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

The 2025 NBA Draft is just a week away, so let’s do a quick round up of who all the most plugged-in draft writers have the Clippers taking with the 30^th and 51^st picks.

ESPN: Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo (Updated June 17)

Clippers Pick 30: Noah Penda (SF/PF, Le Mans)

Explanation: “Due to their hefty payroll, the Clippers should see value in rostering a rookie who can contribute with this pick. Finding someone who can complement their stars on a cost-controlled deal would be a win.

Penda has been an interesting sleeper name for teams due to his multipositional versatility, capable of playing all over the floor on offense and also defending several spots. While his perimeter shooting and limited run-jump athleticism are question marks for teams, his feel, skill and size are all nice selling points.

There remains curiosity among teams as to whether Penda will agree to be stashed overseas for another season, something that could help his chances of finding a comfortable draft slot.”

Clippers Pick 51: Viktor Lakhin (C, Clemson)

Bleacher Report: Jonathan Wasserman (Updated June 18)

Clippers Pick 30: Ben Saraf (PG/SG, Ratiopharm Ulm)

Explanation: “Ben Saraf has scored double figures in every playoff game through two rounds in Germany’s BBL. Slashing, mid-range scoring and playmaking IQ are behind the 19-year-old’s consistent production and NBA interest. But with questions about his three-point range and defense, and no opportunity yet to get in front of NBA teams with Ulm still going strong, the first round no longer seems like a lock.”

Clippers Pick 51: Mark Sears (PG, Alabama)

The Athletic: Sam Vecenie (Updated June 12)

Clippers Pick 30: Drake Powell (SG, North Carolina)

Explanation: “Powell has some momentum to end up somewhere in the back half of the first round because of his defense. Nobody guarded Flagg as well as Powell did this season. He’s just a long way away on offense, as he’s not that comfortable as a shooter or that capable as a ballhandler. It’s going to take him some time to play at the NBA level, even with his defensive skill. Still, he’s 6-5 with a 7-foot wingspan and is the kind of player the Clippers value as a tough-minded defender.”

Clippers Pick 51: Kobe Sanders (SF, Nevada)

The Ringer: J Kyle Mann & Danny Chau (Updated June 12)

Clippers Pick 30: Adou Thiero (SF/PF, Arkansas)

Explanation: “I’m of two minds when it comes to whether Thiero can contribute to an older team like the Clippers. On the one hand, he’ll need reps to expand his offensive game, which could be hard to come by. And if his shooting fails to stabilize—he’s mostly relegated to stationary catch-and-shoot looks right now—and he doesn’t make progress moving the ball within the offense, his career might hover in a stasis. On the other hand, Thiero is the type of possession-generating machine who could carve out a role for himself on a squad that could use the athletic splash. He’s a terror on the glass and tries, sometimes at the peril of his own safety, to dunk everything. I would enjoy this fit.”

Clippers Pick 51: N/A

Summary

There is not a single duplication here: every single site has the Clippers picking a different player both at 30 and 51. That does mean that the Clippers haven’t given anything obvious away, but it’s also realistic, as it’s impossible to predict exactly which players will or won’t be available that deep into the draft.

Looking at these players, there are a few patterns to sort through. All but one of the mocks had the Clippers selecting a wing of some kind at 30, with Ben Saraf (who is a large guard) being the lone exception. That tracks for the Clippers, who have largely been wing-obsessed in recent years but also have to account for Kawhi Leonard’s lack of availability and Nic Batum’s age.

The other interesting item is that of the seven players mocked to the Clippers, only one is a center, despite the Clippers’ glaring hole at backup big. That could mean something, or it could mean nothing. I would say I’d be slightly surprised if the Clippers didn’t take a point guard or big man with one of their picks, even if the other is a wing of some kind.

Looking at the mock drafts, it does seem very likely that the best players on the board at 30 will be wings or forwards, so it makes sense that the Clippers would take one. We will keep an eye on the mock boards and see if any consensus emerges in the coming days.

Clippers 2025 Mock Draft Roundup: One Week Before Draft Edition
Robert Flom

The Clippers fell apart in Game 7, getting blown out by the Nuggets to lose in the first round of the playoffs for the third year in a row. Here are my grades for the players (and Ty Lue) for their entire postseason contributions.

Starters

James Harden: B- (Previous Grades: B+, B)

This might seem like too positive a grade for Harden considering his complete no-show in the second half of Game 7 and his equally dismal outing in Game 5. Maybe it is. But Harden was brilliant in Games 1 and 6, excellent in Game 3, and good enough in Games 2 and 4. His defense was certainly bad for most of the series, with the off-ball stuff being the largest culprit (as usual with James). But the biggest issue here is that the Clippers were just asking way too much of a 36-year-old who was a fringe All-Star level player this year. I wish Harden was more aggressive, and that’s the main reason I’m docking him so much; I do think he went out soft in Games 5 and 7. But his performance across the series – 18.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 9.1 assists to 3 turnovers on 56.7 True Shooting) was not bad. It just wasn’t enough for the guy who’s supposed to be the second-best player on a theoretical contending team. Thus, he gets the same grade as Kawhi Leonard. Not awful, just disappointing and not quite good enough.

