{"id":605051,"date":"2026-02-15T19:45:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T19:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/605051\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T19:45:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T19:45:30","slug":"kawhi-leonard-gives-honest-answer-on-clippers-playoff-hopes-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/605051\/","title":{"rendered":"Kawhi Leonard Gives Honest Answer on Clippers\u2019 Playoff Hopes"},"content":{"rendered":"

With a 26\u201328 record, the Los Angeles Clippers<\/a> hold the 10th spot in the Western Conference. The franchise is in a position to either make a playoff push or drop closer to the draft lottery.<\/p>\n

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard<\/a> has been a top performer for the franchise, averaging 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.7 assists over 41 games. He is set to play in the 2026 NBA All-Star Game.<\/p>\n

In an interview <\/a>with NBA insider Chris Haynes, Leonard expressed his thoughts heading into the second half of the season. He does not currently think that the Clippers are top contenders in the league. <\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, with the roster, we\u2019re not contenders. We\u2019ve got a lot of young guys that are learning. We want Darius [Garland] to be healthy for the second half\u2026 We really need him ready to go next year. That\u2019s my mindset\u2026 Try to get a playoff berth, if we can, and just try to have some fun in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Change in Los Angeles<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the 2025\u20132026 season, James Harden was a key component of Los Angeles\u2019 core. Harden averaged 25.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 8.1 assists over 44 games for the franchise.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Harden was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Darius Garland and a second-round draft pick. Garland has been sidelined since Jan. 14 due to a toe injury.<\/p>\n

Garland averaged 18.0 points and 6.9 assists over 26 games this season. There is no set timetable for the 26-year-old guard\u2019s debut with the Clippers.<\/p>\n

Ivica Zubac is another top name that Los Angeles decided to move prior to February\u2019s deadline, averaging 14.4 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. Zubac was traded to the Indiana Pacers for Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, two first-round picks, and a second-round pick.<\/p>\n

As suggested by Leonard, the Clippers will focus on developing a younger cast of players in the second half of the season. Although Leonard is still leading the squad, the departures of Harden and Zubac suggest that a new era in Los Angeles is on the horizon.<\/p>\n

For all the latest\u00a0NBA\u00a0<\/a>news and rumors, head over to\u00a0Newsweek Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a 26\u201328 record, the Los Angeles Clippers hold the 10th spot in the Western Conference. The franchise…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3789],"tags":[7,559,791,529,4034,192,4032,251,135,4033,4031,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-605051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-clippers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-clippers","10":"tag-darius-garland","11":"tag-kawhi-leonard","12":"tag-la","13":"tag-la-clippers","14":"tag-laclippers","15":"tag-los-angeles","16":"tag-los-angeles-clippers","17":"tag-losangeles","18":"tag-losangelesclippers","19":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116076368795923883","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}