LA Clippers’ perfect move in 2025 NBA offseason

Over the past few seasons, the power forward position has been a huge question mark for the Clippers. In 2019, during the beginning of the Kawhi Leonard era, they had to rely on Mo Harkless to fill that position before they settled on a combination of Marcus Morris Sr. and Nicolas Batum from 2020 to 2023.

Morris was one of the best marksmen from beyond the arc during his heyday, but he didn’t exactly have the rebounding chops for a four, putting pressure on the likes of Leonard and Paul George to clean up the glass. Batum was more disruptive defensively, but he didn’t have the offensive utility that Morris provided.

Even then, by 2023, the Clippers lost all of their viable, more traditional power forward options when they traded away Morris, Batum, and even Robert Covington in the trade that landed them Harden. This forced the Clippers to play an undersized lineup in nearly every game, with Leonard ending up as the full-time starter at the four for LA towards the end of last season — with Derrick Jones Jr. slotting in at the position (with Kris Dunn moving to the bench) whenever they needed more size and length.

Rebounding has never been a strong suit for the Clippers in the Leonard era, but now, LA is about to be tough to deal with on the boards after they brought in John Collins in the three-team trade that sent Norman Powell to the Miami Heat.

Collins has long been a rumored trade target for the Clippers, as he has the prototypical size and build for a power forward, he’s a strong rebounder, and he can also space the floor. He is also an athletic lob threat, making him suited to run the five in smaller lineups.

He can either function as the dive man in lineups with Brook Lopez at the five, or more of a floor-spacer whenever he suits up alongside Ivica Zubac. Collins’ presence gives head coach Tyronn Lue so much more flexibility.

It did cost the Clippers Powell, however. Powell received some All-Star consideration last season after he broke out in a starting role, averaging 21.8 points on 61.5 percent true shooting. He came out guns blazing, finishing as one of the best marksmen in the league after shooting 41.8 percent from three on over seven attempts per ballgame.

Powell knew that the Clippers expected him to score, and score he did. Collins is a scoring downgrade from Powell, and the Clippers would definitely not have earned the four-seed had it not been for Powell’s incredible play, especially towards the start of the season.

But the Clippers, as mentioned earlier, seem to be one step ahead of their peers at all times. They were more comfortable with letting Powell go, especially when it meant that Bradley Beal would join the team eventually.

Beal has been singled out as one of the biggest scapegoats for the Phoenix Suns’ lack of success over the past two seasons. His huge contract became too big of a burden to the point where the Suns deemed it best to buy out his contract and just free up the roster spot instead of letting him sit pretty with a no-trade clause.

But even with Beal no longer being his best self, this was still a guy who averaged 17.6 points per game on 51/41/81 shooting splits in his two seasons with the Suns. He took just around 13 shots per game last season; if he manages to get three more shot attempts and launch from deep more often (which he might, considering he now has Harden setting him up), then it’s not a stretch to think he could average as many, if not more, points than Powell did last season.

Lue now has so much matchup flexibility, and the Clippers now have one of the deepest rosters in the NBA — especially after their latest move that deserves plenty of credit as well.

LA’s core might be old as dirt, but they are ready to make a deep playoff run

Lopez is arguably the best backup center in the NBA; he is one of the best shot-blockers in the league and he can still stroke it from deep, making nearly two threes a night on a 37.1 percent clip last season. Signing him to a two-year, $18 million contract should be a bargain.

Chris Paul still can hoop; he might be 40 years old already, but he suited up in all 82 games last season for the San Antonio Spurs and averaged 8.8 points and 7.4 assists. He and Harden have also taken a team deep into the playoffs before, and he’s a vocal leader who’ll do whatever it takes, including play the role of the irritant, just to win.

Alas, following the addition of Paul in free agency, the Clippers now have eight players on the roster older than 30 years of age. Of those eight, four are older than 35, including Harden, someone LA will heavily rely on yet again for next season.

But still, it’s difficult to find a deeper roster than the Clippers’ other than the Oklahoma City Thunder’s, or perhaps even the new-look Houston Rockets and revamped Denver Nuggets. They have so much talent across multiple positions and they can shapeshift accordingly depending on matchups. The league better watch out.