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

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

In the most expected Clippers news of the entire offseason, the Clips re-signed veteran forward Nic Batum to a two-year, $11.5M contract. The second year is a team option and Nico also gets a trade kicker as part of the deal. It’s a raise for Nico while remaining very team friendly for the Clippers.

Nico has spent 4+ of the last 5 years on the Clippers and has become one of the most beloved role players in franchise history. Nico is in the waning days of his career and is no longer capable of starting or playing heavy minutes regularly, but he’s still an excellent backup power forward who can handle stints at small-ball center as needed. His combination of shooting, defense, and connective play makes this contract a real value play, even at his age.

Nico is one of the few rotation players on the team the past few seasons who has earned the respect of the team’s stars, coaching staff, and front office as well as the love of fans, making him an essential bench guy for the Clippers. The Clippers openly stated that they missed him the one season he spent in Philadelphia after the James Harden trade, and Nico in return has said he doesn’t want to play for another NBA team the rest of his career.

On the court, the Clippers now have most of their rotation set. The only real need on the roster is a backup point guard, and that signing will probably come in the next few days.

Welcome back, Nico!

Clippers Re-Sign Nic Batum to Two-Year Deal
Robert Flom

The Clippers made their third move of the 2025 free agency early this evening, inking Brook Lopez to a two year, $18M deal to serve as their new backup center.

Brook has played 17 years in the NBA, making him one of the longest tenured players in the league, and has started 1065 of his 1105 career regular season games. Brook spent the last seven years in Milwaukee alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo, including winning a championship in 2021, and previously played for the Lakers and Nets.

It’s hard to view this signing as anything other than a win. While Brook is old and has declined in the past few years, he still averaged 13 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game for a good Milwaukee team last year. Compared to the abysmal set of backups the Clippers have had in recent years – Moses Brown, Kai Jones, Mo Bamba, and washed Mason Plumlee notably among them – those stats look incredible.

Brook’s biggest value comes on the defensive end. He’s been one of the best rim protectors in the league for the entirety of his tenure in Milwaukee, and was still highly effective on that end last year. He’s not versatile at all on defense – he plays almost exclusively in deep drop – but he’s very good at what he does do. Moreover, the Clippers are used to playing with a big in drop coverage with Ivica Zubac, so there should not be much acclimation needed on either end. Again, compared to Zu’s recent backups, the gap on defense is as big as Mount Everest. Brook has immense experience, has played in Finals games, and knows exactly where to be on defense.

That’s not all! The Clippers have been searching for a “stretch” center for what feels like a decade (remember Spencer Hawes, anyone?), and they finally found one. Brook started taking threes nine years ago, and since then has never taken fewer than 4.0 per game in a season with his lowest mark being 31.4%. Across his seven years in Milwaukee, Brook averaged 4.7 threes attempted per game at 35.7%. Not great for a shooting guard, but for a big man, those are massive numbers. Brook draws the defense and will consistently capitalize on open looks. That’s so important for bringing a different playstyle to the table for the Clippers.

Brook’s deal is also very reasonable. He’s old, but he has only had one season (2022) in the past decade where he’s missed more than a handful of games. He’s available and he fits with the team. If he declines at all next year, he should still be a competent backup, and then his deal will be expiring. Compared to other free agent big men who signed today – Clint Capela, Kevon Looney, and Luke Kornet – I think the Clippers got the best deal in terms of years and money for quality of player.

That’s not to say Brook is perfect. He is very old for an NBA player (37), and for guys that age the cliff can come at any time. The Clippers were already old, slow, and unathletic, and Brooks just makes them more so across the board. You’d wish for more dynamic, athletic play. But that type of play (at least from competent NBA big men) was just not available in this free agent class. The most talented center available is DeAndre Ayton, and I can think of fewer guys who are a worse fit for the new Clippers culture that has been established.

At the end of the day, this is just a good signing. It might not be an A+ because of the age concerns and lack of upside, but it’s easily a B+ and probably more like an A-. Good work by the Clippers in finally, finally getting a competent backup for Ivica Zubac.

