The Clippers might be involved in a franchise-altering move in the days ahead, but they tended to some pre-free agency bookkeeping on Monday as teams get ready for the opening bell of free agency on Tuesday at 3 p.m. PT.
The Clippers and Toronto Raptors are reportedly seriously engaged in trade talks involving All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard, ESPN was first to report.
The Clippers and Raptors reportedly discussed a deal over the past couple of weeks, as Leonard’s representatives informed other teams he only wanted to sign a contract extension with the Raptors if the Clippers were not going to keep him. He reportedly preferred to stay with the Clippers, but the franchise has made no long-term commitment to him so far this offseason. Leonard has only the 2026-27 season left on his contract at $50.3 million.
The potential deal would mark a return to Canada for the star who led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA title, winning his second Finals MVP award after he averaged 28.5 points in their series victory over the Golden State Warriors. Leonard, who was traded to the Raptors by the San Antonio Spurs in July 2018, played just one season in Toronto, then left as a free agent to join the Clippers.
Leonard, who turned 35 on Monday, is coming off a career year in which he averaged 27.9 points and played 65 regular-season games. It was just his second season with at least 60 games played since his 2018-19 season in Toronto. He was named to the All-NBA second team, his fourth All-NBA honor as a Clipper.
Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said at his end-of-season news conference in April that the team wanted to keep Leonard.
“Our plan is to win with Kawhi,” he said a few days after their season ended with a Play-In Tournament loss to the Golden State Warriors. “We obviously showed as an organization that we want to continue and we are driven to win. At the appropriate time, we’ll sit down with Kawhi, and very similar to 2024, lay out our plan. And if our goals are aligned, then we’d like to win with Kawhi.”
PICKING UP OR DECLINING OPTIONS
In considerably smaller transactions, veteran guard Bradley Beal, who spent last season recovering from a fractured hip, declined his $5.6 million player option with the Clippers for next season and became an unrestricted free agent on Monday, according to sources.
He reportedly wanted to stay with the Clippers but decided to make a “career decision,” according to Chris Haynes of NBA.com.
The Clippers could still retain the 33-year-old point guard, but Beal already is reportedly drawing interest from the Miami Heat.
Beal had hopes of revitalizing his NBA career after signing with the Clippers last summer, but those plans were placed on hold after he had season-ending surgery six games into the season. He fractured his hip in a fall during the first quarter of a loss to the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 10. He had surgery two days later.
In six games, he averaged 8.2 points and 1.7 assists over 20.2 minutes per game.
The Clippers reportedly are picking up the $9.2 million team option on 7-foot center Brook Lopez, but declining team options on veteran guard Bogdan Bogdanovic and veteran forward Nicolas Batum, making them free agents.
Lopez, who could still be packaged in a trade, might be viewed as a temporary answer to their post position since Yanic Konan Niederhauser, a first-round pick last summer, is sidelined until at least January after fracturing his left foot, complicating the Clippers’ options. They drafted 6-foot-11 Spanish center Baja Miller in the second round last week, but he will need time to learn Coach Tyronn Lue’s system, leaving the team without a solid center beyond Lopez.
At 38, Lopez isn’t as agile as he once was but came up big for the Clippers after the team traded Zubac, averaging 8.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots.
Parting ways with Bogdanovic ($16 million) isn’t surprising considering he saw limited minutes this past season. However, Batum ($5.88 million) is a solid locker room presence and one of Lue’s known favorites.
TRIO GET QUALIFYING OFFERS
The Clippers have extended qualifying offers to guards Bennedict Mathurin and Kobe Sanders and forward Jordan Miller, making them all restricted free agents.
All three are expected to receive multi-year deals to remain with the Clippers.
Mathurin, 24, averaged a career-high 17.6 points in 54 games after being traded to the Clippers in the deal that sent center Ivica Zubac to the Indiana Pacers.
Sanders averaged 7.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists off the bench in his rookie season, while Miller was a consistent spark off the bench for the Clippers, averaging 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
Last season, he signed a modest two-year $3.2 million deal in 2025 with a guaranteed $712,637 for the first year while keeping his salary cap hit manageable for the team.