The Southeast Division was by far the weakest in the NBA last year, with no teams attaining a record of over .500. That does not seem like it will be the case this season, with up to three teams making postseason pushes, including a potential top seed in the East in Orlando.

Orlando Magic

Additions: Desmond Bane, Tyus Jones, Jase Richardson (25^th pick in 2025 Draft), Noah Penda (32^nd pick in 2025 Draft)

Subtractions: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, Caleb Houstan, Gary Harris, Cory Joseph

Other: Extended Paolo Banchero for 5 years $239M, Re-signed Mo Wagner

Outlook: The Magic had one of the best offseasons in the entire NBA. While they paid a lot to acquire Desmond Bane, Bane is a perfect fit next to Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner as an exceptional off-ball shooter that adds downhill scoring juice. Tyus Jones has been overrated for much of his career, but as a backup point guard he’s still a steadier option than Cory Joseph, Markelle Fultz, or other Magic options in recent years. The Magic’s defense under Jamahl Mosley has been consistently excellent, setting a nice floor on a nightly basis. Add in a strong draft with Jase Richardson and Noah Penda plus a young roster full of developing players and you have a team that should be very good in the regular season with potential upside as a legitimate contender. I don’t think they quite get there this year, but third-best team in the East seems like a very reasonable goal.

Prediction: 51-31 (Last year predicted 49-33, actually 41-41)

Atlanta Hawks

Additions: Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Luke Kennard, Asa Newell (23^rd pick in 2025 Draft), N’Faly Dante

Subtractions: Clint Capela, Caris Levert, Terance Mann, Georges Niang, Larry Nance Jr.

Other:

Outlook: The Hawks had a very good offseason. That being said, I think people are getting a bit over their skis with them. The Hawks’ best move this past summer will not have an impact on their 2026 roster, as it involved swindling the Pelicans out of their 2026 first round pick just to move back 10 spots in the 2025 Draft. Kristaps Porzingis is theoretically a good fit, but I don’t trust him to stay healthy and I also don’t believe he’ll be as impactful outside of Boston. Nickeil is a very nice wing, but is he really a needle mover? Hawks believers would point to rising star Jalen Johnson, second-year wing Zach Risacher, and fifth-year big Onyeka Okongwu as candidates for internal improvement, and that’s certainly fair, but I can’t get to contender status with them. Still, they should be pretty good, and in the East maybe that’s enough.

Prediction: 46-36 (Last year predicted 37-45, actually 40-42)

Miami Heat

Additions: Norman Powell, Kasparas Jakucionis (20^th pick in 2025 Draft), Simone Fontecchio, Ethan Thompson

Subtractions: Duncan Robinson, Haywood Highsmith, Kevin Love, Kyle Anderson, Alec Burks

Other: Re-signed Davion Mitchell, Re-signed Dru Smith

Outlook: The Heat’s roster sure looks a lot different than when I last did this exercise last summer. Jimmy Butler is gone, as are other long-time mainstays like Duncan Robinson and Haywood Highsmith. Picking up Norm Powell for cheap is a good movie, and Jakucionis was a theoretical steal in the draft, but are those moves strong enough to turn around a Heat team that seems sunk in mediocrity? I don’t really think so. Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Powell, Andrew Wiggins, and decent depth plus Erik Spoelstra as coach is certainly enough for competence, but there’s not much upside here outside of Kel’el Ware or maybe Nikola Jovic. It’s possible the Heat get into the mid-40s in wins, but I think they’re going to be in the play-in.

Prediction: 40-42 (Last year predicted 44-38, actually 37-45)

Charlotte Hornets

Additions: Kon Kneuppel (4^th pick in 2025 Draft), Collin Sexton, Liam McNeeley (29^th pick in 2025 Draft), Mason Plumlee, Pat Connaughton, Ryan Kalkbrenner (33^rd pick in 2025 Draft), Sion James (34^th pick in 2025 Draft)

Subtractions: Mark Williams, Seth Curry, Jusuf Nurkic, Vasilije Micic, Josh Okogie, Taj Gibson

Other:

Outlook: In terms of pure talent, the Hornets should be better than they are. Unfortunately, they’re the Hornets, and things just don’t seem to work out well for them. LaMelo Ball’s health is the most important variable for them – he’s played 36, 22, and 47 games in the past three years, and they just aren’t going to be good without him having a healthy season. I like Kon Kneuppel, and Brandon Miller remains a very promising young wing, but the rest of the Hornets roster doesn’t have a ton of upside without LaMelo. There is also the rather large issue that the Hornets have the worst center rotation in the NBA, consisting of an ancient Mason Plumlee, the hungry but limited Moussa Diabate, and rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner. Even if Kalkbrenner is ok as a rookie, the Hornets are going to be outplayed at that position almost every night, and that’s a major disadvantage. Between that, LaMelo’s health, and too many guards, I just don’t see this as being close to a winning season.

