NBA Rumors: Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard, Paul George want to stay in L.A.
Amid rumors that Kawhi Leonard and Paul George may leave the Clippers, one NBA analyst suggested otherwise.
Leonard and George, the Clippers' darling duo, have achieved very little success in recent years largely due to injuries. As a result, some speculated that the pair could break up and perhaps find new starts, rewriting their own narratives elsewhere.
On Friday, ESPN's Brian Windhorst said he believes both Leonard and George will stay in L.A. because they want to be there. Windhorst said, "As far as I know, those guys want to be in Los Angeles."
If that's true, the Clippers may hold additional leverage in each player's future deals. Leonard and George could re-sign with the Clippers on deals worth up to $220 million over four years, or they could become free agents next summer.
With both stars being on the wrong side of 30, Leonard and George could potentially seek more lucrative deals in the open market; however, Windhorst believes that in terms of player preferences, both would like to stay in Los Angeles.
The Clippers have hardly seen the two together on the court for long with Leonard missing the entire 2021-22 season and George struggling with injuries for the last four years.
Those two players' futures are far from certain, but if what Windhorst says is true, they may make it work in L.A. after all.
NBA Rumors: Klay Thompson and Warriors have started extension talks
Good news for Warriors fans: Klay Thompson and the franchise have reportedly already begun extension talks.
The fan-favorite shooter is entering the final year of his contract, set to make $43.2 million this upcoming season. While both sides likely want to get a deal done, Thompson may be expected to take a pay cut after his injury-related decline in 2022.
ESPN's Ramona Shelburne said on the Lowe Post podcast, "My understanding is that they have opened contract extension talks with Klay Thompson. This is a slow process.... They've exchanged proposals. There's no hurry to these discussions."
Shelburne also said she predicts the years will be similar to what Draymond Green got (a four-year deal) but doesn't know where the Warriors will land on in terms of team option and player option.
At age 33, is Thompson still a $40 million-a-year star? What incentives might be included in his future deal? Do the Warriors give him a player option at all?
These are the tough questions that Golden State's front office will have to figure out, albeit the team has plenty of time to do so.
As Shelburne claims, one thing is for clear: the Warriors want to keep Klay around. Performance decline or not, he's still a key part of their core.
NBA Rumors: Damian Lillard trade could strike soon
The Damian Lillard trade rumors may have abated this summer, but make no mistake, they're just bubbling under the surface.
Adrian Wojnarowski said on Friday afternoon that the needle of a Lillard trade may finally be moving.
"My sense is that the Blazers have done a lot more talking with teams in the last say 10 to 14 days than they did probably in at least a month plus prior. And a big part of that is the league is back to work now after Labor Day, and training camp is starting to approach. And that's the next real deadline in this process."
Prior to Woj's comments, talk of a Lillard trade had died down due to the seeming lack of interest from other teams to engage in a three-way trade. The most speculated option was a Blazers-Heat-Nets deal that would give the Blazers desirable draft picks, the Heat would get Lillard, and the Nets would get Tyler Herro.
Woj explained that that kind of multi-team trade is exactly what Portland has been trying to finesse in order to get the most out of Lillard's departure.
Woj said, "We'll see how much traction the Blazers can get between now and the start of camp." October 3 is the date to keep an eye on. In the meantime, we'll keep an ear to the ground for any other Lillard rumblings.