Clippers Sign Brook Lopez To Two-Year Deal as Backup Center
Robert Flom

Shams Charania of ESPN just broke the biggest expected offseason news for the Clippers, which was James Harden opting out of his $36.3M player option for next season and re-signing with the team. The only question was what size contract Harden would receive, and the answer is a 2 year, $81.5M deal with the second year a partially guaranteed player option.

This deal makes a ton of sense for both sides. Harden got a raise of over $4M for next season and gets at least a partial security blanket for the following season as a reward for his mostly excellent 2025 campaign. The Clippers keep the floor-raising Harden for another season with Kawhi Leonard while giving them the option of moving on from Harden next summer or of having a clean cap sheet in the summer of 2027, when Harden and Leonard’s deals will expire. Considering how good Harden was in the 2025 season, this deal seems like a fair upgrade while enabling the Clippers to have some flexibility with team building. I predicted a 2/85 deal back in my Harden exit interview, so this is even more team friendly than I thought.

Harden will slot back in as the Clippers’ starting point guard, with Leonard locked in as a starting forward and Ivica Zubac as the lead center. That means the rest of free agency will be figuring out if the Clippers make any notable changes to the other two starting spots, whether bringing in a starting guard to replace Norm Powell or Kris Dunn, or a larger forward to enable Kawhi to slide back from power forward to small forward.

Having Harden on the team also just about guarantees that there won’t be a Kawhi trade (not really rumored, but at least mentioned by names as large as the Ringer’s Zach Lowe). This deal aligning Harden with Kawhi sure seems to indicate that the Clippers will be “going for it” to some extent in 2026 with this version of the team. The question is how much of the surrounding roster shifts around them.

Considering how skeptical I was of the Harden trade all the way back in fall 2023, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the Harden experience as a Clipper. Yes, there have been ups and downs, with a few rough playoff games. But the Clippers would not have sniffed the 2025 playoffs without Harden, and he’s mostly been enjoyable to watch play basketball.

The first major step of the Clippers’ 2025 offseason has locked into place. Let’s see where the Clips go from here.

Clippers Re-Sign James Harden to Two-Year Deal
Robert Flom

Finding targets for the full mid-level exception (which starts at $14.2M and can run for up to four years) is difficult in the modern NBA. Most of the top free agents in this class aren’t really free agents, as they have player options they will likely use or are restricted free agents their teams will re-sign. There’s a tier of guys who fit the actual mid-level range, and then players who are much more towards the non-taxpayer MLE ($10M), biannual exception ($5M), or minimum ($3M) level. However, teams can split up their mid-level exception, so the Clippers could break their MLE up into two different players, or even three.

Here are some players that I could see the Clippers using their mid-level exception on, considering fit, talent, and market scarcity, though most of them I think are more one-year “prove-it” deals or guys who’d only get most of the MLE instead of all of it.

Point Guards

Malcolm Brogdon

The Clippers have been linked to Brogdon for years; I’m sure readers will remember that the Clippers actually traded for him two years ago before the trade was cancelled due to injury issues. Brogdon is a strong on-court fit for what the Clippers need, as he’s a big guard who can run offense when James Harden is on the bench and is a good enough defender and off-ball player to survive next to James. The problem is that Brogdon is never available: he’s played over 70 games just once in his nine-year career, and over 60 games just two other seasons. Because of his injury history and age (he turns 33 in December), Brogdon is not really worth the MLE, but a one-year deal for him makes some sense.

D’Angelo Russell

There are very, very strong indications that D’Angelo Russell is signing with Dallas to tide them over until Kyrie Irving returns from injury. If the Mavs go another direction, Russell would theoretically make sense as a player who has always been a much, much worse version of James Harden. Russell is in his prime, has mostly stayed healthy the past few years, and fits the bill of a ball-handling scorer and playmaker off the bench. That said, he’s infuriating to watch and just doesn’t seem like he fits the Clippers’ ethos. I wouldn’t expect it, but it’s a possibility.