Norm Powell: D (Previous Grades: D+, C+)

Yeah man. This was rough. Norm’s final series numbers – 16 points on 57.8 True shooting – don’t look bad, but the film tells a different story. First, Norm was terrific on offense in the three home games – 3, 4, and 6 – but absolutely dreadful on the road. Second, his defense was abysmal, with the Nuggets repeatedly targeting him on that end. Third, his rebounding was even worse, with Norm’s rebounding rate of 4.2% being last on the Clippers by a wide margin (next was DJJ at 5.9) and further below anyone on the Nuggets (Jamal Murray at 7.4%) by an even wider one. At the end of the day, the statistical reason why the Nuggets won (outside of some shooting variance) is rebounding – they had a rebound percentage of 52.7% compared to the Clippers 47.3% and were better on both the defensive (71.6% to 66.2%) and offensive (33.8% to 28.4%) ends by a real gap.

Rebounding is absolutely a team effort, but Norm is the weakest rebounder on the Clippers, and my biggest criticism of Ty Lue was sticking with him to the extent he did throughout this series. Norm was a huge reason why the Clippers were in the position they were in – his scoring and overall offensive juice kept the Clippers afloat when Kawhi was out. But his complete inability to do anything besides score (and he didn’t even do that well in this series) came home to roost against a bigger and more physical Nuggets team.

Kris Dunn: B (Previous Grades: A-, B)

It’s incredible how much different things can look in real-time compared to the math after the fact. Kris Dunn ended up shooting 35.7% from three on the series (10-28), a higher percentage than his regular season numbers as well as a higher percentage than Norm Powell, Bogdan Bogdanovic, or Derrick Jones Jr. He finished up making just four fewer threes than Norm, five fewer than Kawhi, and six fewer than James. Yes, his shots were the most open. Yes, his misses on those open looks were deflating. Yes, the Nuggets’ ability to help off him made the Clippers’ offense more difficult. But ultimately, I think Kris Dunn played well in this series considering his role and expectations. His defense was fantastic, he chipped in on the glass (9.2% total rebound rate, 7.6% offensive rebound rate), and was careful with the ball (one turnover in the entire series).

Dunn certainly looked shook in his brief first-half stint in Game 7 after being benched in Game 6 – but the Clippers actually won his minutes by 2! His defense, energy, rebounding, and ballhandling were essential to the Clippers all season, and I think Ty Lue firmly pivoting away from him for more offense-only players like Norm and Bogi allowed the Nuggets to play the end of the series on their terms. It probably doesn’t make a difference in the end, but I do wonder what would have happened if Ty had benched Norm instead of Dunn in the second half of Game 6. We will never know!

Kawhi Leonard: B- (Previous Grades: A-, B)

Kawhi Leonard’s numbers for this series, in a vacuum, look fantastic. 25 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.7 blocks in 37.9 minutes per game with 53.7/40.5/77.8 shooting splits (63% True Shooting) on mostly good defense is not to be sneezed at. Remove his insane Game 2 performance and those numbers take a significant dip. And that’s not realistic to do, of course, as his Game 2 was legendary and hugely important for the series. But superstar players, above all, need to provide consistency and a floor. This series, Kawhi was not close to a consistent superstar level performer, with averages in the other six games of 22.6 points on 49/36.6/74.2 splits.

More importantly, by the eye test, he consistently failed to bend the Nuggets defense – they were content to have Aaron Gordon play him straight up – or punish weaker defenders like Jamal Murray or Michael Porter Jr. Simply put, Kawhi was very good in this series, but not close to great – and you usually need greatness from your best player in a playoff series in order to win. We finally got healthy Kawhi… and it was not enough. It’s a brutal outcome, but I think it also provides some closure on this era of Clippers’ basketball. The Clippers can’t count on Kawhi to be the best player on a contending level team going forward, even if he is healthy. Considering he’s almost 34, and the number of major injuries and surgeries he’s had, that fact isn’t shocking – it’s incredible he’s still even this good. But seeing Kawhi not coming to the rescue playing out in real time was a dose of cold water.

Ivica Zubac: A- (Previous Grades: B+, A-)

Big Zu averaged 17.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.0 blocks per game in 36.6 minutes while shooting 65.9% from the field and effectively defending the best offensive player in the NBA. His play fell off a little bit as the series went along (he was at 20 and 12 at one point) but Zu was still awesome in this series in the exact same way he was down the stretch of the season. You can nitpick his free throw shooting, his slow decision-making in the short roll at times, and his body language, but this was a fantastic close to Zu’s breakout season. The Clippers have their center of the present and future, and Zu is the only player on this roster who I could see being in a similar role in three years.

