Two minutes after I wrote an article going over the Clippers’ offseason thus far and discussing potential future moves, Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the Clippers have come to terms with wing Jordan Miller on a new 3 year, $15.3M contract. Law Murray of the Athletic chimed in a bit later to note that only the first year of the deal will be guaranteed.

Just like the Kobe Sanders deal, I don’t have much to say about this one. Jordan Miller was excellent for the Clippers last year in a reserve role, scoring 10 points per game with 3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in just 22.1 minutes while scoring with exceptional efficiency (62.8 True Shooting) and being solid defensively. He’s objectively worth more than the deal the Clippers are paying him, even without the last two seasons being non-guaranteed. If Jordan continues to play at the level he did last year, the Clippers keeping him for the last two years (or moving him for plus value) seems assured. Jordan is also 26 years old, meaning this contract is covering his prime years in the NBA. It feels like a major underpay.

However, similarly to Kobe, I understand this deal from Jordan’s perspective. He is a restricted free agent who was a late second round pick and only has one season of true rotation level play. While I think he’s a very solid role player, the NBA might not be quite as convinced, especially since he was a five-year college player without as much early career hype. There might not have been much out there for Jordan more than this.

In addition, just like Kobe, Miller has been on two-way contracts or league minimums in his first three season. This contract is thus a massive salary raise for him, and a much-earned reward for how hard he’s worked to develop his game over his three years in the NBA.

With the Miller signing, the Clippers now have 12 full roster contracts, with Baba Miller likely filling a 13th, though he could be signed to a two-way if needed. Nick Martinelli, the Clippers’ other second-round pick, will almost certainly be on a two-way. It should be noted that Cam Christie’s deal is non-guaranteed with a guarantee date of after Summer League, so he could be cut if needed. I do think cutting him and bringing him back on a two-way is a better use of resources.

Regardless, the Clippers only have two full roster spots left as of right now, with a massive hole on their roster at power forward. I think those two spots will be filled by a starter acquired by free agent or trade and by Nic Batum, though if the power forward is acquired via trade, it would presumably open up another roster spot vacated by whoever is sent out. The Clippers definitely still have moves to make.

Congratulations to Jordan on the deal. Jordan is, somehow, the longest-tenured player on the team, and will continue to be so moving forward.

Clippers Re-Sign Jordan Miller To Three Year Deal
Robert Flom

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.

Clippers 2026 Offseason Update: Entering July 4 Weekend
Robert Flom

Buried in the Kawhi Leonard trade news yesterday came the much less shocking news that the Clippers had signed Kobe Sanders to a 4-year, $11.2M deal, with the first two seasons guaranteed and the last two non-guaranteed. For those who can do some quick math, that’s an average of less than $3M per season, or under a veteran’s minimum for players that have been in the NBA a good amount of time.

There’s honestly not a ton to say about this deal – it’s a really good piece of business by the Clippers. Sanders came out of nowhere as the 50th pick in the draft last year to play a real role on the 2026 Clippers, playing in 68 games and starting 16 while averaging 7.3 points per game on good efficiency and playing competent defense. Sanders’ age (24 years old) and lack of athleticism mean there’s probably not a huge deal of upside there, but even if he only gets a little bit better, this is very good value for a guy who’s a proven rotation player on a decent team. If he’s able to make real strides as a shooter or playmaker, this could be an immense steal.

That’s not to say that this doesn’t make sense for Sanders either. He was signed on a two-way last year before getting converted to a full-time deal on the league minimum in early February. That means he made a lot of money by normal people standards, but very little by NBA standards. This is still on the low end in the NBA, but is a massive salary raise for him and provides him with some job security past this season. Maybe Sanders could have gotten more on the open market, but he knows the Clippers, the Clippers know him, and this is a good fit for both sides.

Sanders is currently penciled in as the backup SG/SF on the roster, though if the Clippers don’t bring back Bennedict Mathurin there’s at least a chance he could start to bring him shooting next to Darius Garland and Brandon Ingram. He seems locked into being a rotation player for the 2027 Clippers, and I think that’s a good thing.

Congratulations to Kobe Sanders on the full NBA deal, and I’m excited to see how he develops in the coming years.

Clippers Re-Sign Kobe Sanders to Four Year Deal
Robert Flom

The Kawhi Leonard era is over in Los Angeles after seven years, with the Clippers trading Kawhi to the Toronto Raptors for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, unprotected first round picks in 2031 and 2033, a first round pick swap this year, and second round picks in 2030 and 2033. That is honestly quite a haul for Kawhi, who has one year left on his deal, is 35 years old, and has an infamous injury history.

