Thursday, LA Clippers star forward Kawhi Leonard dropped a noteworthy soundbite that warrants the attention of every OKC Thunder fan.
Following their 115-114 win over the Denver Nuggets, the two-time Finals MVP shared a rather surprising take on the state of his team, where, when asked whether Los Angeles is still a legitimate contender, he said their ring-chasing pursuits are "over now."
Throughout the past several months, many of Oklahoma City's once-incredibly exciting draft assets received via trade have gradually lost significant value. From the Philadelphia 76ers' resiliency to the egregious tank job by the Utah Jazz, picks promised to the Thunder during the upcoming 2026 festivities have slowly but surely been losing their luster.
And while the pick owed to them from the Clippers seemed to have been following this same kind of trend as of late, Leonard's remarks may just be enough to bring hope for a lottery pick back to life.
Lack of championship drive for Clippers a major boon for Thunder
Thanks to the gift that keeps on giving 2019 blockbuster trade that, in essence, swapped Paul George for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City owns the unprotected rights to Los Angeles' first-round pick this year.
During the early stages of the campaign, said pick seemed all but guaranteed to fall to one of the top spots come draft night, though, after their mid-season resurgence, where they've gone 21-7 over their last 28 games, this belief slowly started to dissipate.
However, Leonard's shocking admission could be a sign that subpar success rates could once again come their way.
Along with his two separate legendary title runs, seven All-Star nods, and two DPOY awards, Kawhi has become synonymous with taking time off for "load management" purposes.
When it comes to someone with this already established reputation, why would anyone expect him to willingly put his body on the line if he, himself, is publicly already waiving the proverbial white flag on a shot at another title?
On top of this, it's not as if he's a lock to return next season anyway, as many are speculating that the clearly re-tooling Clippers could offload Leonard and the remaining one-year, $50.3 million on his deal this summer to, one, spark a fresh start for the organization and, two, give the star a chance to legitimately contend elsewhere.
As things currently stand, Los Angeles resides in the ninth seed in the Western Conference standings at 27-8 and will likely need to participate in the Play-In Tournament to have a shot at participating in this year's postseason.
Whether they face the Suns, Warriors, or Trail Blazers, based on Kawhi's comments, they're clearly the least hungry and motivated of the bunch to vie for playoff contention.
With this in mind, it's rather easy to envision that, come April, the Clippers will fall short of a fourth-straight playoff berth, which, in turn, would automatically gift the title-favorite Thunder a lottery pick in what is widely believed to be an absolutely stacked 2026 NBA Draft.