Bench

Bogdan Bogdanovic: D (Previous Grades: F, D-)

This was a bad series for Bogi, who had by far his two best outings in Games 5 and 7, when the Clippers were utterly blown out. Despite being competitive and playing with energy, he was food on defense for the majority of the series, being taken advantage of by every Nugget who he was matched up against. Somehow, incredibly, Bogi averaged 3.6 fouls per game in his 16.7 minutes on average, meaning he would have fouled out of every game if he played even 30 minutes. On offense, Bogi was never able to find the range, shooting just 29.2% from three for the series – and considering that his three-point shooting is his biggest strength as an NBA player, that just wasn’t good enough. I like his competitiveness, and his ability to get to the midrange was flashed a couple times later in the series, but the first three games were a disaster, and his only real big game was in the Game 5 loss. I think Bogi is a nice fit on this team and I’m excited to see him on this roster with a full training camp and preseason, but this series was really, really rough.

Nic Batum: A (Previous Grades: A, A-)

This wasn’t a perfect series by Nic Batum (he missed a ton of open looks in Game 4 and was mostly a non-factor in Game 5), but considering his role on the team, age, and expectations, he batted furthest above his weight. His performances in Games 3 and 6 were two of the best playoff performances by a Clippers’ role player in franchise history considering two-way impact, and he was a monster on defense the entire series even as his ability to make a difference on offense waxed and waned. The Clippers knew what they were getting from Nic Batum when he was on the court, and at the end of the day they could really only say that about one other Clipper: Ivica Zubac. It’s unbelievable he averaged 1.7 blocks per game in 24.6 minutes, and that he regularly defended both Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic. What a series for Nico, who remains as important as ever to the Clippers even as he enters his late 30s.

Derrick Jones Jr.: C- (Previous Grades: C, C)

DJJ was nothing if not consistent. Unfortunately, that consistency was just not good enough for what the Clippers needed. I kind of think he had the series that people are ascribing to Kris Dunn – he missed most of his threes and was not able to make the Nuggets pay at all for leaving him open – but without Dunn’s impact in other areas of the game. DJJ finished 6-20 from three (30%), went 3-8 from the line (37.5%), and was a complete non-factor as a rebounder, with just eight defensive rebounds in 129 minutes. There was also zero playmaking for others, with a grand total of two assists (albeit with only three turnovers). The defense was good, and there were some nice slashes to the rim, especially later in the series, but unfortunately DJJ was mostly just a non-factor. A tough series for him.

Ben Simmons: C+ (Previous Grades: A-, B-)

Ben barely played in the first half of Game 5 and then did not play the last 2.5 games of the series, so I can’t adjust my grade on him much. At the end of the day, Ben gave the Clippers a couple of competent games of backup center minutes with good shifts on Jokic, and that beat expectations. However, his complete lack of offensive capabilities made him unplayable, and it’s really hard to imagine him being a consistent rotation player for a good team at this point unless he can somehow get over his fear of attacking the basket and getting to the line. It’s a shame, because the combination of size/defense/rebounding/passing/ballhandling could be useful even without the shooting. Alas.

Ty Lue: B-

Judging NBA coaches is always extremely difficult, as the main thing we can see on the court is rotations, and that’s only a small part of their job. We don’t know how they work in the locker room, how they’re motivating the team, or what their messaging is – maybe Ty was harping on the right things and the team just wasn’t executing. I actually think Ty’s rotations this series were pretty good. He probably could have played Nic Batum more, and I think he should have gone more away from Norm Powell compared to Kris Dunn, but there was nothing incredibly glaring. The biggest issue I had with the Clippers this series was that their offense seemed stuck in the mud much of the time against a team with only a couple good defenders, and they did not seem to have a clear plan of how to best attack the Nuggets’ weak points on defense. How much of that is on coaching vs on players is unclear, but Ty must get some of the blame for that. And, I really do think going away from Kris Dunn in Game 6, which resulted in his jitters on offense in Game 7, was ultimately a bad choice, because it meant conceding style of play to the Nuggets. Not an abysmal series from Ty but also not his finest work.

Clippers vs Nuggets Series: Final Player Grades
Robert Flom

Instead of a recap of Game 2 (I don’t think I can do it justice anyway), here are my grades for each Clippers player through two games. As always, these grades are context based for each player with their expectations in mind.

Starters

James Harden: B+

Harden has had one brilliant game (Game 1) and one fine game (Game 2), which averages out for me to a B+. His stats across both games are pretty phenomenal – 25 points and 9 assists per game (to 3 turnovers) on 60% True Shooting efficiency. He gets docked for me primarily because of his defense, which has been inattentive or bad most of the time. Harden was fine on defense for much of the year, but seems to have regressed in this series, with a lot of ballwatching and hand waving rather than real effort. That combined with poor boxing out and some bad turnovers is enough to keep him out of the “A” range for now, but it’s hard not to be thrilled with his offensive play so far.

Norm Powell: D+

Norm escaped an F grade because of his 3^rd and 4^th quarters in Game 2, when he finally hit a couple of his patented floaters and then a massive three late in the game. On the whole, however, Norm has been very bad – a morass of poor defense, missed shots, invisible boxouts, and nasty turnovers. The Clippers have been able to get by due to the brilliance of Harden, Zu, and Kawhi, but they are going to need much better play from Norm if they’re going to win this series. Since Norm is a player whose primary acumen is scoring, the way for him to turn this around is simple: make more shots. Also, getting to the free throw line (only 3 attempts so far, making just 1) would be nice. We know the rebounding will be shoddy and the defense inconsistent. The offensive output needs to be better.

