{"id":115599,"date":"2021-08-12T23:41:33","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T23:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=115599"},"modified":"2021-08-13T10:59:46","modified_gmt":"2021-08-13T10:59:46","slug":"injured-superstar-signs-monster-240m-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=115599","title":{"rendered":"Injured superstar signs monster $240m deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

(All figures in AUD)<\/em><\/p>\n

Kawhi Leonard is staying in Los Angeles after the Clippers re-signed their free-agent superstar on a four-year $240 million deal.<\/p>\n

Leonard averaged 26 points, 6.8 rebounds and five assists in his first two seasons with his hometown team.<\/p>\n

He suffered a partially torn right ACL during the playoffs and missed the Clippers' first Western Conference finals appearance. Leonard had surgery on his knee a month ago. The team has said there's no timetable for his return, and it's possible he could miss a good portion of the upcoming season while rehabbing.<\/p>\n

Leonard declined his $49 million option last week, setting up his ability to sign a maximum contract worth 35 percent of the team's salary cap and allowing him to earn upwards of $4 million more for the 2021-22 season.<\/p>\n

\"Kawhi<\/p>\n

By re-signing Leonard, the Clippers are guaranteed to have him and Paul George in the fold for the next few seasons. George signed a maximum contract extension last December. Leonard is from nearby Moreno Valley, and Paul is from Palmdale, north of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

The five-time All-Star averaged 24.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and a career-high 5.2 assists last season, while shooting 51 percent from the field and 88 percent from the line. He was named to his seventh All-Defensive team and his third All-NBA first team last season.<\/p>\n

Leonard was even better in the postseason. He averaged 30.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 11 games. He first got injured in Game 4 of the Clippers' second-round series against the Utah Jazz. He was held out of the last eight postseason games, including the Clippers' 4-2 loss to the Phoenix Suns in the West finals.<\/p>\n

He still had a presence around the team, despite being unable to play.<\/p>\n

"Kawhi is a transcendent player and a relentless worker who improves himself every day," said Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations. "We share many of the same goals, which include a long-term relationship."<\/p>\n

Frank said the Clippers will "do whatever we can" to support Leonard in his injury rehab.<\/p>\n

"We look forward to seeing him back where he wants to be, on the court with his teammates," Frank said.<\/p>\n

Leonard joined George, Reggie Jackson, Terance Mann and Luke Kennard courtside to watch the Clippers' rookies in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas this week. Leonard wasn't wearing a brace on his right leg.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(All figures in AUD) Kawhi Leonard is staying in Los Angeles after the Clippers re-signed their free-agent superstar on a four-year $240 million deal. Leonard […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115599"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115599"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115601,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115599\/revisions\/115601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}