Average 25 points, falling from the league s first player! With an annual salary of 50 million, you should indeed be traded and left the team

After more than a month of competition in the playoffs this season, the Western Conference champion was born first. The Thunder eliminated the Timberwolves without any suspense and advanced to the finals 4-1 with a big score. The Pacers also won the Eastern Conference Finals point early, and it was only a matter of time before they could lock in Eastern Conference championships and finals tickets. As the absolute core of the Thunder, Alexander averaged 31.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game in the Western Conference Finals, and was elected as the MVP of the Western Conference Finals without any suspense. Including the season scoring champion + MVP + selected for the best team, he has won the season's Grand Slam, only the championship and the finals MVP are left! No matter who breaks through the siege in the East, the probability of the Thunder winning the championship has reached 95%. According to US media analysis, Alexander is getting closer and closer to being the first person in the league.

Clippers' team reporter Eisnashari sighed: If Kat had not asked the Clippers to introduce George, how great should this Clippers be? In the summer of 2019, after Leonard led the Raptors to win the championship, he was crowned the No. 1 player in the league by the US media. The Lakers + Clippers + Raptors teams were snatched by three teams. Ka refused to return to Toronto and did not respond to the Lakers. He finally asked the Clippers to trade with George, and the two of them landed together. In order to get George, the Clippers gave Alexander + Gallinari + 22, 24 and 26 first-round picks, as well as the first-round picks of the two Heats, as well as the first-round picks of 23 and 25 years! Even though George has already left the Clippers, the Thunder still has the first round swap rights this year + 26 years of unprotected first round + 27 years of first round swap rights (involving subsequent transactions).

Alexander has become the strongest superstar in the league, and what about Leonard, the former league number one? He asked the Clippers to get George, but in the years when he and George joined forces, they either had internal strife or were injured. They were offseason champions every year and were eliminated in the playoffs! Harden came to the team last season, and Xiaoka was injured again in the playoffs. George asked for a super top salary but failed. After leaving the team angrily, Xiaoka entered a long period of recuperation. In the first half of this season, he relied on Harden to lead Powell and Zubac to support the bottom, and kept the Clippers firmly at the 60% winning rate and the top six in the Western Conference! When Xiao Ka finally returned, he played 37 games in the regular season, averaging 21.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game. He averaged 25 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game in the playoffs. He was eliminated 4-3 by the Nuggets!

Many people put the responsibility for the Clippers' exit on the NBA's hardest-working Nick Harden, who believes that Harden's serious downturn in the two games of G5 and G7 dragged down the team. But if it weren't for Harden, the Clippers might not even be able to make the playoffs (only lead the eighth place in the West Grizzlies by 2 wins). Harden played 79 games in the regular season and ranked fifth in the league in total playing time of 2,790 minutes, second only to the Knicks Ironman combination Bridges + Hart, as well as Edwards and Booker. Harden is about to be 36 years old, and he has too high requirements for him! On the contrary, Leonard is easily overlooked. He has been the first player in the league in 2019. He has suffered various injuries in the past five years, including knee meniscus and thigh injuries. Now he can't even get into the top fifteen of the league. In the playoffs and Nuggets series, Leonard On-Off value is -5.3!

When he was on the court, the Clippers lost 0.2 points in a hundred rounds, and when he was not on the court, the Clippers won 5.1 points in a hundred rounds! There are two major premises. First, Leonard has long been unable to take into account both the regular season and the playoffs. His ceiling is 40-50 games in the regular season and a "full firepower" playoffs. Secondly, the firepower is fully opened and quotation marks are drawn because his dominance in the playoffs is also declining. Not to mention being double-teamed when playing against the Nuggets, in the Raptors, four Bucks were slapped with him, and he was also stable at 30+, including in the summer of 2023. Although he played in the Suns series, he averaged 34.5 points per game. After G2, the team doctor found out that Leonard could no longer take the risk of playing, and even beat Durant. The Suns could not stop him in various defensive methods!

But what about this season? I played 37 games in the regular season to regain my energy. Is it enough to average 25 points per game in the playoffs? He has two years left on his contract with the Clippers, with $50 million next season and $50.3 million last year. But looking at the performance of the Clippers throughout the season, whether there is Leonard or not has little impact on the Clippers. With Harden here, Powell can also fill Leonard's offensive firepower output, and the team is more stable, so the Clippers can also make it to the playoffs. They are also the first round games, so Harden can keep the lower limit, and Leonard has no strength to expand the upper limit! The biggest problem of the Clippers this summer is to retain Harden. Although Harden performed poorly in the playoffs, he has also won the recognition of the management. According to the analysis of salary experts, Harden is likely to raise his salary, which is not large, and is expected to be around 75 million to 80 million in two years.

With Harden here, the Clippers are still the playoff team, but what should Leonard do? Leonard, who is 34 years old this summer, will only continue to decline in the value of the transaction over time. Based on the team's lack of strength to win the championship around Ka + Harden, the most realistic way for the Clippers is to retain Harden and maintain the team's fundamentals so as not to enter the bad channel in an instant. In addition, it is to use Leonard to trade more young people to rebuild their chips. This summer is the last chance! If we really wait until next summer and everyone knows that the Clippers have to rebuild, to put it bluntly, Leonard may be really worthless.