Kris Dunn: A-

This is the power of expectations. Considering a lot of people figured Kris Dunn would get played off the court in this series, his ability to not just play 30 minutes per game, but to have a massive impact in each game on the defensive end far exceeds expectations. He has been a monster on defense, making life difficult for Jamal Murray, deflecting passes, and generating steals on key possessions to get the Clippers out and running. The defense is A+, and the offense has been just good enough (3-9 from three, 3-6 from two) to keep him solidly in the A territory. A lowkey big plus for Dunn – he has no turnovers so far in this series, a huge deal considering how turnover prone the Clippers have been. There might be a point where the Nuggets’ disrespect of him on offense becomes too much and the Clippers have to go away from him, but that has not happened yet, and in the meantime, his defense is game-changing.

Kawhi Leonard: A-

Kawhi had a fairly forgettable Game 1 marred by turnovers and indecisiveness… and then followed that up with a truly special Game 2 performance. When you score 39 points on 15-19 shooting and play great on defense to boot, you get an A score almost regardless of how bad the other outing was. And certainly, while Game 2 was well below average for a Kawhi playoff performance, it wasn’t bad enough to come close to outweigh Game 2. Enough ink has been spilled and podcast and TV words spoken about Kawhi’s Game 2, but the shotmaking, ability to get to his spots on the court, and sheer willpower to win were all off the charts. It was a reminder of just how great Kawhi can be when he’s feeling it and fully locked in. He’s one of the best ever, and Game 2 is an example of why.

Ivica Zubac: B+

Zubac comes in just under an “A” grade for me even though I’m quite pleased with his play through two games. While he’s been good to very good in each contest, I don’t think he’s had a truly great game yet – and Ivica Zubac is now at the point where I think greatness is the bar for an A. That said, he’s defended Jokic about as well as possible, has rebounded the heck out of the ball, and been efficiently scoring on offense. The nitpicks are free throw shooting (5-9 so far) and turnovers (2.0 per game with a couple awful ones), but the base level is still excellent. I think we are due for one truly monster Zu game (like a 20-20), and it would be awesome to see that performance happen on this massive playoff stage against Jokic. Let’s speak it into existence.

Bench

Bogdan Bogdanovic: F

It’s hard to imagine Bogi having a worse two games than he’s had so far. He’s 0-8 from the field and has not scored a point in 27 minutes – pretty awful from a guy whose main attribute is scoring. The cherry on top of the shit sundae is that Bogi has 7 fouls in those minutes and has turned the ball over 5 times, giving him an insanely high turnover and foul rate. He hasn’t been able to do anything on offense and has been relentlessly targeted on defense. The Clippers are 1-1 with a chance to be 2-0 without anything from Bogi, which just means that if he can get on track, their chances improve greatly. Just one shot falling for Bogi could turn everything around – hopefully that’s the case.

Nic Batum: A

The ever-steady Nic Batum has made 5 of his 11 threes while playing his usual fantastic defense. Really, the only knocks on him are the 3.0 rebounds per game in 21 minutes, low for a player of his size, and his bad inbounds pass at the end of Game 1. Outside of that, he’s been terrific, and really my only complaint is that he should be getting more than 21 minutes per game. If Kris Dunn has an off night shooting the ball, look for Nico to take his spot in the closing lineup.

Ben Simmons: A-

Ben Simmons has only 2 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in 21 minutes through two games. So why the strong grade? Well, one of the biggest worries going into the series was whether the Clippers would be able to survive the non-Zu minutes. And, so far, they have – in no small part due to Ben’s contributions. He’s been stout on defense, has had some nice passes on offense, and has not turned the ball over. Yes, his production numbers are not substantial. But all the Clippers need from him are a handful of competent minutes each half to give Zu a breather, and Ben has passed those expectations with flying colors. Let’s see if Ben can keep it up as the Nuggets get more used to playing against him.

Clippers Player Grades: Two Games In Against Nuggets
Robert Flom

The dust has settled on the Clippers’ trade deadline transactions, and with a couple games with some of the new pieces on the roster in the books, we can start looking ahead to what Ty Lue and the Clippers will do with their rotations in the second half of the season. First, here’s a look at the depth chart, sorted purely positionally.

Point Guard: James Harden, Ben Simmons, Kris Dunn, Patty Mills

Shooting Guard: Norm Powell, Amir Coffey, Jordan Miller, Cam Christie, Trentyn Flowers

Small Forward: Derrick Jones Jr., Bogdan Bogdanovic, MarJon Beauchamp

Power Forward: Kawhi Leonard, Nic Batum, Kobe Brown

Center: Ivica Zubac, Drew Eubanks, Kai Jones

However, we know this is not quite accurate to the reality of the situation. Ben Simmons is the Clippers’ backup point guard – but in his first game as a Clipper, he played a ton alongside James Harden and served as either a power forward or center. Kris Dunn is nominally a point guard but has played most of the season alongside other ball-handlers more as a shooting guard or small forward. Nic Batum is Kawhi Leonard’s backup at power forward, but he too has spent much of the season as a small ball center.