Wings

Nickeil Alexander-Walker

NAW is coming off two strong seasons as a high-minute backup on the Western Conference Finals runner-up Minnesota Timberwolves. Alexander-Walker is a standard 3 and D wing, hitting over 38% of his threes the past two years on solid volume, defending multiple positions, and adding just a bit of attacking and passing off the bounce. Nickeil turns 27 in September, so this upcoming deal will cover the rest of his prime – absolutely optimal years. He’s probably the player on this list who most deserves the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception and has several suitors willing to offer him that money. He’d presumably slot in as one of the Clippers’ starting wings, depending on what they do elsewhere on the roster, and is a good fit in between James Harden and Kawhi Leonard. The question is who he chooses in free agency.

Bruce Brown

Bruce Brown is a proven championship-caliber role player who is in the middle of his prime. Moreover, he’s a gadget type player who can do a bit on-ball, play as a wing, or even serve more as a forward. So why is he available? Well, he’s honestly been pretty bad the past two years since he left Denver, bouncing from Indiana to Toronto to New Orleans and not really providing a positive impact in any of those stops. Brown was solid for the Pistons and Nets early in his career, so he’s probably not a “Jokic merchant”, but there are concerns about whether his game has slipped. He’s also been heavily rumored to return to Denver, so I doubt he’s really on the open market. Still, he does fit a lot of what the Clippers value.

Power Forwards

Jake LaRavia

This is the kind of swing I’d like the Clippers to take. LaRavia is 24-years-old, has pedigree, and was quite good last year for two competent teams in the Grizzlies and Kings. LaRavia is a true forward size (6’8, 235 pounds), a solid defender, a decent three-point shooter (37% on 2.7 attempts for his career), and has flashed some playmaking and creation. LaRavia probably wasn’t worth the full MLE last year, but is young and has gotten better every year. More importantly, he’s the kind of player the Clippers have needed for years: a legitimate forward that can do a little bit of everything and slot in between Kawhi Leonard and Ivica Zubac. Maybe he doesn’t develop and he’s a bit of an overpay. Or maybe he continues to get better, and this contract looks like a steal. If I were the Clippers, without much to lose, I’d try to nab LaRavia.

Guerschon Yabusele

The Dancing Bear made a triumphant return to the NBA last year after five seasons spent overseas. Originally viewed as a total bust in Boston, Yabu honed his game at the highest levels of European competition playing for Real Madrid, and was a key part of Team France in the Olympics last summer. In the 2025 season, he was one of the few bright spots for a pitiful Sixers team, scoring 11 points per game on strong efficiency and providing surprisingly good connective passing. Yabu is an ideal fit for what the Clippers have needed for years: a big, physical forward who can take the burden off of Kawhi Leonard, space the floor, and replace some of Nic Batum’s qualities as a connective piece. A full MLE for a player who only has one season of competent NBA play might be an overpay, but Yabu is 29 years old and is a really strong fit. I’d be a fan of this one.

Centers

Brook Lopez

Brook Lopez is not worth the full MLE, to be clear. He’s 37 years old and has been in decline for years. But he is still a competent center who scored in double figures last year (efficiently), protects the rim, and legitimately stretches the floor on offense. This would probably not be a multi-year deal (or at least not more than two years), but a one-year deal to get a true backup for Ivica Zubac makes some sense.

Clint Capela

This would be another overpay for an aging center. But Capela is only 31, is still an effective rebounder, and remains an above-the-rim threat. Add in the fact that he played for a half-decade with James Harden in Houston and you have a ready-made high-level backup for a season or two. Again, it’s probably not an ideal use of the MLE, but it fills a need that the Clippers have had for years. Capela would also be an exceptional veteran mentor for recent Clippers’ first round draft pick Yanic Konan Niederhauser, another raw, athletic, Swiss big man. It seems almost too good a pairing to be true.

Minimum Signings

Here’s a quick list of some players at each position that I think would be good for the Clippers at the minimum or maybe at a smaller chunk of the MLE. The point guard and center groups are definitely the strongest crops.

