By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Kawhi Leonard has declined his $36 million player option for next season to become a free agent, according to multiple reports on US media.
According to those reports, the expectation is that Leonard will negotiate a new deal to remain with the LA Clippers. Leonard can potentially sign a four-year, $176.2 million deal or could do a one-and-one and become a free agent in 2022, when he could sign a five-year deal worth $235 million, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Leonard’s decision to decline his option comes in the wake of July 13 surgery to repair a partially torn right ACL that kept him out of the Clippers’ final eight playoff games. Leonard is expected to miss significant time as he rehabs his injury.
“We hope to have a very long-term relationship with him,” Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said last week. “… Right now our focus, like Kawhi, is on his health. He had major surgery. He tore his ACL. That’s going to require a great deal of time and we want to support him in that.”
Leonard averaged 24.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 52 regular-season games during his second campaign with the Clippers. He missed nine out of 10 games in April because of a foot injury.