Thus, looking at a revised depth chart grouping more based on spots in the rotation rather than position, I think you land something more like this.

Starters: Harden-Norm-DJJ-Kawhi-Zu

Bench: Simmons-Dunn-Coffey-Bogdan-Batum

Situational Usage: Kobe Brown, Drew Eubanks

Depth: Mills-Miller-Christie-Flowers-Beachamp-Jones

The first thing you might notice here is that there are 10 players set up for rotation minutes. I think that will be the case, at least for the first handful of games after the All-Star Break when Ty will be tinkering. Those top 10 all just bring something to the table that I think will be hard to leave out during the grind of the regular season. Ty has played a nine-man rotation much of the year, but a lot of NBA coaches play with 10-man rotations in the regular season, so this is a pretty reasonable outlook. This will all change if the Clippers make the postseason, as further rotation cuts will happen, but there’s a long distance between now and the postseason in mid-April.

In terms of how minutes are allocated, I think that the Clippers’ top minutes getters so far this season (Harden, Norm, and Zu) will lose a few minutes. The presence of Ben Simmons as a true playmaker for the second unit should allow for longer rest for Harden, and his size and rebounding should allow for more feasible “small-ball” units that give Zu longer breathers. If Bogdan is right, he’s a better Norm sub than was previously available on the roster and can tick Norm’s minutes down a bit too. Additionally, I think Coffey will lose some minutes to Bogdan, Dunn will lose minutes to Ben, and Kawhi will continue to grow his minutes as he gets his legs under him.

Designing the actual rotation is tricky. Ben Simmons is a non-shooter, as is Ivica Zubac, while Kris Dunn takes threes, but teams are happy to let him shoot, which can mess up spacing in a similar way (though teams do at least somewhat guard/close out on him, so it’s a bit different than Simmons). Playing all three of those guys together is probably a non-starter, and even two of them might be tough (though the Clippers played Simmons and Dunn plenty in the Jazz game before the ASB to great success). The Clippers also like to stagger one of Harden or Kawhi with the bench unit, making full bench squads unlikely. Maybe if Simmons and Bogi prove themselves effective the bench will have enough playmaking and firepower to not necessitate staggering, but I’d be surprised if the Clippers went away from the stagger entirely.

Keeping all of that in mind, here are some ways the Clippers can make this work. First, Ty Lue can bring in Kris Dunn and Bogdan Bogdanovic at around the 5-minute mark for Kawhi Leonard and Derrick Jones Jr. That keeps one of DJJ/Dunn in the game to help with point of attack defense while making up for Kawhi’s absence with a good shooting/scoring threat. A couple of minutes later, the Clippers bring in Nic Batum and Amir Coffey for Norm Powell and Ivica Zubac. The Clippers are now a small-ball unit with Batum at center with a still good amount of shooting and playmaking. The danger with this unit is being too small and maybe not quite good enough on defense, but hopefully the offense can outweigh those downsides.

At the start of the second quarter, Ty could bring in Ben Simmons for Harden and Kawhi for Dunn, going with a Ben-Amir-Bogi-Kawhi-Nico unit. This grouping has tremendous size for a non-center unit, but I do worry about it almost being “too big” and not having enough point of attack defense or speed on the perimeter. A solution could be leaving Dunn in and taking Bogi out instead. At that point, the Clippers start cycling back into the first unit, with Norm returning at some point for Bogi/Dunn/Amir, followed by DJJ for one of the other of those guys and Zu for Nico. Lastly, Harden returns for Ben. Maybe at around that time you bring back in one of the bench guys for Kawhi so he doesn’t play the whole second quarter. You’d repeat much the same process in the second half, except tightening things up as needed to play key guys more.

I think most of the units describe above are fairly well-balanced, with enough size, shooting, playmaking, and defense to be sustainable on both ends. They give Harden, Norm, and Zu more rest than they have been accustomed to seeing over the first half of the year while allowing new guys to get their chances. Hopefully with all of the subbing and different units for short stints, Ty Lue can figure out some dynamite combinations. For example, a Harden-Dunn-Bogi-Kawhi-Nico lineup is something I think could work quite well if it ever gets a chance, as could Ben in place of Nico.

The are caveats to all this, however. First, of the Clippers’ remaining 28 games, 12 of them are situated across six pairs of back-to-backs. In those 12 games, therefore, it’s very unlikely we see the Clippers’ full complement of players – Kawhi Leonard and Ben Simmons are both not cleared for them, and I kind of doubt they will be this season. That immediately makes things a bit clearer rotation-wise for those games, though it will be interesting to see if they both sit the same games or if they sit opposite of each other. There is also the inevitability of injury, as 28 games would be an insane length of time in the NBA for there to be no injuries. Hopefully there’s nothing serious, but a couple Clippers will get dinged up down the stretch, and rotations will shift accordingly.

