I Know The Perfect Team For Kawhi Leonard - And It's Not The Clippers
Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers are in that awkward part of their relationship where they both want to end things but don’t really know how to break up.
When they came together a half-decade ago, it seemed like a beautiful marriage between a mercenary superstar who finally made his way back home to help a franchise make its first-ever NBA Finals.
Instead, it was awkward chemistry from the start, while the Clippers had to watch their ex-partner, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, go from prospect to the best player in the entire league as Leonard sat out injured.
It’s time for the split.
Clippers can go on and try to piece together a future with the No. 5 pick they have in the upcoming NBA Draft, and Leonard, like he does best, should slip into a new environment and help that franchise take the logical next step forward in their development.
And who is that franchise?
The Detroit Pistons.
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The Pistons are Kawhi Leonard personified in a franchise. Not overly flashy, seldom in the headlines, and with a gritty, defensive exterior that makes them always difficult to play against.
Detroit has a certified superstar who took his own evolutionary step this year in Cade Cunningham, and now he desperately needs a second-in-command to help not only himself but the Pistons go from a great regular-season team to a legitimate championship contender.
It’s similar to what Leonard did when he went to the Toronto Raptors all those years ago, piloting the organization to their first championship in franchise history and then signing with the Clippers that very next offseason.
No matter how hard Leonard tried to live up to the glitz and glamor of his hometown of Los Angeles, he never fit in.
San Antonio. Toronto. Detroit.
Now, those are cities that embody the basketball player Kawhi Leonard.
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This story was originally published May 16, 2026 at 6:40 PM.