Let’s talk about the players coming the Clippers’ way. Brandon Ingram is 28 years old (29 in September), and has played in the NBA for 10 seasons, making two All Star teams (including last year). He’s averaged over 20 points per game each of the past seven seasons, and has done so on reasonably good efficiency. Ingram’s rebounding and assist numbers are also solid – he’s someone that will definitely produce raw stats. Advanced statistics have always been less favorable to Ingram; something about his game just does not translate to impacting actually winning games as much as it should. Still, he’s a good player signed for an expensive but not awful deal ($40M this year, $41.3M player option next year) that can help keep the Clippers competent.

Gradey Dick was the 13^th pick in the 2023 Draft, and has spent the first three seasons of his career on the Raptors. Billed as a shooter with potential upside for off-the-dribble scoring, Dick shot decently his first two seasons before his shot deserted him this past year. He has good size for the kind of player archetype he is, coming in at 6’7 and over 200 pounds, and thus can guard wings acceptably enough despite being a bad overall defender. Dick has one year left on his rookie-scale contract, which would make him a restricted free agent next summer if the Clippers tend him a qualifying offer. He’s not a nothing part of this deal, but he was definitely mostly in it just for salary – I find it unlikely much comes of him.

The picks are where this trade really shines. The Clippers were able to negotiate the Raptors up from just one first round picks to two first rounders in addition to the swap and the two second round picks. They also got the Raptors to send two far-out picks in the 2030s. This can be a double-edged sword, as the entire league, CBA, and draft could be different by then, but generally getting further out picks is a good thing because there’s less certainty. The swap next year is also interesting, as it means the Clippers will get the second-best of their own, Raptors, and Thunder’s picks. The Raptors and Thunder will very likely be better than the Clippers, but the Thunder’s pick will probably be 28-30, and the Raptors pick will probably be a bit lower than that, so the Clippers will get a somewhat better pick next year as well.

While it would have been nice if the Clippers could have gotten more picks, or gotten a more interesting young guy than Dick (Ja’Kobe Walter or Jamal Shead), this is ultimately a pretty good package for Kawhi considering all of the factors mentioned above. At no point since he tore his ACL in 2021 could a Kawhi package have looked this good – he was out all of 2022, injured and not himself in 2023, ended 2024 injured, and was out a lot of the 2025 regular season. Thus, the Clippers sold high on Kawhi in the end, even though you could argue for them keeping him to remain competitive until they get their own picks back in 2030.

The Clippers now have a decent number of picks in the door between this deal, the Zu trade, and the Harden trade, in addition to their 2026 draft class. While it might not be a full rebuild, the trade of Kawhi officially marks a new phase of the Clippers’ franchise, a hopefully relatively quick reset that can have them back in contention in the late 2020s. For now, this team will likely not be very good, but it should be competitive, at least, and has some real upside with all of the youngsters.

A more lengthy look at Kawhi’s tenure on the team and the overall Kawhi era will come later in the summer, but for now, sayonara to Kawhi, and hello to Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick. With the Kawhi move over, attention will now turn towards Bennedict Mathurin and John Collins’ free agency.

Clippers Trade Kawhi Leonard to Raptors for Brandon Ingram and Picks
Robert Flom

The Clippers made a series of moves today, with the most important being that they picked up Brook Lopez’s team option for $9.187M, declined Bogdan Bogdanovic’s team option for $16.02M, and declined Nic Batum’s team option of $5.881M. They also declined Jordan Miller and Kobe Sanders’ team options, but extended them qualifying offers to make them restricted free agents, and extended a qualifying offer to Bennedict Mathurin as well.

This is not quite Kawhi Leonard trade shakeups, but these are important moves. Brook Lopez is back, and while I’m not excited to watch him again next year, the center free agent class this summer was awful and he’s a known positive in the locker room. It’s fine that he stays, even if it’s just to keep the seat warm for Yanic Konan Niederhauser as Yanic recovers from his Lisfranc surgery. Ultimately, this is fine, even if he will be overtaxed again as a starter if the Clippers don’t get someone above him on the depth chart in free agency.

Bogdanovic was always going to be gone this summer, the question was via trade or free agency. The Clippers clearly could not find a team for Bogi, so free agency it is. It’s an unceremonious end to Bogi’s Clippers tenure, which is sad considering the initial promise he showed upon his acquisition in 2025, and how fun he can be when he’s rolling. I’ll be wishing him the best of luck moving forward, with the Nuggets being an early favorite for his services to pair him with fellow countryman Nikola Jokic.