To wrap this up, I’m very, very curious to see what Ty Lue does with his rotations the last 28 games of this season. Ben Simmons in particular can unlock some interesting lineup combinations, even if I remain skeptical on his individual impact. Bogdan Bogdanovic’s offensive capabilities might be able to get the Clippers to places where they haven’t been to reach so far this season in terms of firepower – but will it cost them too much on defense and on the glass? If Bogdan plays very well, does Amir Coffey eventually lose his rotation spot? If Simmons stands out, could we see Kris Dunn lose his? If neither of the new guys looks good, how does Ty Lue respond? I think the Clippers will be a fun group to watch down the stretch of this season, both because they are going to be competing for a postseason spot and because I think they will be experimenting a lot with different lineups. Here’s hoping that the second half of the year is an entertaining one!

Mapping out the Clippers’ Rotations After the All Star Break
Robert Flom

The Clippers are closing in on a much-needed All-Star Break but have to integrate multiple new pieces into the rotation, including Bogdan Bogdanovic – who will be appearing as a Clipper for the first time tonight.

Game Information

Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California

When: 7:30 PM PT

How to Watch: KTLA, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Grizzlies: Ja Morant – Desmond Bane – Jaylen Wells – Jaren Jackson Jr. – Zach Edey

Clippers: James Harden – Norm Powell – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac

Injuries

Grizzlies: Cam Spencer Questionable (Thumb), Marvin Bagley Questionable (Knee)

Clippers: Drew Eubanks Out (Ankle), Ben Simmons Out (Return to Conditioning), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League)

The Big Picture

The Clippers got a much needed win against the Jazz on Saturday, but are in the middle of a period of reconfiguration. With only 30 games to go, the Clippers have added two seemingly core rotation pieces in Bogdan Bogdanovic and Ben Simmons, a fringe rotation guy in Drew Eubanks, and two other rostered players with Patty Mills and MarJon Beauchamp – and that’s not even counting Kawhi, who is still getting into rhythm. The question now for the Clippers is how do they work to integrate their pieces and figure out workable rotations while still keeping afloat in the highly competitive Western Conference.

The Antagonist

The Grizzlies have had an excellent season through 50 games, coming in at 2^nd place in the Western Conference (though well behind the leading Thunder) with a sparkling 7.3 Net Rating, good for 4^th in the entire NBA. Even more positively, the Grizzlies are a well-balanced group, ranking 7^th in Defensive Rating and 5^th in Offensive Rating. That they are doing all this despite injuries to much of their roster and a down season from Ja Morant speaks to the level of talent on their team and how well they’ve hit on the margins in the draft. Jaren Jackson Jr. is having a truly breakout season and has morphed into the Grizzlies’ best player. Jaylen Wells might be the Rookie of the Year favorite as a second-round pick. Zach Edey has had some flashes of domination in his minutes. The list goes on. Suffice to say that the Grizzlies are good, consistent, and a team that is right below the top tier of contenders in the entire NBA, with a real chance to make a deep playoff run.

Notes

Some Rotation Changes: Well, despite what I said above, the Clippers will not get a chance to try their full rotations in this game, or on Thursday. Ben Simmons is out for this one, but will play Thursday, as he hasn’t gotten clearance on back-to-backs. Kawhi Leonard also doesn’t play back-to-backs, so he’ll suit up today but won’t tomorrow. Bogdan Bogdanovic, however, will play this one after missing his first game as a member of the Clippers’ roster on Saturday. Thus, I’d guess the rotations will be the usual starters, with Dunn, Bogdan, Amir Coffey, and Nic Batum as the four guys off the bench and the Clippers going small. I’m curious to see how Bogdan looks and who Ty Lue plays him with in his first game as a Clipper.

Rest Advantage: The Clippers, for seemingly one of the few times all season, will have a major rest advantage in this one. They haven’t played since Saturday and have been resting at home, while the Grizzlies played last night in Phoenix. It’s a late game for the Grizzlies, who then have to travel (albeit on a short flight) to Los Angeles. Even though the Grizzlies are a very good team, this is the kind of edge that the Clippers need to take advantage of. If they can get a lead early and put the Grizzlies on their heel, the Grizz might be too tired to mount a late stage comeback. The key, of course, will be playing sharp early – and not falling behind themselves.

Clippers vs Grizzlies Preview: Bogdan’s Debut
Robert Flom

The Clippers have made a trade, sending PJ Tucker, Mo Bamba, a 2030 2nd round pick, and cash to the Utah Jazz for Drew Eubanks and Patty Mills.

Tucker, who was on the books for $11.54M, has not played for the Clippers this season and has been “away from the team” since the start of the year. Bamba was signed in the offseason to be the Clippers’ backup center, but has been a major disappointment, averaging 4.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 12.6 minutes per game across 28 games, but with eye test and impact far worse than those seemingly decent numbers. Bamba had clearly lost the trust of head coach Ty Lue, who has increasingly gone to small-ball lineups instead of playing Mo.

Eubanks was signed by the Jazz to a two year, $10M deal this past offseason (his deal is non-guaranteed next year) and has been their primary backup center. In 37 games played, Eubanks has averaged 5.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 0.9 blocks in 15.4 minutes per game. Both the regular stats and advanced metrics have Eubanks being a similar level of player to Mo (which is not great) but the Clippers will roll the dice on Eubanks being better. Prior to the Jazz, Eubanks played for the Spurs for 3.5 years, the Blazers for 1.5 years, and the Suns for a year, with his best full season probably being 2023 with the Blazers.

