On January 11, Beijing time, the NBA Clippers officially announced that they had reached an early contract extension with star Leonard, and the specific amount was not disclosed. According to the American media ESPN, the two sides may reach a three-year contract extension of about $152 million, and contains a number of bonus clauses, this new contract has a starting salary of $52 million, and the next second and third years are $50 million, this contract will expire at the end of the 2026-2027 season, which is also a big contract that the Clippers expressed to Leonard in advance that they are sincere enough, after all, they still have to solve Paul George's contract extension with Harden!
Leonard joined the Clippers with Paul George in the summer of 2019, when the two agreed to join the Clippers together to form a Clippers duo to sprint for a championship. So the Clippers traded for Leonard, who had just won the championship for the Raptors, and sent young rookie Alexander to the Thunder in exchange for Paul George. But the two of them have been on the Clippers for four years, and they have been affected by injuries, which has not brought more ideal results to the Clippers!
In the summer of 2021, Leonard agreed a four-year, $176 million contract extension with the Clippers, which expires at the end of the 2023-2024 season, with a player option for the final year of the contract. At the end of this season, Leonard will return to free agency again, and if he waits until he becomes free agent to talk about a contract extension, it will obviously be bad for the Clippers, because they will face more team competition prices!
And Leonard publicly said in an interview in the 2023 offseason: "My career will not change easily, I like the Clippers very much, I have a good working relationship with the team owner and management, and I will complete the contract extension with the team at a reasonable time!"
The 33-year-old Leonard, who earns $45.65 million annually this season, has played in 32 games so far in the regular season, averaging 23.5 points + 5.9 rebounds + 3.3 assists in 33.8 minutes per game, shooting 51.0% from the field, 43.0% from three-point range and 87.0% from the free throw line.
At present, the Clippers have a record of 23 wins and 13 losses, ranking 4th in the West, especially after Harden joined, the Clippers Leonard is rejuvenated again, back to the strength that once won two championships, as long as they stay healthy, then the new season Leonard + Paul George + Harden's big three combination has the hope of sprinting for the championship!