Three big questions the Los Angeles Clippers must answer to make a playoff run

For the majority of the summer, the news was really good for the Los Angeles Clippers. They restocked the team with two former All-Stars in Bradley Beal and Brook Lopez. The Clippers will host the All-Star Game in their new arena, the Intuit Dome. The team got a real power forward by trading for John Collins and brought back the franchise's greatest player, point guard Chris Paul.

But then Pablo Torre reported on the highly suspicious endorsement deal between superstar Kawhi Leonard and Aspiration, a Clippers jersey sponsor that received highly suspicious investments from owner Steve Ballmer and co-owner Dennis Wong. Now the NBA is investigating, and a promising Clippers season is starting under a cloud. Here are three big questions the Clippers need to answer to get their season on track.

1. What is going to happen with the NBA's investigation?

The NBA reportedly won't conclude its investigation of the Clippers and Leonard until after the All-Star Game in February, which means the team will have the scandal hanging over its head for at least four months. Expect questions from the media all season long, even if Leonard himself is notoriously quiet. Meanwhile, the Clippers won't know if they'll face severe penalties from the NBA or what those penalties might be.

If they determine the Clippers circumvented the salary cap, the NBA could suspend Ballmer, assess fines or take away the Clippers' future draft picks. Could the Clippers try to preemptively trade some of the picks they do have — swaps with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Philadelphia 76ers in 2027 and 2029, plus their own picks from 2030-32 — before the NBA takes them away?

2. How much do the Clippers' older players have left?

There are five former All-Stars on this Clippers team, but the key word is "former." Paul is 40 years old. Lopez is 37, while James Harden and Nic Batum are both 36. Leonard turned 34 this summer, one day after Beal's 32nd birthday.

The Clippers are the oldest team in NBA history with an average age of 33.2. This number actually underrates the Clippers' age, since the few young players they have aren't expected to play much. Of the Clippers' top 11 rotation players, no one is under the age of 28.

With older players, the decline can come quickly and injuries are much more likely. Can the Clippers really expect Paul to log 82 games like he did last season? Leonard is notoriously injury-prone. Beal hasn't played 60 or more games since the 2020-21 season. Lopez's blocks and rebounds have been declining for two seasons. Even the 28-year-old Collins averages 59 games a season for his career. The Clippers may have depth, but that depth is all past their primes.

3. Can Ivica Zubac repeat his stellar season?

The unsung hero of the Clippers' star-studded roster last year was center Ivica Zubac, who took a huge leap forward. He went from 11.7 points per game and 9.2 rebounds in 2023-24 to 16.8 points and 12.6 rebounds last season, nearly doubling his assists from 1.4 to 2.7 per game and more than doubling his steals from 0.3 to 0.7 per game.

Zubac's effort helped the Clippers achieve the NBA's third-best defensive rating, and he made the All-Defensive second team. But was this a new level for Zubac or simply a career year?

If Zubac truly has developed into an elite center, that's crucial for the Clippers, playing in the Western Conference against big men like Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Davis, Alperen Sengun and Chet Holmgren. If he's simply good, but not elite, it limits the Clippers' ceiling for next year.