Mills is one of the most tenured and respected veterans in the entire NBA, a beloved veteran who won a championship with Kawhi Leonard on the Spurs in 2014. However, at age 36, he’s no longer a rotation caliber player. He’s barely played for the Jazz, and when he has, he’s been awful, shooting just 34.2% from the field and 29.8% from three. Any value he has at this point is purely as a locker room guy (which is still meaningful to some extent). Law Murray has reported Mills will stay with the Clippers for now, but that could change depending on the buyout market.

This trade, however, was not done for the roster players coming back, even if the Clippers might hope Eubanks is an upgrade over Bamba. Instead, this was done for tax and cap flexibility purposes. Eubanks makes over $6M less than Tucker, dropping the Clippers below the luxury tax and giving them real flexibility under the first apron. They also get $6.5M and $2.1M trade exceptions, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

The long and short of this means the Clippers will now be a major player in the buyout market. By remaining under the apron, they can now sign any buyout player, regardless of how large their previous salary was. They also have wiggle room to take on additional salary (in a Bones Hyland trade, probably) if they need to for another deal. The Clippers essentially paid a second round pick and some cash to get tax savings and bolster their roster flexibility entering the final trade deadline and buyout market. The Clippers do also still have the remainder of the non-tax MLE that they mostly spent on Derrick Jones Jr. to use as an enticing option for buyout guys to give them some extra salary above the minimum.

At the end of the day, this is about as unexciting of a deal as you can find in the NBA that involves actual players (the Suns trade with the Jazz entirely for picks probably takes the cake for lamest trade in NBA history). However, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad one. The Clippers did move off a real asset (their 2030 second) but the gains in flexibility are probably worth it. That’s not even counting any gains to locker room presence from Mills (if he sticks with the team) and a shot on Eubanks as an improvement at backup center over Bamba. Eubanks’ salary for next year is non-guaranteed, meaning that if he doesn’t work out, the Clippers can easily trade him this offseason or simply waive him.

Whether this trade has any real impact will probably be determined by the rest of the trade deadline and whether the Clippers get anyone in the buyout market, but it’s a decent move with some upside and minimal downside. Let’s see what the Clippers do next.

Clippers Trade PJ Tucker & Mo Bamba for Drew Eubanks and Patty Mills
Robert Flom

The Clippers, coming off one of their best wins of the season, will take on a slipping Warriors team without Steph Curry. Admiral Ackbar voice: it’s a trap!

Game Information

Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California

When: 7:00 PM PT

How to Watch: NBA TV, FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: James Harden – Norman Powell – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Ivica Zubac

Warriors: Dennis Schroder – Buddy Hield – Andrew Wiggins – Draymond Green – Trayce Jackson-Davis

Injuries

Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Out (Knee), Terance Mann Out (Finger), Kobe Brown Out (Back), PJ Tucker Out (Away from team), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League)

Warriors: Steph Curry Out (Knee), Gary Payton II Out (Calf), Draymond Green Questionable (Back)

The Big Picture

The Clippers have continued to hold serve without Kawhi Leonard. Their defense has been in the 4-9 range most of the season, and currently sits at 5^th. Their offense has been in the 19 to 25 range much of the year, and now places in at 21^st. That gives the Clippers the 11^th best Net Rating in the NBA – not bad for a team that has played 30 games without their theoretical best player. The Clippers’ depth also remains damaged, as both Terance Mann and Kobe Brown are still out, but the Clippers have been able to survive the lack of forwards with strong defensive play, led by Ivica Zubac, Derrick Jones Jr., and Kris Dunn. With the news Kawhi will miss the three road games after this one, his max games played for the season is 48 – and his actual number will likely be well under that. If the Clippers make the postseason, as they are on course to do, it would be a huge accomplishment.

The Antagonist

The Warriors’ 10-2 start seems like a distant memory. They have gone 5-12 since then, and are currently hanging out in a three-way tie for 8^th in the Western Conference. The Warriors have slipped on both sides of the ball, placing at 9^th on defense and 15^th on offense. Golden State has received a strong bounce back campaign from Andrew Wiggins, but young guys such as Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody have not taken expected steps forward, and offseason acquisitions Buddy Hield and Kyle Anderson have cooled after hot starts. At the end of the day, the Warriors are still very reliant on Steph Curry on offense and Draymond Green on defense, and those guys are not the same players they were 7-10 seasons ago. The Warriors are still dangerous, but they don’t look like the contending-level team they appeared to be early this year.

Notes

No Let Down: You may have noticed up above, but Steph Curry is out for this game. That changes this contest from “tough” to “trap game”. The Warriors have plenty of talent without Steph, especially if Draymond plays, but any time a Hall of Famer is out opponents tend to relax. The Clippers can’t do that. They are not talented enough themselves to relax on any given night and have been very good at taking care of business against lesser teams this year. Without Steph, the Warriors are firmly in that category. If the Clippers are focused, play with energy, and reach their usual level on defense, this should be a win. They just can’t have any slippage because Steph isn’t squaring off against them.

