Clippers Rumors

Aldridge’s Latest: Iguodala, Nunn, Kings, Wizards

Andre Iguodala technically remains under contract with the Grizzlies, but the expectation is that he’ll be traded or bought out at some point this season, allowing him to join a contender. While it remains to be seen which club Iguodala will end up playing for, David Aldridge of The Athletic asked several NBA executives to hazard a guess and virtually all of them predicted the Lakers would be the landing spot for the former Finals MVP.

“[The Lakers would offer the] best combination of ring chance and role,” one longtime team boss told Aldridge.

For Iguodala to get to the Lakers, the Grizzlies would almost certainly have to go the buyout route, since L.A. probably doesn’t have the necessary salary-matching pieces to take on Iguodala’s $17MM+ salary in a trade. The only non-stars on the Lakers’ roster earning more than $4.77MM this season are Danny Green ($14.64MM), who is a key rotation player, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($8.09MM), who holds a de facto no-trade clause.

As Aldridge notes, a league-wide belief that the Lakers will land Iguodala doesn’t mean it will actually happen. There will also plenty of people around the NBA who thought Kawhi Leonard would become a Laker in the summer, and the Clippers ultimately closed that deal. The Clips – who were the only team besides the Lakers to receive a vote in Aldridge’s informal poll of execs – would presumably be in the running for Iguodala too.

Here’s more from Aldridge’s latest Athletic article:

  • Kendrick Nunn‘s agent Adam Pensack tells Aldridge that he “pushed pretty strongly” in his attempt to get his client a 10-day contract with an NBA team last season. When that didn’t happen, Pensack and Nunn went looking for an NBA home once the G League season ended. The Kings brought in several players for a workout and told them they’d sign the best player in the group. Sacramento chose B.J. Johnson over Nunn, opening the door for the former Oakland standout to catch on with the Heat a week later. We explored that deal in more depth last week.
  • Here’s more from Heat director of scouting Chet Kammerer on why the team signed Nunn and spent time developing him: “Coach (Erik) Spoelstra is big right now on having guys that are versatile, on guys that aren’t one-dimensional. It’s the fact we saw a couple of things. He was really versatile. He always seemed like a tough kid, physically and mentally tough. To me, he was hard to guard. When we played them, he found ways. It was tough to stay in front of the guy. He’s an attacker. He competes hard. He was a better shooter than all of us thought, too. You look at his percentages, and we said, ‘This is a guy can shoot the ball.’ You look at all of those things, and that’s a Heat guy, to us.”
  • Despite the Kings‘ slow start, general manager Vlade Divac told Aldridge in a text message that he’s pleased with what he has seen from head coach Luke Walton so far. “Very happy with him,” Divac said. “His approach, communication and relationship with the players needs more time and he needs to learn about personalities but I really like what I see. It’s a process; can’t do stuff over night.”
  • While the Wizards probably won’t be a playoff team in 2019/20, they’ve been fun to watch so far this season, which has rubbed off on the front office. “I actually like coming to work in the morning,” a senior member of the team’s staff told Aldridge.

Clippers Considered Waiving Harrell In 2017

  • Forward Montrezl Harrell continues to prove his worth to the Clippers, Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times writes. Harrell, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, is averaging 19.3 PPG and 5.9 RPG to help the team weather the injury absence of Paul George. After acquiring him in the Chris Paul deal with Houston, the Clippers were so unsure about Harrell that they considered waiving him during the summer of 2017, according to Elliott.

FAA Approves Clippers' Plans For Inglewood Arena

  • The Federal Aviation Adminstration has approved the Clippers’ plans for a new billion-dollar arena in Inglewood, Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times writes. In their approval, it was confirmed that the 37 applications covering the majority of the proposed idea pose no hazards to aviation, Fenno notes. The Clippers are hoping to move into their new arena in 2024, the same year their lease at Staples Center expires.

Pacific Notes: George, Fox, Ayton, Curry

The Clippers are getting encouraging signs that Paul George might be ready for action soon, according to Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. George participated in a full-court, three-on-three scrimmage Saturday that lasted about 20 minutes, his most strenuous workout since having offseason surgery on both shoulders.

The team still isn’t offering a timetable for his season debut, and coach Doc Rivers didn’t provide any new information. Rivers speculated last month that George would miss the first 10 games, which would keep him sidelined for at least four more.

“At some point, someone’s going to tell me who can play,” Rivers said yesterday. “I’ve never really gotten involved in it.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:
  • De’Aaron Fox hasn’t lost faith in new Kings coach Luke Walton despite a rough start, relays Jason Jones of The Athletic. Walton wants Fox to assume more control over the team as the season wears on, and the confidence seems to be reciprocated. “We’re going to ride with him,” Fox said of Walton. “He’s been great since the day that he stepped in. I think we feel like we trust him and he trusts us.”
  • Deandre Ayton has served five games of his 25-game suspension, giving the Suns an opportunity to add another player to the roster, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Ayton is now on the suspended list, where he will remain until December 17 unless his appeal is successful. Phoenix already has 15 players with guaranteed contracts, and there has been no indication on whether the team plans to make a roster move.
  • A broken hand hasn’t affected Stephen Curry‘s desire to play in the 2020 Olympics, his father tells Marc J. Spears of ESPN. Former NBA star Dell Curry said his son is still looking forward to his first Olympic experience. “That was definitely a goal coming into this year,” he said. “He wants to play in the Olympics. This is a little setback, but hopefully it’s a goal he can strive for through his rehab.” Curry added that Stephen is “doing the best he can” after having surgery this week.