Nico is the most interesting of the three. It’s been assumed and more or less reported that Nico does not want to play anywhere else in the NBA but for the Clippers. Thus, declining his deal, to me, does not mean Nico won’t return, it’s just that he will probably come back on a veteran’s minimum as an end-of-bench locker room leader. It is possible he retires (it’s been rumored before) or goes to another team, but as of now I’d still expect him to be back.

For Miller and Sanders, all of the reporting is that the Clippers want to sign them to multi-year deals. Since they are both restricted free agents, I’d imagine both are back on the team next year on reasonable deals, though I have no idea what the market for either is.

The last piece of news that came out today was Bradley Beal declining his $5.6M player option. This came as a bit of a surprise, as Beal missed almost the entire season, is on the wrong side of 30, and was bad in the few games he did play last season. Still, he must have gotten wind that the Clippers were going younger, and he must also know that there’s a spot on a contender for him, even if it’s on a vet minimum. If I had to guess, I’d say the Heat, Warriors, or Celtics will be his home next year. Multiple Clippers reporters have said the Clippers will look at bringing Beal back, but I have no idea why they’d do that.

That’s about it for today! The Kawhi rumors are still lingering, but a lot of business got done. Now, we wait for free agency tomorrow, where two Clippers (John Collins and Bennedict Mathurin) are some of the biggest names out there. We should have info on what’s going on with them in the coming days.

Clippers Pick Up Brook Lopez’s Option, Decline Bogi & Batum
Robert Flom

The 2026 NBA Draft is over, and free agency is less than a week away! Therefore, it’s time to do a quick primer on what to expect from the Clippers during the offseason.

Let’s first map out the Clippers’ roster heading into free agency, not counting their recent draftees. The Clippers have only six players with fully guaranteed contracts next season: Kawhi Leonard, Darius Garland, Derrick Jones Jr., Isaiah Jackson, Yanic Konan Niederhauser, and Jordan Miller.

The Clippers have two players with partially guaranteed contracts that are likely to stick around unless they’re involved in trades, in Kris Dunn and Cam Christie. Dunn is of plus value on his deal and is beloved in the locker room, while Christie has not played much but is still very young and fine as a back-end depth piece.

There are two more players likely to be back in Kobe Sanders (team option – a lock to be picked up), and Bradley Beal (player option – would seem he picks it up unless he somehow gets a better offer elsewhere).

The Clippers have three other team options on Brook Lopez, Nicolas Batum, and Bogdan Bogdanovic, with John Collins as an unrestricted free agent and Bennedict Mathurin as a restricted free agent.

Finally, for the two-ways, only Sean Pedulla is under contract for next year.

Now let’s add in the Clippers’ 2026 NBA Draft. Keaton Wagler will be under a standard first-round rookie scale deal. Baba Miller, as an early 2^nd round pick that was widely expected to be taken in that range, will probably secure a true NBA roster deal. Nick Martinelli, a late 2^nd, will probably be on a two-way. Finally, Narcisse N’Goy will be stashed at Auburn.

That leaves the Clippers with likely 12 full roster players and two two-ways, giving them three open roster spots and one two-way. Here’s a rough breakdown of the positional situation.

PG: Darius Garland – Keaton Wagler – Sean Pedulla

SG: Kris Dunn – Kobe Sanders – Bradley Beal – Cam Christie

SF: Derrick Jones Jr. – Jordan Miller – Nick Martinelli

PF: Kawhi Leonard – Baba Miller

C: Yanic Konan Niederhauser – Isaiah Jackson

Considering Wagler will play a lot of shooting guard next to Garland, and Sanders, Christie, and Miller can play up or down, the Clippers are relatively set at wing, even if they probably would prefer to bring Dunn off the bench. Garland and Wagler together also make the Clippers ready to go at point guard, though they could probably use a third-string veteran in case of injury.

The obvious areas of need are in the frontcourt, especially considering Yanic’s injury and Baba Miller probably not being ready for NBA rotation minutes. Bringing back John Collins and Brook Lopez would pretty much round out the roster, but that would mean running back the same team from last year, more or less, with only the draft picks being new pieces of note. I can’t see the Clippers going in that direction based on how they’ve talked about their roster and pivoting towards more of a Garland-centric timeline.

The big question mark, of course, is Kawhi Leonard. Trade rumors have been rumbling around him for weeks, and have picked up some steam in recent days. If the Clippers do trade him, my guess would be it would be for a starting level wing to replace his production to some extent, as well as a frontcourt player. Regardless, a Kawhi trade would completely shake up the roster, and it’s hard to imagine anyone but Garland and Wagler being “safe” this summer if Kawhi is moved.