Prediction: 27-55 (Last year predicted 29-53, actually 19-63)

Washington Wizards

Additions: Tre Johnson (5^th pick in 2025 Draft), CJ McCollum, Cam Whitmore, Will Riley (21^st pick in 2025 Draft), Marvin Bagley, Malaki Branham

Subtractions: Jordan Poole, Marcus Smart, Malcolm Brogdon, Saddiq Bey, Richaun Holmes, Colby Jones

Other: Re-signed Anthony Gill

Outlook: The Wizards are in year three of their long-term rebuild and this season is probably going to be just as bad record-wise as the previous two. The Wiz have added a lot of young talent, but still don’t have a north star to build around (unless one of their youngsters pops) and are clearly trying to tank for the loaded 2026 draft. I think they’ll probably be fun to watch for diehard NBA fans – Tre Johnson is a bucket, Alex Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly both flash potential, and CJ McCollum and Khris Middleton are still good – but are definitely going to compete for a bottom-three record in the NBA with the Nets and Jazz. Tre is the young guy I’m going to have my eye on the most; he doesn’t do much besides score, but he’s tremendous at putting the ball in the hoop and his heaters are legendary.

Prediction: 19-63 (Last year predicted 20-62, actually 18-64)

2026 NBA Season Preview: Southeast Division
Robert Flom

Our next entry in the Where Are they Now series is Tyrone (Ty) Wallace, another young Clipper from the interregnum period between Lob City and the 213 era.

Clippers Career

Ty Wallace was the 60^th pick in the 2016 pick by the Utah Jazz, but was not ever signed to an NBA deal by the Jazz, instead playing in their G-League system all of the 2017 season. He was signed to a training camp deal by the Clippers going into 2018, but was one of the last cuts in preseason. However, in mid-January, with the Clippers dealing with a ton of injuries and Ty playing well in Agua Caliente, he was signed to a two-way deal by the Clippers. Ty then spent most of the rest of the year playing in Los Angeles, logging 30 games (including 19 starts) in the NBA and averaging 9.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 28.4 minutes. Ty was not able to shoot at all (25% from three on low volume) but his driving ability plus size on defense made him a fairly promising prospect considering he was just 23 at the time.

Ty was a restricted free agent and got an offer by the New Orleans Pelicans, but the Clippers matched it, and he returned to the Clippers for the 2019 season. Like previous Where Are they Now entrants Jawun Evans and Sindarius Thornwell, Ty’s playing time was impacted by the advent of rookies Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jerome Robinson as well as the health of Pat Beverley and Avery Bradley. Ty still played in 62 contests, but his minutes dropped all the way down to 10.1, and his production and efficiency tanked. Ty was out of the rotation by the time the playoffs rolled around, and was waived after the season with the arrival of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. An abrupt end to what had seemingly been the start of a promising career with the Clippers.

2020 Season

Ty was claimed off waivers by the Timberwolves but was then waived by them at the end of training camp before playing in a single NBA game for Minnesota. However, Ty was then once again claimed off waivers, this time by the Atlanta Hawks. Ty played in 14 games for Atlanta in the next few months, but did not make much of an impact, averaging just 2.9 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 0.9 assists on horrid shooting splits (31.8/6.7/64.7) in 11.4 minutes per game. Ty was subsequently waived on December 14 and was not picked up by an NBA team.

However, the Clippers remained interested in having Ty Wallace in their system, and he was signed by the Agua Caliente Clippers in March 2020. As this was right at the end of the season, Ty played in just two games for Agua Caliente – it was more about keeping him going into the following season.

2021 Season

Ty remained with the Agua Caliente Clippers during the 2021 season, but for some reason only played in 11 games. Still, he started in 10 of those games and averaged 31.6 minutes while putting up a very robust line of 16.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.5 steals. In short, he was quite good, despite still not shooting well from three (28.6%) and turning the ball over 4 times per game.

