We are truly closing in on training camp now, as media day is just a week from today on September 30. Teams are allowed to bring 21 players to camp, up from the previous 20, as the NBA has added a third two-way spot for the 2025 season and beyond. So far, this is the Clippers’ roster heading into training camp, with a full 21 spots consisting of 15 roster players, two two-way guys, and four training camp signings.
Full Roster Guys
PG: James Harden, Kris Dunn, Bones Hyland
SG: Terance Mann, Norm Powell, Kevin Porter Jr., Cam Christie
SF: Derrick Jones Jr., Amir Coffey
PF: Kawhi Leonard, Nic Batum, Kobe Brown, PJ Tucker
C: Ivica Zubac, Mo Bamba
Two-way players
SG: Trentyn Flowers
SF: Jordan Miller
Exhibit 10 deals
PG: RayJ Dennis
SG: Nate Darling, Elijah Harkless
C: Kai Jones
Thoughts
For Clippers fans who (understandably) have checked out of following NBA news much since the end of Summer League, there might be a couple surprises on the above roster. Namely, that PJ Tucker and Bones Hyland are still on it. Both players were floated in trade rumors at last season’s trade deadline, and were also noted to be in discussions earlier this summer. However, no trade has happened, nor have there seemingly been any kind of serious rumors regarding trade talks.
For PJ Tucker, this is not all that surprising. While the veteran is going into the last year of his deal and is now an expiring contract, $11.5M is still a ton of money to eat in the current CBA. The 39-year-old also looked incredibly washed last year, meaning any trade for him would likely be a salary dump. As we get closer to the trade deadline and the money owed to him decreases by the day, the Clippers’ ability to trade him will probably increase. But, for now, it seems there are no takers for Tucker, and the Clippers have precious few future assets to waste on attaching to Tucker in a trade. It seems like he will be a Clipper to start the season.
Bones is a bit of a different matter. First of all, he’s only owed just over $4M this season, barely over a third of Tucker’s salary. Second, while he certainly did not play a lot last season and had some very bad moments, he also had truly impactful games and flashes. Finally, he just turned 24. If the Clippers have been trying to move him and can’t, the intel on his locker room/off court stuff must be pretty bad. But maybe the Clippers are holding onto him as James Harden injury insurance or Norm Powell trade insurance. If Harden goes down, the logical replacement in the starting lineup would not be the presumed backup PG this season, Kris Dunn, but Bones, who would better be able to fill the shooting and playmaking presence of Harden. I think there’s more of a chance he’s traded than Tucker, since it should be an easier sell, but he also should have more value to the Clippers.
The Clippers have one two-way spot available, and the leading candidate to get it has to be Kai Jones. This is less about qualifications compared to the other guys, and more about positions. The Clippers only have two real centers on their roster, with PJ Tucker as the current third string. It’s very rare for NBA rosters to carry less than three, especially with the additions of the two-way spots – one injury to a rotation center and all of a sudden you’re playing small-ball or signing someone off the street to fill the gap. Thus, unless Jones has a really bad training camp, I’d have to think he’s the front-runner here to land the third two-way. Darling, Harkless, and Dennis are all interesting, but they play guard, which is the most loaded position on the Clippers’ roster, so it’s tough to see any of them making the regular roster.
