Ranking 3 best Kawhi Leonard trade destinations if Clippers blow it up

The bill is coming due for the Los Angeles Clippers, and the debt collection isn’t looking pretty. Selling their future back in 2019 to bring in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George is coming back to haunt them, as they are struggling thus far with an injury-ravaged and old roster for the entirety of the 2025-26 season.

They fell to 5-13 on the season after their Tuesday night NBA Cup loss to the Los Angeles Lakers — putting them on par with the likes of the Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, and Sacramento Kings in the West standings. That is not the kind of company this Clippers team wants to keep — not when they owe their unprotected 2026 first-round pick to the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

At this point, however, it’s unclear what the Clippers can do to save their season. Leonard is back from ankle and foot injuries, and yet here the Clippers are, having lost three of their past four games as well as two consecutive even with their star man back on the court.

This Clippers team is rickety, decrepit, and everything is looking bleak for them at the moment. Bradley Beal is out for the season. Derrick Jones Jr. is out for multiple weeks. They entered the season looking like a team that has so much depth, but the old players they needed to continue being productive, such as Chris Paul and Brook Lopez, have looked washed-up.

With no first-round pick incentive, the Clippers are unlikely to ever blow it up. They will fight until the bitter end, with James Harden looking to prevent basketball apocalypse (if the pick they owe to the Thunder somehow becomes the first overall selection).

But if they decide to hold a fire sale and trade everyone, here are some of the teams that have to be very interested in Leonard.

3. Golden State Warriors

To say that the Warriors are in trouble this season would be a massive exaggeration. They do have a ton they need to work on, for sure, but having a 10-10 record is not the end of the world. They are simply getting their sea legs still amid a rough schedule to begin the year, and once the schedule becomes easier, the Warriors should be able to climb the standings.

Nonetheless, it’s clear that the Warriors will be pulling off a trade later in the season, with Jonathan Kuminga most likely to give way. Kuminga has been in trade rumors for a while now, and while his relationship with the Dubs brass seems to be much improved, his lengthy absence with an injury feels as though there is more to the situation than meets the eye.

Bringing in Leonard, however, doesn’t seem to be anything close to a viable solution to their problems. Their roster is old, and they don’t have many players who can put pressure on the rim. Leonard solves neither of those things.

But with the Warriors having made their bed anyway with the Jimmy Butler trade, going all-in on an old, contending roster seems to be the only way for this team. They can no longer trudge along with the two timelines thing they had going on for a while there.

Leonard would give the Warriors another crunch-time assassin, a perimeter scorer who can get his shot off at any time, and a solid perimeter defender, even in his old age and more injury-prone state. They would have to give up so many players in addition to Kuminga, however, to make the money work, rendering such a deal impossible.

2. Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks were so desperate to compete this season that they decided to waive and stretch the hundreds of millions remaining on Damian Lillard’s contract so they could open up the space to… sign Myles Turner. Now, that is not a knock on Turner. Turner has been a part of many winning teams in the past, including the 2025 NBA Finals runner-up Indiana Pacers.

Turner, however, is not a transformative presence, and expecting him to be was always going to be a miscalculation. And at present, the Bucks are reeling. They’ve lost six consecutive games amid Giannis Antetokounmpo’s battle against a groin injury, and they are losing ground in the Eastern Conference. Ryan Rollins is trying his best, but this Bucks team simply does not have enough talent around Giannis to be anything more than first-round playoff fodder, even in the weaker conference.

This is what makes Leonard another possible Hail Mary heave from the Bucks. This doesn’t mean that the Bucks would want to trade for Leonard should he become available, nor does it mean that the Clippers would want to trade him to the Cream City.

For starters, the Bucks do not have much in the way of appealing young players or draft assets to offer the Clippers in any potential trade. One would think that LA would want to receive some draft capital to set them on their merry way in their rebuild.

But the Bucks can use another All-Star player alongside Antetokounmpo. Doc Rivers, for what it’s worth, has some experience coaching Leonard as well.

Leonard would give the Bucks a legit go-to-guy on the perimeter, freeing up Antetokounmpo to do more of his damage from the paint. And if the Bucks manage to keep Rollins (a near-impossibility) in this entire ordeal, then that’s already an impressive trio to build around.

But again, the lack of a plausible trade scenario between these two teams means that the Bucks are ranked just third in terms of best Leonard destinations.

1. Miami Heat

The Heat have been one of the most pleasant surprises in the NBA this season. Expectations for them were not very high after a 37-45 finish during the 2024-25 campaign that ended in a sweep at the hands of the first-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. But head coach Erik Spoelstra has turned things around for this Heat team, overhauling their offense, and their defense has been every bit as good as one could imagine.

Following their 106-103 win over the Bucks in NBA Cup action on Wednesday, they have moved to 13-6 on the season, looking like legitimate contender in the wide-open Eastern Conference especially now that Tyler Herro has returned from injury.

The old adage may say that if it ain’t broke, then one shouldn’t fix things. For this Heat team, this could be true. After all, the vibes are high for the entire squad, and everyone is eating in this egalitarian offense that is making the most out of the talent they have at their disposal.

But the Heat front office is always in the business of acquiring superstar talents — vaulting them to the top of potential Leonard trade destinations.

Miami does have the money to make a potential Leonard trade work, and they have all their first-round picks from 2028 to 2032 to dangle in any hypothetical negotiations with the Clippers.

Leonard can also fit on this Heat squad considering that he’ll simply be replacing Andrew Wiggins in the starting lineup. Wiggins is a good player, but Leonard, injury woes aside, is a much better player in every way than the 30-year-old forward.

With the Heat offense no longer relying on pick-and-rolls, instead going all-in on the one-on-one, isolation-based freelance powered by quick ball-movement and decision-making, Leonard could make use of his superb one-on-one scoring skills to feast in this Heat ecosystem.

Miami has shown this season that they can win despite being shorthanded (Herro has suited up in just two games thus far this season). So Leonard’s load management shouldn’t even be too big of an issue.

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