2022 Season

Ty started off the 2022 season with the Agua Caliente Clippers as well, but was traded to the Long Island Nets (Brooklyn’s G-League team) before playing in a game. For the Nets, he had his best season since all the way back in 2018, averaging 21.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in 35.6 minutes per game while only starting in 11 contests. Along the way, a shocking development occurred: Ty started taking and making threes at a high volume, with his 6.1 attempts and 42.7% shooting both being career highs by massive margins.

Ty was so good, in fact, that he got one last shot in the NBA, receiving two 10-day contracts from the Pelicans. Ty appeared in 6 games for New Orleans and averaged just 12.5 minutes per game, but it still must have felt great for him considering he’d been out of the NBA for 2.5 years at that point. Still, his cup of coffee in the NBA was brief, and he finished the season back in Long Island with the G-League.

2023 Season

After six years of playing professional basketball in the United States, Ty Wallace finally moved overseas in 2023. Maybe he knew that a real NBA contract wasn’t coming, or maybe the money and prospects of higher-quality basketball was too potent. Regardless, Ty signed with Paris Basketball of the LNB Elite and Eurocup in July 2022. He played in 43 combined games for Paris across both competitions, averaging 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 5.9 assists. His three-point shooting fell back down to earth at 31.3%, though his 5.8 attempts remained much higher than earlier in his career. The turnovers, too, were an issue, with 3.6 giveaways per contest, but the level of production in very good leagues was impressive.

2024 Season

Following his successful season in France, Ty upgraded slightly, signing with Turk Telecom of the Basketball Super League (BSL) in Turkey, which also competed in the Eurocup. The BSL is considered a somewhat stronger league than LNB and offers comparable pay. Ty upped his game for Turk, producing probably the finest season of his career considering tenure and level of play, as he averaged 17.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 33 minutes while shooting 44.5% from the field, 33.7% from three (5.8 attempts), and 77.5% from the line (4.3 attempts) while cutting turnovers to 2.9 per game. An extremely impressive season from Ty at some of the highest levels of international competition.

2025 Season

In July 2024, Ty Wallace signed with Zalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL), a bit of a downgrade in terms of domestic leagues – but one that plays in the EuroLeague, the best league in the world outside of the US. However, Ty played only a few games for them before leaving the team in October. The explanation at the time was cloudy, but it seemed there were personal issues going on.

Ty was out of a job for a few months, but signed with Galatasaray of the BSL and Basketball Champions League. Ty played in 26 games for Galatasaray but started in just over half of them, and his stats were down across the board compared to previous seasons despite playing at a similar level. It’s unclear if he still had issues impacting him or his play was just suffering, but 2025 was definitely a down season, and in late June he and Galatasaray parted ways.

Future

Ty Wallace is somehow already 31 years old, putting him at the end of his prime and starting into the downslope of his career. Still, his 2022 to 2024 seasons would indicate he has plenty of good basketball left in him. It’s honestly been a pretty stellar career for the 60^th pick in the draft and a relatively unheralded college prospect – compared to Evans and Thornwell, Wallace has played at higher levels and produced much better. It seems unlikely Ty will come back to the NBA, but a few more years in top international domestic leagues is certainly a possibility.

Where Are They Now: Ty Wallace
Robert Flom

The next player up in the Where Are They Now Series is Jawun Evans, Sindarius Thornwell’s draft mate all the way back in 2017.

Clippers Career

Jawun Evans was taken with the 39^th pick in the 2017 Draft, marking the first draft selection of the post Lob City era. Evans was well liked by draft pundits as a pick, and Clippers fans had moderate expectations for Jawun due to a strong two-year college career. Evans played in 48 games his rookie season, averaging 16.2 minutes per contest for a competitive Clippers’ squad. However, despite flashing some fun playmaking and pesky point-of-attack defense, Evans’ offensive game, which was terrific in college, did not translate, with Jawun shooting just 35.2% from the field and 27.8% from three. It was overall a disappointing season, albeit with a few real highlights.

Unfortunately, like several of the Clippers’ young players from the 2016-2018 seasons, Jawun became a casualty of the Clippers’ influx of young talent with two lottery picks in the 2018 draft, and was waived on October 15, 2018 in training camp.

2019 Season

Jawun was picked up by the Phoenix Suns on a two-way deal just a couple weeks later, in early November, and remained with the Suns’ organization for most of the 2019 season. However, he played in a mere 7 games for the big league squad, averaging just over nine minutes per game and playing exclusively in garbage time. Instead, Jawun played mostly in the G-League, appearing in 32 games for the North Arizona Suns and averaging 15 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. Unfortunately, his turnovers were high (3.2) and the three-point shooting remained below average (33.8% on 2.3 attempts).