Point Guard: Chris Paul, Tyus Jones, Monte Morris, Delon Wright, Jared Butler

Wing: Gary Harris, Lonnie Walker, Lindy Waters III, Ziaire Williams, Trey Alexander

Forward: Larry Nance Jr., Trendon Watford, Precious Achiuwa, Taurean Prince

Center: Chris Boucher, Paul Reed, Thomas Bryant, Luke Kornet, Kevon Looney

Eight MLE Targets for the Clippers in Free Agency
Robert Flom

While the Clippers have not made an official announcement, the NBA official player transactions page has the Clippers signing James Harden, Derrick Jones Jr., and James Harden today.

NBA player contracts are never made public, but we can assume the deals were very similar if not identical to those initially reported. Harden will be on a 2/70 with a player option, Jones on a 3/30, and Batum on a 2/9.6.

The reason this is meaningful is that the Clippers officially signing these players means they are hard capped at the 1st apron using the non-taxpayer mid-level contract, and now have very little trade maneuverability. The order of operations in NBA transactions is very important, so if the Clippers were making a big trade – for Brandon Ingram, Zach LaVine, or John Collins as examples – they’d want to do those first and then finalize their free agent signings. The Clippers outright signing these players already would indicate a big move is not coming.

What’s left? The Clippers already officially signed Mo Bamba and Cam Christie, so the two signings that have not been made official yet are Kris Dunn and Kevin Porter Jr. The reason for the Dunn holdup is unclear, as there hasn’t really been any reporting on why it hasn’t gotten done. Maybe the Jazz are haggling over returns, maybe the Clippers want to make it a bigger deal with someone like Collins involved, or maybe the Jazz have other big moves to make elsewhere and want to hold off on the Dunn sign and trade until those moves are complete.

The Porter Jr. deal not being done is a bit odder, as that deal was reported to be a minimum and minimums could have been made official all the way back at the start of free agency on June 30. There was a trade kicker and player option initially reported, so maybe those are being negotiated, or maybe something else is at work there. But there hasn’t been any indication either that deal or the Dunn deal is falling through.

There also has been zero reporting about a PJ Tucker trade, so the likeliest outcome at this point is that Russ is moved in the Kris Dunn sign and trade, and PJ’s contract is stretched. Law Murray’s article on the Clippers’ youngsters today also said Bones Hyland is “questionable at best” to be on the Clippers’ roster next year, so maybe he gets moved as part of the Dunn deal or in another minor transaction.

For now, we have to just keep waiting for the final few pieces to fall into place.

Clippers Signings of Jones, Batum, Harden Made Official
Robert Flom

There has been almost no big NBA news the past few days, but a bit of Clippers’ news dropped today when Shams Charania reported the Clippers were signing Kai Jones to a non-guaranteed deal. Shams also specifically noted that Jones will have the “chance to compete for roster spot next season”.

I wrote about Jones when the Clippers first signed him right before the playoffs, and mentioned he’d likely be on their Summer League team and given a training camp slot. That is half correct – he will go into training camp, but will not participate in Summer League due to injury.

Ultimately, I don’t think this is a big deal either way. Some Clippers fans have been very excited about Jones, and I must confess I don’t share that sentiment. He’s now 23.5, has barely played in the NBA, and when he has played has been very bad. He’s still young enough and untested enough to have upside, but I think a path towards a meaningful player is remote-ish.

At the same time, this is a fully nonguaranteed deal, more or less just a training camp invite. Law Murray has indicated that the team will bring in competition for Jones in training camp, so the 3rd center spot behind Ivica Zubac and Mo Bamba is not secure by any means. Additionally, since he’s only played minutes in two NBA seasons, Jones is still eligible for a two-way, and the only two-way slot currently occupied is Jordan Miller’s.

The Kai Jones signing probably means very little for the rest of the Clippers’ roster, outside of maybe decreasing Moussa Diabate’s chances of being on it. The Clippers have not yet announced their 2024 Summer League roster, so it will be interesting to see if Moussa is on it or if both sides have moved on.

Clippers Sign Kai Jones to Non-Guaranteed Deal
Robert Flom

Almost as quickly as it was here, free agency seems mostly over. The big names – with a few exceptions – have signed, and a couple large trades were made. The Clippers’ offseason has already seen a lot of action, but there is clearly some work left to do. What else is on the Clippers’ agenda? First, let’s take a look at the roster with rough estimations of the depth chart.

