After an action-packed first day of free agency, the Clippers have been dead silent the past two days. However, the NBA has certainly not been quiet, with a steady stream of trades and free agent signings taking talent off the board. Here’s a quick look at the Clippers’ roster after the first week of free agency and who their targets might be to fill out their roster.
Clippers’ Current Roster (12 full, 1 two-way):
Point Guard: Darius Garland – Keaton Wagler
Shooting Guard: Kris Dunn – Kobe Sanders – Cam Christie
Small Forward: Brandon Ingram – Gradey Dick – Nick Martinelli (two-way)
Power Forward: Derrick Jones Jr. – Baba Miller
Center: Brook Lopez – Yanic Konan Niederhauser – Isaiah Jackson
Some other developments that haven’t been explicitly covered on here in the past few days are the departures of John Collins (Pistons) and Bogdan Bogdanovic, Bradley Beal’s probable departure, and Cam Christie pushing his contract guarantee date until after Summer League. Bogi leaving was expected, and Beal’s opt out meant a departure likely, but Collins leaving for a slightly-above Mid-Level Exception (MLE) deal was a blow, especially paired with the Kawhi trade.
As you can see above, the Clippers are relatively set at the guard positions. This is especially considering the likely return of Jordan Miller, who is a restricted free agent and who the Clippers are reportedly interested in bringing back. If you add him into the shooting guard/small forward mix, the team looks more or less set at those positions.
What that means for restricted free agent Bennedict Mathurin is unknown. There has been literally no news or reporting on Mathurin for weeks, which is interesting. Maybe that means he is coming back to the Clippers and they are just waiting for other shoes to drop, or maybe his market is cold and teams aren’t interested, giving the Clippers a chance to get him on the cheap. Mathurin and Ingram play different positions and have different styles, but both are ball-dominant players with some tunnel vision tendencies, and I’m not sure having both of them on the roster is a great idea. On the other hand, the Clippers are leaning younger and need more firepower, so Mathurin does check those boxes. Ultimately, I think he’s less likely to return now than he was pre-Kawhi trade.
The only other Clippers’ free agent of note is Nic Batum, who has also had no buzz around him since the Clippers declined his option last week. He has never firmly said it, but the assumption has been that if Nic plays in the NBA it will only be for the Clippers, so I’d be surprised if he went elsewhere. It is also possible he retires, but I would think he would have made that known already.
The Batum situation is of particular importance because the Clippers have no real power forwards on the roster unless you count second-round rookie Baba Miller, who is almost certainly not ready for NBA rotation minutes. Derrick Jones Jr., Brandon Ingram, and Kobe Sanders can all play there in a pinch, but the rebounding and back-line defense would take huge hits with any of them playing there closer to full-time. Thus, even though Nico was phased out of the rotation towards the end of last year, having him available for 18 minutes per game would help a lot on this roster. I think I’d expect him to return.
If Batum does return, that would give the Clippers two full roster spots and two two-way spots. One of those full spots has to go to a starting forward. Unfortunately, the options there are limited. The best player on the market is LeBron James, but he’s not coming to the Clippers. After him, the next best options are Rui Hachimura and Jonathan Kuminga, with Rui most likely getting the full MLE and Kuminga somewhere under that. I don’t particularly like either Rui or Kuminga; Rui is a much better fit on this roster, but is older and has no upside. Kuminga is an awful fit with Ingram but is still young enough to have some breakout potential.
If the Clippers can’t land Rui or Kuminga, the free agency forward market gets very rough. Per Spotrac, other options would be Guerschon Yabusele (not good last year), Jeremy Sochan (intriguing but has been bad in the NBA so far), Trendon Watford (minimum player), and then a series of washed veterans like Jeff Green, Kelly Olynyk, Kevin Love, and Larry Nance Jr. Not a single one of those guys is a starter in 2026, and most of them are barely even rotation caliber backups.
There is always the trade market. Dorian Finney-Smith got dumped today, and while he was absolutely awful last year for the Rockets, he has a trade record of being a decent rotation forward. The Lakers are trying to dump Jarred Vanderbilt; he’s been very disappointing for them, but he’s a good defender and energy guy to have off the bench. There are other options that will be available, and if the Clippers can’t land Rui or Kuminga they might have to go that route. PJ Washington from the Mavericks would be an ideal bet, though the Clippers would probably have to give up a real asset to get him.
The big name that I haven’t mentioned yet is Peyton Watson. The Clippers have been heavily linked to the Nuggets forward – he’s more in line with their new timeline, he went to UCLA, and he had a breakout season last year. The issues with Watson are twofold. First, I think the Nuggets probably will end up matching his deal, even if it’s large, and will find salary to dump to keep him without going over the second apron. Second, Watson, despite his 6’8 height, is better at defending smaller players instead of larger players, and is just not really a power forward. I’d be fine with the Clippers signing him, but I don’t think he’s really the answer for that hole on the roster.
In terms of other roster moves, I think the other full roster spot will likely go to a veteran third-string point guard just to provide depth there. The center position is weak, but there are almost no decent centers still available and the few still remaining are looking to sign with contenders. Maybe the Clippers bring in a flier on a two-way deal as minimal depth, but I think the full roster spots will go elsewhere.