152.4 million in 3 years! The Clippers kept Leonard ahead of schedule! What about Willis and Harden?
The Clippers officially announced that the team and Leonard have completed an early contract extension.
The contract is extended for 3 years and 152.4 million, which is fully guaranteed and does not include player options. Among them, the salary is 52 million in the first year and 50 million per year in the second two years.
That is, his contract is valid until the 2026-27 season.
Now in the NBA, it's easy for star players to become unhappy, and Leonard is still committed to the Clippers.
It's worth mentioning that the Clippers' new home court, Intuit Dome, will open this summer at a total cost of $2 billion and a 18,000-seat arena, and the team and Lakers will be making history sharing Staples (Crypto) for 25 seasons.
After the renewal of his contract, it means that he will continue to be a captain in his new home turf.
From the team's point of view, there is nothing wrong with the Clippers' contract extension.
After all, Xiaoka is the right person to build a team around.
The price and length of the contract are reasonable and appropriate for both parties.
The fans' concerns, of course, will take into account age and his physical fitness.
His attendance was really bad, missing 151 games in 344 games since joining the Clippers, with a 56.1% attendance rate.
But the games he can play are really good.
This season, for example, he played in 32 games, averaging 24.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game, shooting 51.6%/43%/87.1% from three. The overall shooting percentage is the most efficient of his career.
When asked why the team was willing to offer a three-year, $152.4 million contract, given Jr.Ka's injury history, Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations for the Clippers, had this to say:
First, everyone can get hurt, but not everyone can be in the top five in the league after they get injured.
Second, we want Xiaoka to stay with the Clippers for a long time, and Xiaoka also wants to stay with the Clippers for a long time, and it is imperative to renew his contract.
Third, he understands that he needs to make sacrifices if he wants to win, and the new contract is about $8.5 million less than the three-year, highest-paid contract he can sign, which allows the team to maintain salary flexibility.
To put it bluntly, everyone knows that Leonard has injury risks, but there are only a few people in the NBA who can be used as the core of the team, and those who are relatively healthy and can play are nothing more than teachers like Mr. Yue, Alphabet, and Dongzi.
However, no matter how rich Ballmer is, he can't operate these superstars...
And, this price is really not expensive, Lillard to the 26-27 season, his contract amount is 63.23 million, Jaylen Brown is 57.65 million, in comparison...
Not only the small card, but the Clippers and George's contract extension negotiations are also underway.
In other words, although the team does not know what the fate of this season will be and whether the luxury ship will be able to set sail, they still want to sign long-term contracts with these two stars.
Both have $48.7 million player options for next season.
Judging from the current willingness of both parties, George's contract renewal is only a matter of time, the team boss has already set an example, and he will most likely make some concessions in salary.
Ballmer's Clippers are still happy, and the team's record has come up recently, so hurry up to talk about a contract extension, starting with Kajiao, which will be more conducive to the team's stability and combat effectiveness.
So here's what everyone cares about: what about the other two?
About Harden.
He will not be able to re-sign the Clippers early in the middle of the season, and after the end of the season, the Clippers will have an early bird right to Harden and will not sign a new contract until the offseason.
About Wei Shao.
His current contract is not high (last year's extension, 2 years 7.8 million, second year player option), if the team has a good result, the new contract is easy to negotiate.
For now, let's focus on what we do.
Ballmer has never been stingy when it comes to devoting himself to it.
But in terms of results, the past five years have been disappointing for the Clippers.
A cycle of 5 years, can it be said that this year belongs to the small card?