Norm Powell, Resurgent: Norm Powell had a bit of a slump in late November and through early December. That slump, however, appears to be over. In his last four games, Norm has scored 29, 29, 28, and 29 points, and all but the 28-point outing in the loss to the Mavs were highly efficient performances. The threes are falling, the rim attacks are succeeding, and free throws are being drawn. With Gary Payton II out, the Warriors are down their best guard defender. Norm should have an open season on whoever is guarding him, and I’d expect the Clippers to feed him early and often in this one.

Clippers vs. Warriors Preview: No Steph in LA
Robert Flom

The Clippers will try to avenge their loss to the Wolves last week, but will face a tough challenge on the second night of a back-to-back.

Game Information

Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California

When: 7:30 PM PT

How to Watch: NBA TV, KTLA

Projected Starting Lineups

Wolves: Mike Conley – Anthony Edwards – Jaden McDaniels – Julius Randle – Rudy Gobert

Clippers: James Harden – Kris Dunn – Amir Coffey – Derrick Jones Jr. – Ivica Zubac

Injuries

Wolves: Rob Dillingham Out (Ankle), Joe Ingles Out (Calf)

Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Out (Knee), Kevin Porter Jr. Questionable (Ankle), Kobe Brown Out (Back), PJ Tucker Out (Away from team), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League), Cam Christie Out (G-League)

The Antagonist

It’s been less than a week since the Clippers faced the Wolves, but the Wolves feel like they may have turned a corner. Between their strong defense that won them the game against the Clippers and their drubbing of the Lakers earlier this week, the Wolves have reached .500 at 10-10 and their defense has risen all the way up to 7^th. It’s just two games, but the Wolves have a lot of talent, and their defense should be better than it has been so far. They will be a very difficult opponent with the Clippers tired out on the second night of a back-to-back.

That’s really it for this – the number of games without much of a break is getting to be a lot. The Clippers finally have some rest soon, and we can start taking a longer look at what’s been going on so far this year. Comment below!

Clippers vs. Timberwolves Preview: Revenge for Last Week
Robert Flom

Having lost a brutal first game of the season in a nail-biter at home, the Clippers went on the road and snagged an impressive 109-104 win in Denver in another tight contest. We are mostly not going to be doing recaps this year, but the first win of the season felt like it deserved one.

The Clippers outplayed the Nuggets for most of the game, but some absurd shotmaking by Nikola Jokic (41 points on 14-26 shooting, 7-11 from three) kept the Nuggets in it after they went down big early. The Nuggets even had a small lead at points in the final frame, but shotmaking by Norm Powell and some clutch James Harden free throws ultimately won the day. Here are some notes.

Big Zu, Big Time: The biggest story of the Clippers’ first two games, on an individual level, is the play of Ivica Zubac. Big Zu had 24 points on 11-17 shooting, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, and a block, and played an incredible 39 minutes. He has scored 20 points in back to back games for the first time in his career, the exact kind of scoring that the Clippers needed with Kawhi out and Paul George gone. His defense on Jokic was honestly pretty good, Jokic is just insane. And his ability to play 39 minutes and still be solid at the end with one of the highest minutes totals of his career was highly impressive. If he continues to play even close to this level, the Clippers just might be able to stay afloat without Kawhi.

Harden, in Control: This was Harden at his late-career best. Compared to his performance against the Suns, where he took 29 shots and was forcing things, Harden took just 11 in this one and was content to orchestrate the show. He still scored 23 points, largely due to 12-13 from the line, and will need to be aggressive in other games, but his playmaking was on full display in this one. The seven turnovers were a lot, but considering how much he had the ball they weren’t a shock. More importantly, he was nearly always in control and kept the trains running on time. There are plenty of limitations to Harden’s game now, but he’s still damn good on the offensive end.

Norm, Explosive: Norm Powell had a game for the ages, scoring 37 points on 14-21 shooting and 7-11 from three. He simply could not miss, especially in the 4th quarter, and was unstoppable despite solid Denver defense. Norm obviously won’t be this hot most nights, but the Clippers could really use him taking that many threes on a nightly basis, as he’s the only high-volume shooter on the team outside of Harden. Great stuff.

Role Players Stepping Up: While the three guys above were the stars of the show, Kris Dunn, Nic Batum, Derrick Jones Jr., and Amir Coffey were excellent on defense and generally made solid plays. The Clippers could not have won without them filling the gaps and getting stops, with Jones and Dunn also scoring 20 points between them.

Porter Jr. Off: Kevin Porter Jr. wasn’t the only disappointing Clipper in this one (Terance Mann was nearly invisible), but he was the most actively bad, as he went 2-10 from the field in 15 minutes and had 2 turnovers to 1 assist. He ended with a +8 because the Nuggets bench was awful and other Clippers stepped up, but this was another awful performance by Porter, who was forcing up difficult shots and not getting particularly close on them. The Clippers will probably stick with him for a bit, but a couple more games like this and the Clippers should go elsewhere.

Clippers Grab First Win of the 2025 Season, 109-104 in Denver
Robert Flom