The Sixers can carve out more than enough cap space to offer a max contract to an external free agent this summer, which puts them in a unique position for a championship contender. However, one of their top potential targets came off the board Wednesday, as the Los Angeles Clippers signed Kawhi Leonard to a three-year, $152.4 million contract extension, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Leonard will receive $52 million in the first year of his extension and “approximately $50 million per season over the next two years.” The deal also does not include a player option, which means Leonard is now under contract with the Clippers through 2026-27. The structure of the deal is also notable, as it’s less than Leonard was eligible to receive both in terms of years and annual salary.
Based on the current $142 million projection for the 2024-25 salary cap, Leonard was eligible to sign a three-year, $161 million extension or a four-year deal worth $222.7 million. If the cap goes up by more than projected—it can rise by as much as 10 percent each year—Leonard could have earned even more than that. Either way, it’s clearly less than his max.
- Leonard’s new deal is mostly bad news for the Sixers, particularly if it convinces George to sign an extension rather than test free agency. Although neither star appeared particularly likely to leave L.A., the threat of them doing so gave the Sixers some high-upside options this summer. With Leonard now off the market and George perhaps soon to follow, Harden, Pascal Siakam and DeMar DeRozan are among the top players set to hit free agency.