Evans was waived by the Suns on March 23, and was picked up by the Thunder on March 25. He played in just one game for the Thunder, logging a single minute with one stat (a missed three) before the season ended. Overall, not a banner year for Jawun, and this would be the last season he made appearances in NBA games.

2020 Season

Jawun was picked up by the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G-League team, and spent the season with them. He started in 16 of 33 games, but his scoring dropped all the way down to 7.6 per game, a nearly 50% reduction. Jawun’s turnovers also fell nearly in half, to 1.8, with a clear emphasis on running an offense and making plays for others rather than scoring. Sadly, what was probably Jawun’s steadiest year as a pro so far ended in early March, as he was waived following a season-ending injury.

2021 Season

It took Jawun nearly a full year to find a new professional home, as he signed with Promitheas Patras of the Greek Basket League in January of 2021. Evans played in just eight games for Patras and averaged a mere 15.2 minutes per game, with averages of 6.8 points and 2.0 assists not much to write home about. It was a brief sojourn internationally for Jawun, who then returned to North America at the end of the year.

2022 Season

Jawun signed with the Raptors 905 again, but was traded to the Canton Charge (Cleveland’s G-League team) before playing a game. He then appeared in 20 games for Canton, averaging 7.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.9 assists on his best shooting splits yet (43.2% from field and 43.3% from three). Still, at this point Jawun seemed locked into bench roles at the G-League level, or similar international arenas.

2023 Season

In September 2022, Jawun went back overseas, signing with Juventus Utena, a Lithuanian basketball team. Here, Jawun probably had his best overall professional campaign, averaging 14.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 5.5 assists while shooting 46.2% from the field, 40.5% from three, and 88.9% from the line. Oddly, Jawun played in just 14 games for Juventus before leaving, and didn’t sign anywhere else during the 2023 season after departing in January.

2024 Season

In July 2023, Jawun signed with Slask Wroclaw in Poland, but once again only appeared in a few games for the Polish side before signing with JDA Dijon Basket in the French LNB A. Jawun played in just a couple of games for Dijon as well, with very poor stats, logging just 10 total games across both leagues in the entire 2024 calendar year. Again, I’m not sure why he played in so few games, whether because of injuries, personality issues, or something else entirely.

2025 Season

In August of 2024, Jawun went back to Poland, this time signing with Legia Warsaw. Jawun played 13 games for Legia, but his stats were poor, scoring 7.9 points on 37.1% shooting from the field and 28.2% from three. Jawun left Legia, and in January of 2025 went back to the G-League, signing with the Maine Celtics. Jawun logged just four games with Maine, and his stats there were even worse than in Poland (albeit in a tiny sample size), shooting just 2-11 across those appearances and missing his only two threes. And that takes us to the present day.

Future

Jawun Evans has sadly had a bit of a downer career. After a somewhat fun if ultimately not very good rookie season in the NBA and then a competent (though again not awesome) G-League campaign the next year, he has really struggled to find his footing, with most of his stints with teams not lasting for more than a couple of months. Just 29 years old, Jawun could probably continue to play professionally for another few seasons, but it seems like at this point he might be even below the G-League level.

Ultimately, Jawun’s biggest issue has been scoring the basketball. It’s odd considering he was an effective and efficient scorer at good volume in a good conference in college at Oklahoma State, but his scoring has just not translated to the pros at all. More specifically, Jawun’s three-point shot has just never materialized, and it’s tough being a small guard that’s not a good three-point shooter. Hopefully Jawun can scratch out another couple of years professionally, even if that means going to some lesser-tier leagues.

Where Are They Now: Jawun Evans
Robert Flom

You know the NBA Offseason is in its dog days when I re-start the Where Are They Now articles, a very long running series dating back to Clips Nation documenting the career of former Clippers’ players. With Chris Paul returning to the Clippers, I wanted to take a look back at the days immediately after he left the team for the first time, and so I will be reviewing some of the Clippers from the fun 2017-2018 season. First up: Sindarius Thornwell.

Clippers Career

Sindarius Thornwell was taken with the 48^th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, continuing the Clippers’ tradition of taking older players in the draft (Reggie Bullock, CJ Wilcox, Brice Johnson, etc.). Expectations are always pretty low for players taken so low, but Sindarius immediately raised them through a strong Summer League. He then went on to play a real role for the 2018 Clippers, playing in 73 games (starting 16) for a team that went 42-40. A limited (to be kind) offensive player, Sindarius played minutes because of his defense and energy, which was the M.O. of that squad.

