Clippers president: Commitment to Kawhi Leonard, Paul George remains - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Following a disappointing, injury-marred first-round exit to finish a season that began with championship expectations, Lawrence Frank said the LA Clippers will continue to build around Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

In his end of season address, the Clippers' president of basketball operations said a healthy Leonard and George continue to give them a chance to win a championship. Keeping their two franchise stars healthy has been problematic.

George missed the final nine games of the regular season and the entire first round because of a sprained right knee. And Leonard was dominant in the first two games before a torn meniscus in his right knee forced him to miss the final three games of the Clippers' five-game series loss to the Phoenix Suns.

«When we traded for Paul and signed Kawhi as a free agent in 2019, it wasn't for one or two years, wasn't three or four,» Frank said. «Every year you have those guys, they give you a chance. And so it's about surrounding those guys to continue to improve your chances.

»Kawhi's a ceiling raiser. When you study past NBA champions, they have a top-five guy on their team, and Kawhi has shown that when healthy he can be the best player in the world. Paul is an eight-time All-Star now. So we're going to continue to build around those guys and look for every which way [to improve around them]."

Frank confirmed Leonard's torn meniscus injury and that the team and Leonard will take the next few weeks to determine the next step toward his recovery. Leonard's meniscus injury is to the same knee in which suffered a torn ACL in the second round of the playoffs in 2021. That ACL injury kept Leonard out for all of the 2021-22 season. Leonard also had a quadriceps injury in his