Winner: Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi Leonard just had arguably one of the best individual seasons of his career. He averaged 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 65 games while nearly joining the 50/40/90 club.
And somehow, maybe even more importantly...
The Clippers moved the 35-year-old Kawhi while his value was still high, and now he heads back to Toronto — the place where he won his most recent championship.
Kawhi may not be as explosive as he once was. He may not be the same terrifying defender he was during his prime. But let’s not get it twisted: he is still one of the best players in the world.
His Clippers tenure will probably always be remembered as one big “what if?” What if Kawhi and Paul George stayed healthy? What if that group actually reached its ceiling? What if the Clippers didn’t mortgage so much of their future to build that team? And, of course, what if Shai Gilgeous-Alexander never left?
Kawhi never brought a championship to LA, but this move back to Toronto feels completely different. There isn’t the same pressure. This feels more like a celebration.
In one season, Kawhi delivered Toronto its first championship and became one of the most beloved players in Raptors history. That’s why he could win a title there, leave after one year for Los Angeles — and somehow still be loved in Toronto.
Now he gets to return without having to prove anything.
Loser: LA Clippers
Read the Kawhi section above for about 95% of why the Clippers are here.
For the other 5%?
Ask Pablo Torre. Lol.
But seriously, what happened to the Clippers this summer goes way beyond losing Kawhi Leonard.
On September 2, the NBA announced the results of an independent investigation and concluded that the Clippers violated the league’s salary-cap circumvention rules through off-court income arrangements connected to Leonard.
The league’s findings said the Clippers initiated off-court income opportunities between Leonard and companies doing business with the team, facilitated endorsement arrangements, offered team business connected to some of those deals and failed to report improper solicitations made on Leonard’s behalf.
The Bill Came Due
Ballmer came into Los Angeles with unlimited enthusiasm, unlimited money and championship expectations. He got Kawhi. He got Paul George. He built Intuit Dome. He spent. He screamed courtside. He did everything possible to make the Clippers feel like a serious operation.
And yet the Kawhi era ends without a Finals appearance, with SGA becoming a transcendent star somewhere else, and now with five future first-round picks gone.
That’s a hell of a bill to pay for an era that never even produced a Finals trip.
4DK Verdict
The Kawhi era was already going to be remembered as one of the NBA’s greatest “what if?” stories. Now it has an investigation attached to it too.
No championship. No Finals appearance. SGA became a superstar somewhere else. Kawhi went back to Toronto. Five first-round picks disappeared. And Steve Ballmer got sent home for a year.
Yeah... the Clippers lost the offseason.