While the Washington Wizards walked away with the first overall pick at Sunday's NBA Draft Lottery, the L.A. Clippers may have been the second luckiest team in a shock result that only adds further interest to the future of star forward Kawhi Leonard.
The Clippers obtained the fifth overall pick from the Indiana Pacers as part of February's Ivica Zubac trade. Given it was protected 1-4 (and also from 10 onwards), the pick landed at the absolute perfect spot for a L.A. franchise that have now robbed Indiana so blindly that it forced an apology from their president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard.
Warriors chances of trading Kawhi Leonard shift after shock lottery result
Leonard's future has been a consistent talking point from the moment Zubac was traded, with the Golden State Warriors making a late audacious bid to acquire the 7x All-Star from their pacific rival right before the mid-season deadline.
Leonard was ultimately retained through the deadline, but that hasn't stopped rumors and speculation resurfacing in the wake of the Clippers' Play-In elimination at the hands of the Warriors last month.
The 34-year-old is now entering the final year of his contract making $50.3 million, and how this shock lottery result now impacts Leonard's future will be fascinating as the offseason progresses.
I'm really sorry to all our fans. I own taking this risk. Surprised it came up 5th after this year. I thought we were due some luck. But please remember - this team deserved a starting center to compete with the best teams next year. We have always been resilient.
— Kevin Pritchard (@PacersKev) May 10, 2026
Does this make a Leonard trade more likely because the Clippers feel confident of entering some sort of rebuild as a result of their lottery fortune? Does it make it less likely now because they've got another asset they could use to build around Leonard to try and reignite their championship aspirations?
Which direction the Clippers ultimately head from here will only be known in the fullness of time, but there's no doubt that this lottery fortune will shift their view on Leonard's future in one way or the other.
Warriors could pursue Kawhi Leonard trade again this offseason
Golden State have again been linked to Leonard over the past few weeks, including most recently by Tim Kawakami of The San Fransisco Standard in the wake of Steve Kerr's contract extension as head coach on Saturday.
They (Warriors) believe they can land another big-time player like Kawhi Leonard or LeBron James this offseason, which means Kerr is by far the best coach for the next few seasons,"Kawakami wrote.
ESPN proposed an interesting Leonard-to-Golden State trade late last month, suggesting that the Warriors could flip the injured Jimmy Butler and two first-round picks for the 2x Finals MVP.
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