Unfortunately for Sindarius (but fortunately for the Clippers), the selection of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the 2018 Draft and the improved health of Pat Beverley (he barely played in 2017) pushed Thornwell way down the depth chart. Sindarius still played in 64 games for the incredibly fun 48-34 squad, but averaged just 4.9 minutes per game, with most of his playing time coming in garbage time or for very limited defensive situations.

Then, in the summer of 2019, the Clippers brought in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, and everything changed (Avatar the Last Airbender reference for those who know). For a team trying to compete for a championship, there was no longer room on the end of the bench for a defensive-first prospect already in his mid-20s, and so Sindarius was waived in early July.

2020 Season

Sindarius signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers to a training camp deal, but was waived before the season started. He thus spent most of his time in the G-League, logging 40 games for the Rio Grand Valley Vipers. Unfortunately, it was not a great season for Sindarius, who averaged just 9.2 points on 42.6% shooting from the field and 28.9% from deep. His inability to do much on the offensive end (though he did average 4.6 assists per game) did not bode well for his NBA prospects.

Sindarius was in fact signed at the very end of the season by the New Orleans Pelicans in a COVID-season only “substitution deal” but played just two inconsequential games for them.

2021 Season

The Pelicans must have liked what they saw from Sindarius, however, because they re-signed him in December of 2020 before the start of the season (that season started just before Christmas). The Pelicans waived him before the trade deadline before re-signing him to multiple 10-day deals. In total, Sindarius played 14 games for the Pels, averaging just 1.2 points in 5.2 minutes per game as a primarily defensive-oriented player.

When Sindarius’ second 10-day deal expired, the Orlando Magic stepped in and signed him to a two-way deal. Sindarius actually got more playing time than he had in years, averaging 20.6 minutes per game in his seven appearances for Orlando. Sadly, he was dreadful on offense, shooting 32% from the field and 28.6% from three.

Sindarius’ lack of offense game was his downfall, and those games for the Magic were the last time he appeared in the NBA.

2022 Season

After sticking in the NBA for parts of four seasons (legitimately a nice career for the 48^th pick), Sindarius finally went overseas, signing with German side Ratiopharm Ulm for the 2022 season. Ulm has been one of the better teams in the German League (BBL) in recent years, and competed in Eurocup that season. Across 42 games played, Sindarius started 39 and averaged 29.9 minutes per game, playing a key role. He also shot well for the first time in his professional career, averaging 44.4% from the field, 39% from three (on 3.9 attempts!), and 81.8% from the line (3.7 attempts) and scoring 12.5 points per game. A much-needed bounce back season for Sindarius.

2023 Season

Sindarius parlayed his excellent 2022 campaign into a deal with Frutti Extra Bursapor of the Turkish Basketball League (BSL), one of the best domestic leagues outside of the US. Oddly, Thornwell played just four games for Bursapor, and then did not play at all the rest of the year. I’m not sure what happened here, whether it was an injury, suspension, personal reasons, or something else, but it was a lost season for Sindarius.

2024 Season

The next time Sindarius played basketball it was for Avtodor Saratov of the Russian Basketball League (VTB). He suited up for 39 games, starting 34, and had a similar (if somewhat worse) season to his 2022 campaign for Ulm. Sindarius shot pretty well, collected a good number of rebounds, and scoring in the low double-digits. At this point, this seems like what Sindarius is at this level

2025 Season

In August 2024, Sindarius signed with Zastal Zielona Gora of the Polish Basketball League. He played and started in 17 games for Zastal before leaving the team in February 2025 and moving to the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Like so many former NBA players, China beckoned. Sindarius played 12 games for the Flying Tigers, but started just three, and played in fewer minutes per game than he had since leaving the NBA.

Future

Now 30 years old (turning 31 in November), Sindarius Thornwell seems well past the point of an NBA return. He’s clearly playing at a level where he can continue finding jobs overseas, but at this point I’d also imagine he’s not close to returning to a true top-level league (Euroleague) or team. Ultimately, while Sindarius’ defense at his size made him a useful bit player in the NBA, his lack of development as an offensive player has held him back from a steady tenure with any team. Hopefully he can keep playing another few years and reach the decade mark of his professional career.

Where Are They Now: Sindarius Thornwell
Robert Flom

The Clippers’ main roster is already settled, with 14 players with full NBA contracts all set for training camp and the start of the 2025-2026 season. However, they have continued to tinker on the margins, with multiple pieces of roster news breaking yesterday.

