Kawhi Leonard trade discussed by Mavericks, Clippers: Sources

Dallas Mavericks president Masai Ujiri is interested in reuniting with Kawhi Leonard, multiple league sources with knowledge of Dallas’ thinking said. athletic.

The Mavericks and LA Clippers have discussed a deal that would send the seven-time All-Star to Dallas for a package that would include PJ Washington, Klay Thompson and draft picks, league sources said on condition of anonymity because discussions are still ongoing.

Ujiri famously acquired Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs in 2018, when Ujiri was running the Toronto Raptors. The trade, which sent Leonard and Danny Green to Toronto for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a first-round pick, resulted in the Raptors winning the franchise’s first and only championship that same season.

Leonard averaged 30.5 points per game during the 2019 postseason and was named Finals MVP after the Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors in six games. He previously won another title with San Antonio, in which he was also named Finals MVP.

Leonard has one year remaining on his contract and is owed $50.3 million this upcoming season. He averaged a career-high 27.9 points per game last season, which came as the law firm Wachtel, Lipton, Rosen & Katz investigated allegations that the LA Clippers circumvented the salary cap to pay him extra money.

If the Mavericks were able to pull off this trade, Leonard would partner with Kyrie Irving, who is set to return this fall after missing last season with a torn ACL, and Cooper Flagg, who became the first rookie since Michael Jordan to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals last season.

In May, Ujiri said that every decision the Mavericks made would be “future-based”.

“We have a 19-year-old generation of players on our roster,” Ujiri said, referring to Flagg. “We have to think that way. We’re not going to make decisions based on wins today. I don’t think that would make sense for the organization.”

An important piece of context here is that the Mavericks don’t control much of their future draft picks as they have taken steps to strengthen their roster around Luka Doncic. The Mavericks owe their 2027 first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets unless they fall in the top two, and they have no control over their 2029 first-round pick. Dallas’ 2028 and 2030 first-rounder picks are tied up in the swap.

The Mavericks acquired forward Washington and center Daniel Gafford in separate transactions prior to the 2024 trade deadline. Those frontcourt additions helped Dallas close out the regular season, and the Mavericks were able to reach the NBA Finals later that year, where they lost to the Boston Celtics in a five-game series.

A few weeks after the Mavericks’ loss in the 2024 Finals, former general manager Nico Harrison acquired Thompson from the Golden State Warriors in a sign-and-trade. Harrison said the Mavericks were “clays away” from winning a championship, but then traded Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers nine months later, a move that ruined any chance Dallas had of competing.

Thompson appeared in only 21 games with Doncic. While Doncic performed at an MVP candidate level for the Lakers last season, the 36-year-old Thompson shifted into a bench role for the Mavericks, averaging 11.7 points in 69 games.

Thompson is in the final year of his deal, which pays him $17.5 million this season. Washington, who arrived via trade in February 2024 and was a key starter on that Finals team, is about to enter into a four-year, $88.8 million extension.

The Mavericks went 26-56 last season and were one of the worst offensive teams in the NBA, finishing 27th in points per 100 possessions. The addition of Leonard, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and seven-time All-NBA member, will certainly provide a boost to Dallas’ offense.