Where Do the Los Angeles Clippers Go From Here

The Los Angeles Clippers Are In Desperation Mode

This is going to be a long end of the 2020s for the Los Angeles Clippers. After the Clippers got punished for the Kawhi Leonard scandal, which included the loss of five first round picks, this is looking like a scary bad era for the Clippers. Is all hope lost? Not necessarily, but the path to relevance for the Clippers just got much, much harder. And they are going to have some very difficult choices to make.

To refresh your memory, the Clippers roster currently is not that bad on the surface. Assuming the Kawhi trade stays the same, the Clippers will be building around a core of Darius Garland, Brandon Ingram, and the newly drafted Keaton Wagler. There’s worse cores in the NBA that you could be starting with.

Of course, team building for the Clippers will now feature a very limited selection of first round picks, with the team losing their own first picks from 2029-2033. But, they are still likely to get two first round picks from the Raptors, and they have the pieces to snag more draft picks from the trade market.

Who’s Getting Traded?

A month ago, I wrote an article essentially listing out all of the potential trade pieces for the Clippers (hint: it’s a majority of the roster). More than ever, the Clippers have a lot to trade. To summarize, they have multiple players that are essentially on 1 year deals with Rui Hachimura (team option in 27-28), Kris Dunn, Derrick Jones Jr, Brook Lopez, and Max Strus. Instantly, every single one of these guys should be in trade talks.

All of them are 28 and older, and they could easily draft picks and/or prospects from contenders at or before the trade deadline. It would almost be malpractice at this point to keep any of them unless they’re willing to accept incredibly team-friendly extensions.

Outside of them, the big fish that the Clippers have are in Brandon Ingram and Darius Garland. Of course, Garland is only 26, and could be the Clippers long term answer at point guard going forward. And with a team stripped of assets like the Clippers, having a solidified point guard will be important.

However, his contract expires in 2028, and if extension talks get spiky he could snatch the team some assets as well. Brandon Ingram is 29, and also sees his contract expire in 2028, so the same applies to him as well. 

No Matter What, The Clippers Are In Trouble

Regardless of what the Clippers do, this becomes the biggest uphill battle that any NBA team has to face for the foreseeable future. They are far from contenders, but tanking for draft picks doesn’t work either when you don’t have any of your own picks to begin with. This is the start of a dark era for the Clippers, and it’s going to take a lot for this to turn around.