First, Shams Charania of ESPN announced that the Clippers were signing guard TyTy Washington to a one-year deal. It was not specified in the tweet, but it was later confirmed that this deal is an Exhibit 10 contract, making it an elevated training camp signing. Washington is a fourth-year guard who was drafted by the Rockets at 29 in the 2021 draft, but was traded and then waived after his rookie season. He has been on the Bucks and Suns the past two years on two-way deals, and has played just 58 NBA games with limited minutes.

Later in the day, Michael Scotto of Hoopshype broke the news that the Clippers were re-signing wing Jordan Miller to a two-way deal. To clear room for Miller, the Clippers waived Patrick Baldwin Jr. from the two-way deal he signed late last season. However, Law Murray of the Athletic stated that the Clippers were hopeful Baldwin Jr. would join the team in training camp. I’m not surprised by this swap: Miller is too old to really be a prospect, but he’s closer to an NBA-level player than Baldwin, whose athleticism did not cut it even in Summer League.

Essentially, where the back half of the roster stands right now is this: Cam Christie and Yanic Konan Niederhauser are on full roster deals and expected to remain on the roster going into the season. Jordan Miller, Kobe Sanders, and Trentyn Flowers are on two-way deals, with TyTy Washington and Patrick Baldwin Jr. on Exhibit 10 deals. NBA teams can bring 21 players into training camp, so the Clippers could technically add two more players on Exhibit 10 or other training camp deals.

The Clippers don’t seem heavily tied to anyone on two-way deals. Law (in his tweets yesterday) indicated that Jordan and Kobe are actually a bit “safer” than Flowers, and that all three will face competition from the training camp invitees for those two-way deals. If I had to guess, I think the three of those guys will win the two-way spots, but who knows.

That honestly might do it for the Clippers this summer unless some unexpected trade happens. The Clippers will not carry 15 full roster spots into the season, and their three two-way slots are all filled as well. The last pieces of business might be signing the last two training camp deals, but it is possible those are so unimportant they won’t even make “news” rounds on Twitter.

Clippers Make Multiple Back End Roster Moves
Robert Flom

After years of speculation about a reunion, news broke today that the Clippers will in fact sign Chris Paul to a one-year veteran’s minimum deal, bringing the franchise great back home.

Chris Paul spent six seasons with the Clippers from 2011 to 2017, serving as one of the centerpieces of the Lob City era. Despite those teams never breaking through to the Western Conference Finals, that era turned the Clippers franchise around – there is no Steve Ballmer or 213 era without Chris Paul. Chris Paul brought eyeballs, success on the court, and professionalism that had not existed in the franchise before. He changed the game.

Paul himself has a pretty ironclad case as “greatest Clipper ever”, with by far the strongest resume of any Clippers’ player. In his six seasons, he made five All Star games, earned 3 All-NBA First Teams and 2 All-NBA Second Teams, and received 6 All-Defense First Teams honors. He earned MVP ballot placement in each of those seasons as well, ranking 3rd in 2012 and 4th in 2013. No other Clippers player comes close to those accolades.

Forget Chris Paul, Clippers’ legend, for a moment. What about Chris Paul, the player, in 2025? Well, Paul is now 40, and is entering an absolutely ludicrous 21st season in the NBA. He played in all 82 games last year for the Spurs, averaging 8.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 7.4 assists on 42.7/37.7/92.4 shooting splits and only 1.6 turnovers per game. Paul basically never forgets to the rim or the free throw line anymore, but he remains a capable ballhandler, smart defender, and solid three-point shooter. Despite being far, far from the player he was for the Clippers, he was a positive impact presence for the Spurs by all accounts last year.

How Paul fits on the current roster is a bit more of a mystery. Paul makes 11 veteran, rotation-caliber players on the Clippers’ roster. Coaches like Steve Kerr last year have experimented with more than 10 players in a rotation (he got up to 12 last season), but it’s uncommon. When the team is fully healthy, at least one of if not two capable players might not get run. I’ll have another article breaking down all the possibilities there, but I think CP3 himself is a prime candidate to not play in that scaled down rotation, especially since he and James Harden simply can’t play together at this stage of their careers.

I know some people are worried about the Clippers having too many mouths to feed in the rotation, and locker room issues popping up as a result. I also know other people either were never huge fans of Chris Paul, or have since soured on him due to his presence on Clippers’ rivals in Houston and Phoenix. I get all that.