Ultimately, I think the Clippers will be active in the coming weeks. Collins and Mathurin are two of the more highly-regarded free agents on the market, and whether they come back or not will have major ramifications to the roster. There are also all the team and player options that need to be picked up, and each of those will have shifting effects.

Thus, it’s hard to truly predict what the Clippers will be up to, but I think a Kawhi trade is possible, and even if he isn’t traded, I think they will probably make a couple other trades as well as maybe one somewhat major free agent signing in the frontcourt.

Quick Clippers 2026 Offseason Primer
Robert Flom

The Clippers traded back from 52 to 57 for cash, and used the 57th pick to select Narcisse N’Goy, a center from France.

I will be honest, I’d never heard of N’Goy before today. He’s a 22 year old, 7’0 tall big man that played for Poitiers Basket 86 in the French LNB Pro B league, and had committed to play for Auburn in the 2026-2027 NCAA season (obviously will not happen now). He averaged 9.7 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game, albeit against low-level professional competition.

It’s a little unclear what will happen with N’Goy. Law Murray said N’Goy would be a draft and stash, so maybe he stays overseas – but having committed to Auburn, it’s possible he wants to come to the states. I think it’s at least possible he signs on a two-way, but we will just have to see.

Edit: Apparently in today’s crazy world of 2026, you can draft and stash guys in college, so N’Goy will seemingly play at Auburn but still be a Clippers’ pick! Weird!

Welcome to the Clippers, Narcisse!

Clippers Select Narcisse N’goy With the 57th Pick in the 2026 NBA Draft
Robert Flom

The Clippers originally had the 52nd pick in the draft, traded back to 57 for cash, then traded back up to 55 using some of that cash, all to select Nick Martinelli, a forward from Northwestern.

Martinelli is a 6’6, 200 pound senior that averaged 23 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2 assists per game in his last year at Northwestern. Despite his strong scoring numbers, Martinelli was not a dynamic three-point shooter (good percentage, low volume), instead living in the midrange and at the free throw line. He’s a smart, high-feel player that doesn’t have great athleticism, and will definitely need to adjust to NBA size and athleticism.

Honestly, I like the Martinelli pick a lot. Like Miller, he’s on the older side (already 22), but he is a good basketball player who has real utility as a bench scorer. The big swing skill for him will be the three-point shot. If he can push his dynamite midrange game behind the arc, there’s probably a real NBA career for him. If the three-point shot does not develop, he’s likely not going to stick in the NBA.

I’d guess Nick is going to be on a two-way deal, but we will see!

The Clippers Select Nick Martinelli with 55nd Pick in the 2026 NBA Draft
Robert Flom

With the 36th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, the Clippers selected Baba Miller, a 6’11, 204 pound Power Forward from the University of Cincinnati.

Miller is a 22-year-old senior who played for three different schools in college: Florida State, Florida Atlantic, and finally Cincinnati. In his senior season, Miller averaged 13 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.2 blocks while shooting 52.9% from the field, 19.2% from three (1.7 attempts), and 65.8% from the free throw line (4.8 attempts).

Simply put, Baba is an upside swing. For his size, he’s extremely athletic and moves quite well. He’s a good rebounder and can make plays purely based off his athletic tools and size. However, he’s very raw at playing basketball, without much shooting ability and questionable instincts on defense.

I think there’s a pretty good chance Baba is not an NBA player – he might just not have the skills to stick in the league longterm. But for a Clippers roster that was small, unathletic, and upside-lacking for such a long time, I like the swing. If Miller is able to get his shot worked out, or is able to translate his tools into actual defensive impact, he could be a steal at the range he was selected.

Welcome to the Clippers, Baba! The Clippers still have pick 52, and we will see if they make that selection or not.

Clippers Select Baba Miller with the 36th Pick in the 2026 NBA Draft
Robert Flom

In the first round of the NBA Draft, the Clippers selected guard Keaton Wagler, the player who had been most widely mocked to them since the draft lottery.

Tonight, the Clippers have picks 36 and 52 in the second round. I have not paid much attention to the second round due to the focus on pick 5 and the top of the lottery, and it’s tough to mock anyone that deep in the draft considering how many players go before them.

Here are a few names that I like that are currently available (I’d guess several of them go before the Clippers pick at 36): Henri Veesaar (big man, UNC), Baba Miller (forward, Cincinnati), Isaiah Evans (guard, Duke), Meleek Thomas (guard, Alabama), Richie Saunders (wing, BYU), Emanuel Sharp (guard, Houston), Bruce Thornton (guard, Ohio State).

We will keep an eye out for any trades or movement as the draft approaches.

2026 NBA Draft: Second Round Thread
Robert Flom