Los Angeles Clippers: What is the plan if not Kawhi Leonard?

The Los Angeles Clippers’ number one target this offseason is Kaewhi Leonard, although Leonard coming to LA is not yet a guarantee.

Besides Kevin Durant this summer, Kawhi Leonard will be the most important free agent signing. What he decides to do will dictate a lot of moves from other teams, most glaringly the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Clippers have been in hot pursuit of him and have cleared enough cap space to sign him in case he decides he wants to be in LA. However, the Clippers should make a couple moves in case Kawhi does not decide to join them this summer.

If Kawhi decides not to join the Los Angeles Clippers, the team should make the following moves:

1. Keep Danilo Gallinari

Gallinari played very well last year as he averaged 19.8 points per game and shot over 90% from the free throw line. Furthermore, he was relatively healthy this year, playing 68 out of 82 games, with the exception of an ankle injury and a couple of maintenance days.

Gallinari is on an expiring contract of approximately $22 million this year. If the Clippers do not re-sign him in the next summer, keeping him should be a priority at least for this year to stay competitive in the Western Conference.

2. Re-sign Patrick Beverly and Ivica Zubac

Patrick Beverly was sensational as the Clippers starting point guard last year. Though he did not score much (7.3 ppg), he was one of the best defenders in the league and at his best gets under star players skin.

He was able to hand out the occasional dime and was pretty durable throughout the season as he played in 78 of 82 games. Beverly was vastly underpaid at only $5 million this year. The Clippers should give him a raise double his salary, at a term of 3 years.

Zubac was a great contributor as he came in a late-season deal with the Lakers. He made the occasional start but was also an effective bench player as well in scoring and rebounding. Although, in some instances, he barely played any minutes.

Zubac was on an expiring deal of less than $2 million last year. The Clippers should sign him to a short-term deal for about $5 million next year to keep cap flexibility for next summer.

3. Sign Al Horford

Al Horford was a very effective player last year. He scored 13.6 points per game and had just about 7.0 rebounds per game.

However, some of the intangibles that he brought to the team were his veteran leadership as well as defensive prowess. If the Clippers were able to lure Al to LA, it would be a tremendous gain for them. Although he is 33 years old, Horford is still an effective defensive center in the league and an underrated passer.

He would fit well on the Clippers with his unselfish mentality and leadership. Given that Horford just declined his $30 million dollar player option, he would probably want long-term security wherever he goes.

A fair deal would possibly be $60 million over three years. There would be a salary pay cut, but he gets a long term. For a player who is more towards the end of the career than the beginning, this is a win.

The Los Angeles Clippers are one of the most intriguing destinations this summer. They have a good young core to go along with a strong front office staff and a Hall of Fame head coach.

With a couple of simple moves to keep key players, and re-sign/sign some free agents to short-term deals, the Clippers will set themselves up well for the foreseeable future with or without Kawhi this year.