To me, however, this is an undeniable win. As detailed above, I believe Chris Paul is the greatest player in franchise history. To have him coming back to complete his storied, all-time career in a Clippers’ jersey is awesome, and I think his first and final games of the season will be incredible to witness. Welcome back, Point God.

Clippers to Sign Chris Paul
Robert Flom

The Clippers close out their 2025 Summer League with a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. The game is scheduled at 5 PM ET, and there are only a few games today, so that timing should be roughly accurate. The game is only being televised on ESPNU, so it might be tough to access for people that don’t have League Pass or Clippervision.

These late Summer League games are somehow even more useless than the rest of Summer League, as so many guys have already been sent home (including nearly all top first and second-year players) and competitive drive is at a low. Thus, I wouldn’t take nearly anything away from this game.

All that being said, this is the last Clippers’ basketball we will see for close to two and a half months, so we may as well enjoy. Let’s hope the Clippers send out all of their actual roster players and they show out in their last opportunity in Vegas.

Clippers 2025 Summer League Game 5 Thread
Robert Flom

The 3-0 Summer League Clippers take on the Denver Nuggets for their final game of “group” play before the Summer League Playoffs. The game has a start time of 8:00 PM PT that will probably be more like 8:20, and will be played at the Thomas & Mack Center on ESPN2.

If the Clippers win this game, their 4-0 record will get them into the Summer League Playoffs, not like that means very much. Still, it’s always fun to see players try hard in games that matter, and for these Summer Leaguers, winning the championship would be cool.

As for the Clippers themselves, Game 3 was one of the worst games of basketball I’ve ever seen, and that includes many years of watching Summer League. The Clippers’ defense was good (Trentyn Flowers was particularly impactful in that game) but their offense was abysmal. They will need to score more than 63 points to win any other game in Vegas.

For this one, I’d like to see Cam Christie and Pat Baldwin continue to score in ways that aren’t jump shots, Jordan Miller do some playmaking, and Yanic Konan Niederhauser and Flowers bring energy and offense in transition.

Clippers 2025 Summer League Game 4 Thread
Robert Flom

Well, after two weeks of rumors, Shams Charania announced today that the Clippers will sign Bradley Beal to a two-year, $11M (with a player option on the second year) deal after he completes his buyout with the Suns. Beal will earn back some of his buyout money and get a chance to earn another bag in free agency next year if he balls out for the Clippers, while the Clippers get a veteran scorer on a cheap deal.

Beal just turned 32 and is entering his 14^th year in the NBA after 11 seasons with the Wizards and two with the Suns. A three-time All Star, Beal’s tenure with the Suns was a disastrous one, ending with one of the largest buyouts in NBA history. But what about his fit with the Clippers? Especially considering that all of the initial reporting is that Beal will be starting at shooting guard for the Clippers, replacing the departed Norm Powell.

Beal is not fully washed. He’s not the same player he was five years ago, but he averaged 17.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.3 assists across his 106 games in Phoenix while shooting 50.5% from the field, 40.7% from three (4.7 attempts), and 80.8% from the line (2.6 attempts). He’s still a capable three-level scorer, and is as tough to guard as anyone in the NBA when he gets hot. While not as good off-ball as he was early in his career, Beal did play a lot off the ball alongside Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, and will be in a similar situation with the Clippers playing off James Harden and Kawhi Leonard. At the same time, he offers a dynamism with the ball in his hands that nobody else on the Clippers can match. On offense, despite some worries about “too many mouths to feed” (which is valid, more on that later), Beal seems like a clean fit.

Comparing Beal to Norm Powell is interesting. All of the advanced stats would say Norm was a (significantly) better player than Beal last year, despite Beal’s pedigree. Norm scored more, shot better from three while taking more threes, and got to the line more. Norm was simply a significantly more reliable and deadly scorer than Beal. Both are bad defenders, with Beal being a bit larger and sturdier than Norm, and Norm probably being somewhat quicker at this stage. Beal, while not an amazing rebounder, is stronger on the glass than Norm, which is nice. Most importantly, Beal is a far, far better playmaker for others, capable of truly running an offense at times and operating in the pick-and-roll as a passer in a way Norm could never do consistently. Thus, the Clippers are losing some scoring punch, but are getting a somewhat more well-rounded player in return.

