paul George on the trading block along with the rest of the Clippers' aging assets. For now, owner Steve Ballmer and the Clippers appear to have avoided this fate.