With this decline, he now enters free agency and is expected to reach a new deal with the Clippers to keep him there.
Leonard is now eligible for a starting salary of $39 million or 35% of the salary cap. This made it easy for the two-time NBA Finals MVP to decline the option, even if he may not play at the 2021-22 season at all. Steve Ballmer, the Clippers’ owner, will likely do everything to keep Leonard.
After all, he made a huge investment in pairing Leonard with a fellow player and perennial All-Star Paul George two years ago. The Clippers are running the risk of losing Leonard to free agency. But it seems the Clippers are focusing more on his health as hes had a major surgery not long ago.
Leonard tore his ACL and will need a great deal of time to recover. According to Lawrence Frank, the Clippers’ president of basketball operations, they want to support Leonard’s recovery for now. Over the next four years, he will become eligible for a contract worth as much as $175 million.
If Leonard re-signs with the Clippers for $39 million this season and then becomes a free agent again next summer, he would then own his full Bird rights. This means the NBA star could command a five-year maximum contract of as much as $250 million.
Leonard averaged 24.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.2 assists within 34.1 minutes over the 52 games last season. He often had to rest for his right knee quadriceps chronic tendinopathy. Leonard’s decision seems already clear enough, but no one is more opaque than him in the NBA, so no one knows for sure right now.