Is Leonard/George era ending? Rumor Clippers testing Paul George trade waters.

After four years, one trip to the Western Conference Finals and a longer list of injuries to key players than accomplishments, is it time for the Clippers to end the Kawhi Leonard/Paul George era?

They seem to be at least considering it, in a surprise report from Marc Stein in his latest Substack newsletter.

League sources tell The Stein Line that the LA Clippers have left various rival teams with the impression through their Draft Week conversations that they are, at a minimum, attempting to gauge Paul George’s trade value and, to hear some describe it, giving real consideration to the idea of disassembling the Kawhi Leonard/George tandem.

Lillard’s Trail Blazers at No. 3 in the draft and the star-searching Houston Rockets at No. 4, sources say, have been identified as potential trade partners if the Clippers decide that they indeed want to shake their roster up dramatically for the final season before the team moves to owner Steve Ballmer’s sparkly new Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., for the 2024-25 campaign.

The word out of Los Angeles had been that the Clippers would run it back this season, with Tyronn Lue returning as coach and maybe even Russell Westbrook joining him to play the point (although there have been talks about acquiring Chris Paul of late). However, that year five of the Leonard/George era comes with a serious cost — they have roughly $227 million in projected salary, which has them well beyond the restrictive new second tax apron, with a total salary plus tax bill exceeding $400 million. On top of that, both Leonard and George are eligible for contract extensions this fall off their existing max deals (both can get more than $200 million more).

All of that is without dealing with Westbrook or Chris