Kawhi Leonard reacts to James Harden trade rumors

The LA Clippers have found themselves in the midst of trade rumors as the NBA trade deadline approaches. The main player the Clippers are reportedly looking to trade is James Harden.

The reports emerged late Monday night during the second quarter of the Clippers’ home game against the Philadelphia 76ers that the team was in advanced trade talks with Cleveland Cavaliers about a potential deal that would send Harden to the Cavs and Darius Garland to the Clippers.

ClutchPoints confirmed those rumors shortly after and added more to the story behind Harden and the Clippers moving toward finding the 36-year-old guard a new home.

The Clippers were blown out by the Philadelphia 76ers, 128-113, in a game most people in the building weren’t paying 100 percent of their attention to because of trade rumors.

After the game, LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard was asked about the trade rumors that broke during the game.

“Yes! Of course it’s a surprise,” Leonard told the media after the game. “I played. Yes, I’m surprised.”

Since no trade is official, players and coaches could not speak about the trade hypothesis nor did they want to.

Tyronn Lue on whether James Harden is the guy he wants to move past the trade deadline for the playoffs:

“Who wouldn’t want to have James Harden?” pic.twitter.com/Kc8Ff1ZM8E

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) February 3, 2026

“I have no comment on that,” Leonard added. “I respect his decision or anybody’s decision. And that’s it. He’s still going to be my guy and I trust the front office.”

For the next 36-48 hours, both parties will remain active in the market together.

“No, it was definitely shocking,” added John Collins after the contest. “Obviously I don’t know too much, but I’m just going to continue to see how it goes and go with it.”

“Hell yeah, it’s definitely just going to be a shock to me and the team and what we’ve been able to do in turning our season around. There’s definitely something different, something out of left field, but we’ll continue to deal with it as it unfolds.”

The Clippers have one final home game before the All-Star break, against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. After that, the Clippers go on the road (four games until the All-Star break) against the Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets.

The NBA trade deadline is Thursday afternoon, February 5th at 12pm PST / 3pm EST.