The Los Angeles Clippers did everything right in the 2024 summer, leading to them making fiscally smart decisions in the regular season as well. The Clippers were under the tax line and comfortably below both the First and Second Aprons, which are ever-so-valuable in today's league.
With some interesting decisions to be made this summer, a few factors could come into play regarding some of their key pieces. Coming off another 50-win season, the Clippers were eliminated in the Conference Quarterfinals by the Denver Nuggets, but the season was widely considered a success given the expectations.
James Harden was at the forefront of that, earning an All-Star nod and likely an All-NBA spot. Nicolas Batum signed for a small amount of money to return to the Clippers after a year with the Philadelphia 76ers and was one of Los Angeles's best players in the playoffs.
Now, a new report from The Athletic's Danny Leroux suggests that those two pieces could look to take a discount to help the team.
"James Harden has a $36.3-million player option, and Nicolas Batum has a $4.9-million player option, so there is some real variability in the Clippers’ spending power depending on how those resolve," Leroux wrote. "If both players return at those numbers, the Clippers will have about $12 million under the tax and can push that to $17 million by waiving Drew Eubanks from his non-guaranteed contract."
With Amir Coffey being a free agent and posting career-high numbers across the board, he will undoubtedly be a hot commodity in the free agent market for other teams. If both Harden and Batum accept their player options, it would be unlikely for the Clippers to retain Coffey.
But if both Harden and Batum choose to re-negotiate, which "feels unlikely," according to Leroux, the Clippers would have more flexibility to retain or upgrade the roster, which is now proven to be able to win at a high level.
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