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.

Reviewing the Clippers’ 2025 Training Camp Roster
Robert Flom

The start of NBA training camps are just around the corner, which means our player previews are starting next week. Here’s a look at the Clippers’ 2023 training camp roster, and what to look for from different players as we get into training camp and then preaseason.

The Vets

These are players well into their careers who have literally nothing to prove in training camp. In their late 20s to mid-30s, the only thing to watch out for is if they play, and monitoring their health if not. Outside of Kawhi Leonard, every one of these guys should be good to go, and even Kawhi might be ready for training camp, though no sure-fire report has suggested one way or the other.

Kawhi Leonard

Paul George

Norm Powell

Nic Batum

Robert Covington

Marcus Morris

Reggie Jackson

John Wall

The Young Vets

The Clippers’ group of players in their mid-20s are all on their second (or in the case of Ivica Zubac, third) contracts and are established in the NBA to some extent. However, outside of Zubac, these are players whose spots in the rotation are not certain. It’s very possible only one of Mann, Kennard, and Coffey is in the rotation when the Clippers are fully healthy, and while most people have penciled in Mann, training camp and preseason will help the coaching staff determine who has a leg up. These are also players who are still young enough to be developing new skills and abilities, so some things to keep an eye on are Luke’s ballhandling, Terance’s three-point shot, Zu’s passing, and Coffey’s defense.

Ivica Zubac

Terance Mann

Luke Kennard

Amir Coffey

The Young Guys

The Clippers’ three first- and second-year players will almost assuredly not be in the Clippers’ healthy rotation his year. However, they do have guaranteed deals, and are therefore near locks to make the Clippers’ roster (Boston Jr. is a complete lock). Still, it’s important for them to show off what they’ve been working on this summer, even if their efforts don’t result in a move up the rotation charts. How’s Brandon’s decision-making? Is his improved strength good against NBA players, or was that Summer League only? Can Jason Preston launch from deep to create room for driving lanes? How’s Moussa’s ability to read the floor on both ends? The three of these guys should all see plenty of minutes in preseason and get in lots of scrimmage time in training camp, and hopefully stand out.

Brandon Boston Jr.

Jason Preston

Moussa Diabate

The Training Camp Guys

The two favorites for the Clippers’ final roster spots going into the 2023 training camp are center Moses Brown and point guard Xavier Moon. Both players are eligible for two-way deals, so they could be signed to that contract or a regular deal for the 15^th spot on the roster. Brown has played more minutes in the NBA, but nearly all for horrible teams, and they’ve uniformly been worse with him on the court. Moon has very little NBA experience, but is older and a more seasoned pro with an established floor. Brown fills more of a need, as the Clippers have just two true big men, and one of them is Diabate, a second-round rookie. If he looks like he can give the Clippers at least semi-competent minutes as a reserve in a pinch, that two-way spot might be his. But the Clippers aren’t super deep at point guard either, with two aging vets in Wall and Jackson and the green Preston, so Moon makes sense as a veteran third-stringer too.

Moses Brown

Xavier Moon

The Exhibit 10 Players

I think these guys are still coming to camp? The Clippers signed all three rookies to Exhibit 10 deals shortly after the 2022 NBA Draft. However, they barely played in Summer League, and when they did play, they didn’t look great (Williamson was the best, but played the least minutes). It would have been long shots for any of them to make the roster, but considering the summer league and lack of talk around any of them, it’s questionable whether they’ll even be at camp. For these guys, any preseason minutes to have on film tape for international teams would be helpful, though the Exhibit 10s (if they aren’t waived before) would give incentive to join the Ontario Clippers.

Lucas Williamson

Justin Bean

Michael Devoe

Clippers 2023 Training Camp Roster Breakdown
Robert Flom