Beal’s availability is also a matter of concern. In the past six years he’s played in 57, 60, 40, 50, 53, and 53 games. Even with the first two of those being COVID-shortened seasons, that’s a tough track record. That said, if there’s a roster where availability doesn’t matter a ton (even with Kawhi’s availability being an issue as well), it’s the Clippers, who have several players that can fill in Beal’s spot in the starting lineup in a number of different ways – Bogdan Bogdanovic as the cleanest skillset replacement, Derrick Jones Jr. for an athleticism upgrade, and Kris Dunn as the defensive floor raiser. If both Beal and Kawhi are out, the Clippers will still have some scoring options alongside Harden in Ivica Zubac and John Collins. And, if Harden is out, then the Clippers will have a semi-feasible short-term fill-in with Beal’s ball-handling and playmaking.

I think the overall rotation and lineup decisions that Beal’s arrival (and seemingly likely starting) foists upon Ty Lue are a bit more challenging. Harden-Beal-Kawhi-Zu are going to be locked in, which is a ton of scoring but also a lot of guys who want the ball, and not a huge amount of defense or role-playing connective pieces. John Collins seemed like the starting power forward when the Clippers traded for him, and he does add some much needed size and athleticism. But if the Clippers start Collins, their perimeter defense will be severely lacking. Jones Jr. and Dunn are two other potential starting options, and would solve the perimeter defense issue, but would create further deficiencies for size and rebounding. The bench rotation would also be a bit fouled up either way, as if Collins start, both Dunn and DJJ will come off the bench, which offers some redundancies, whereas if Collins comes off the pine, the Batum-Collins-Lopez frontcourt would look mighty slow. Staggering players will help, of course, but Ty Lue will have his hands full figuring everything out.

Honestly, I think my biggest concern with the Beal signing is chemistry. The Clippers won last year through defense and chemistry – everyone on the team seemed to get along and they just seemed like a together bunch that was rowing in the right direction. Beal, while not a notable malcontent, was unhappy in Phoenix last year with his role and his effort took a notable hit. The Suns were a miserable group last year, and winning cures a lot of concerns, so I’m not too worried, but I don’t think he’ll get more touches or a larger role in LA than he had in Phoenix. There have also been rumors of Beal being a less-than-stellar teammate going back to his time in Washington. Hopefully the chance to revitalize his career on a good team with veteran teammates is enough to keep Beal happy and pulling alongside everyone else. Still, the team’s overall spirit is something I will be keeping a close eye on – even without Beal’s potential issues, it’s tough to have great chemistry two years in a row.

The Clippers’ free agency is not over, even though this is likely the last big move they’ll make this summer. After all, the Clippers only have 13 roster spots filled, and while they usually prefer to leave one open, that still leaves one spot to fill. The Clippers’ depth chart is quite well filled out, with 10 clear top rotation players followed by the young guys (Cam Christie, Kobe Brown, Yanic Konan Niederhauser) and two-ways (Trentyn Flowers, Kobe Sanders, Patrick Baldwin Jr.). Their 14^th spot could just be filled by Jordan Miller, but my guess is the Clippers sign another veteran instead. Rumors have swirled around Chris Paul, but he’d be outside the Clippers’ current rotation, and my guess is he wants to play a real role on a team. Still, I’d expect the Clippers to make a minor move or two in the coming weeks.

Overall, I think this is a fine signing for the Clippers. Beal has his warts in terms of availability, fit, and attitude, but he is an upgrade over some ways in Norm Powell, and even if you prefer Norm in a vacuum, adding in the John Collins piece means the Clippers are a more talented team than they were last season. Fingers crossed that the team that looks like a fairly competitive Western Conference heavyweight on paper turns out to be one in actuality in three months when the season starts.

Clippers to Sign Bradley Beal in Free Agency
Robert Flom

The 2025 Summer League Clippers are 2-0 heading into their game tonight against the Lakers, which is on at 7:30 PM PT on NBA TV and ESPN+. Just as with previous games, this one will likely start late, so I’d expect 7:45 PM at earliest.

The Clippers had a solid win yesterday against the Bucks, with a dominant start to the 4th quarter giving them the edge to get the win. The Clippers received 20+ point games from Cam Christie, Patrick Baldwin Jr., and Jordan Miller, all of whom played quite well. For other notable Clippers’ summer leagues, Kobe Brown sat out with his ankle sprain, while Trentyn Flowers and Kobe Sanders had nice outings off the bench. The lone Clippers’ roster player who did not have a great night was Yanic Konan Niederhauser, who had a loud dunk and block in the 4th quarter but was quiet the rest of the game.

Hopefully the Clippers play well again tonight and get the win. Even in Summer League, it’s nice to beat the Lakers.

Clippers 2025 Summer League Game 3 Thread
Robert Flom