Realistic Trade Scenario for LA Clippers to Improve Major Flaw

However, after closing the season winning 18 of 22 games to end the regular season, there was a hope that Los Angeles could finally make a deep playoff run with Kawhi Leonard healthy. The Denver Nuggets defeated the Clippers in a hard-fought seven-game series, and now the offseason begins early for a team with many questions.

A new scenario presented by Yossi Gozlan of Third Apron suggests a trade that could help the Clippers in a position they have been seeking for years.

“Bogdan Bogdanovic’s $16 million salary, which functions as an expiring contract due to his team option for 2026-27, is their most obvious trade chip. They take back up to an additional $8.5 million for him," Gozlan writes.

He continued to say that Utah Jazz forward John Collins would be an attainable asset should Utah trade him, "For example, the Clippers could acquire John Collins, who has a $26.6 million player option he’s likely to pick up, for Bogdanovic and one more small salary.”

With the Clippers making it a point to stay under both the first and second aprons while also avoiding the tax line to use their full MLE (Mid-Level Exception), using Bogdanovic's contract (which they acquired at the 2025 deadline) would bring major help to the physicality of the frontcourt.

Acquiring Collins would bring an athletic power forward with the ability to stretch the floor, guard multiple wings, and push Kawhi Leonard back down to the small forward position.