Starters: James Harden – Terance Mann – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac

Bench: Russell Westbrook – Norman Powell – Amir Coffey – Nic Batum – Mo Bamba

Depth: Bones Hyland – Kevin Porter Jr. – Kris Dunn – Kobe Brown – PJ Tucker

Deep Depth: Cam Christie

Two-Way: Jordan Miller

One thing is very quickly evident, which is that the Clippers would have 16 full roster spots, which is one too many! They could theoretically get around this by putting Cam Christie on a two-way, but all indications are that he will get a regular roster spot. Thus, the Clippers need to clear room for their additions. This is all assuming that the sign and trade with Kris Dunn will get done somehow, likely roped into one of the other moves the Clippers will have to make.

The two likeliest goners are PJ Tucker and Russell Westbrook. Law Murray has reported the Clippers will either trade PJ or stretch his contract, and that he won’t be returning to the Clippers. Let’s assume that the Clippers don’t want to attach any real assets to dump him, and that they are forced to waive him. Russ is interesting, in that the Nuggets apparently have interest, but no rumored trades have popped up. They seem to be waiting for him to be bought out so they can sign him off waivers. Let’s say that Russ is cut or is dumped for effectively nothing, with his $4M salary being much easier to move than PJ’s $11M salary. This would then be the updated depth chart:

Starters: James Harden – Terance Mann – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac

Bench: Kris Dunn – Norman Powell – Amir Coffey – Nic Batum – Mo Bamba

Depth: Bones Hyland – Kevin Porter Jr. – Cam Christie – Kobe Brown – ?

Two-Way: Jordan Miller

That’s a bit better, with a couple clear points of concern. One is that even without Russ, the Clippers have a million veteran guards, with no less than seven players whose ideal position is the 1 or the 2 (Terance is fringe but I think that’s his best role), which isn’t even counting rookie Cam Christie or promising two-way Jordan Miller. A guard or two needs to be moved.

Second, the Clippers’ only backup big man is Mo Bamba, who is fine, but not exactly the best backup in the NBA, and they have nobody at all behind him if he or Zu were to get injured. Some kind of support at center is needed. Maybe Kai Jones or Moussa Diabate come back on a two-way or a full roster spot, but ideally I’d like someone slightly more proven there with Mo as the main backup.

Third, depending on how you feel about this situation, is that Kawhi is still starting at power forward. The reporting on the Nico signing is that he will be a bench guy, and Derrick Jones is too light to play the four. Many Clippers fans have wanted to shift Kawhi back down to small forward to reduce his wear and tear, and the Clippers at times have indicated that themselves. Kawhi was extremely effective there last year, but the NBA is getting bigger now, not smaller, and I think it would be nice if the Clippers could roll out Harden-DJJ-Kawhi-PF-Zu.

The trade candidates to get a starting power forward and/or a reserve center would include Russ and PJ, obviously, with all of the rest of the guards – Bones, Norm, Terance, Amir – on the table as well. Some possible targets for a power forward trade would be Dorian Finney Smith, John Collins, Jerami Grant (likely too expensive in terms of assets), Kyle Kuzma (ditto), DeAndre Hunter (not really a PF), and Harrison Barnes, with my personal favorite targets being Finney-Smith and Collins. Center would probably just be a free agent signing with the room created by moving off multiple other guys in a trade, though Robert Williams is an interesting name. Honestly, I’d be perfectly happy with bringing back Daniel Theis.

The Clippers could also make a bigger splash for players like DeMar DeRozan or Zach LaVine to give themselves more firepower in replacing Paul George. This seems unlikely at this juncture. DeRozan would have to be a sign and trade, which is always complicated, and LaVine’s number is big enough that at least 3 and probably 4 Clippers would probably have to included to get there.

All told, I think we can expect to see Russ and PJ moved, whether by trade or cut, a third big man of some kind added, and one other trade to bring in a wing or forward in exchange for a guard or two. After that, filling out the last couple two-way spots will be the last item, and might not even be complete until training camp.

Any guys you have an eye on? Leave your thoughts below!

What Else is Needed in the Clippers’ 2024 Offseason
Robert Flom