Kawhi Leonard Won’t Play On Wednesday

The Clippers will hold Kawhi Leonard out of Wednesday’s game vs. the Jazz, according to head coach Doc Rivers, who told reporters today that the star forward will be back in L.A.’s lineup on Thursday vs. San Antonio (Twitter link via Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com).

This is the first time in Leonard’s brief tenure as a Clipper that he will miss a game for load-management purposes, though it likely won’t be the last. The reigning Finals MVP only appeared in 60 games last season as the Raptors held him out of one end of back-to-backs and a few other contests.

Rivers said in September that he didn’t anticipate Leonard being on as strict a load-management plan for the 2019/20 season. However, it was clear he didn’t expect Kawhi to play in all 82 games.

This is the Clippers’ first back-to-back set of the year, so it’ll be interesting to see whether he also misses a game during the team’s next back-to-back — Rivers said today that the club will evaluate that on a “case-by-case” basis (Twitter link via MacMahon).

The Clips are scheduled to host the Bucks next Wednesday, followed by the Trail Blazers on Thursday. They have another back-to-back on tap for November 13 and 14 in Houston and New Orleans. Paul George may have returned to action by that time.

Leonard’s official listing for tonight’s game is “out – load management, knee,” per Jovan Buha of The Athletic (Twitter link). As MacMahon notes (via Twitter), the NBA is requiring a specific body part to be listed this season, rather than just “load management.” The former Raptor reportedly battled a sore left knee during the team’s championship run in the spring, so the Clippers presumably want to limit the risk of that issue flaring up again.

2019 Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Clippers

Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2019 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2019/20 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Los Angeles Clippers.

Signings:

Trades:

  • Acquired the draft rights to Mfiondu Kabengele (No. 27 pick) from the Nets in exchange for the Sixers’ 2020 first-round pick (top-14 protected) and the draft rights to Jaylen Hands (No. 56 pick).
  • Acquired Maurice Harkless, the Heat’s 2023 first-round pick (top-14 protected), and the draft rights to Mathias Lessort in a four-team trade with the Heat, Trail Blazers, and Sixers in exchange for cash ($110K; to Heat).
  • Acquired Paul George from the Thunder in exchange for Danilo Gallinari, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Heat’s 2021 first-round pick (unprotected), the Clippers’ 2022 first-round pick (unprotected), the Heat’s 2023 first round pick (top-14 protected), the Clippers’ 2024 first-round pick (unprotected), the Clippers’ 2026 first-round pick (unprotected), and the right to swap first-round picks with the Clippers in both 2023 and 2025.

Draft picks:

  • 1-27: Mfiondu Kabengele — Signed to rookie contract.
  • 2-48: Terance Mann — Signed to four-year, $6.2MM contract. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option. Signed using cap room.

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

  • Signed head coach Doc Rivers to contract extension.
  • Hired Tyronn Lue as lead assistant coach.
  • Retained consultant Jerry West.
  • Added Ryan West in scouting role.
  • Lost director of pro player personnel Johnny Rogers to Wizards.
  • Guaranteed Lou Williams‘ 2020/21 salary.
  • Paul George underwent surgery on both shoulders.
  • Fined $50K for tampering on Kawhi Leonard.
  • Unveiled tentative plans for Inglewood arena.

Salary cap situation:

  • Used cap space; now over the cap.
  • Carrying approximately $129.32MM in salary.
  • No cap exceptions available.

Story of the summer:

It’s easy to forget now, but during the week leading up to Kawhi Leonard‘s free agency decision, the Clippers were increasingly viewed as the most unlikely landing spot among the star forward’s top three options.

Leonard had just won a championship in Toronto and no reigning Finals MVP had ever chosen to change teams, so the Raptors were considered a strong option. And there was plenty of speculation that the opportunity to join forces with LeBron James and Anthony Davis while returning home to Los Angeles might ultimately be too appealing to pass up.

On the morning of July 5, we published a poll asking which team Kawhi would choose. Approximately 54% of respondents chose the Raptors. Nearly 37% chose the Lakers. Just over 9% picked the Clippers.

About 15 hours later, in the early-morning hours of July 6, Leonard turned the basketball world upside down when word leaked that he had chosen the Clippers — and that he was bringing Paul George with him.

The Clippers’ inability to lure a second star free agent to L.A. early in the free agent process was believed to have negatively impacted their chances of landing Leonard, since it was unclear whether he’d be willing to sign with the team on his own. As it turns out, the notion that Kawhi likely wouldn’t come by himself was accurate — we just didn’t know what he had up his sleeve.

As it turns out, while he was weighing his own decision, Leonard had sold George on the idea of an L.A. homecoming, convincing him to ask the Thunder to trade him to the Clippers. Although the cost to acquire George was exorbitant, the Clippers eventually relented, recognizing that completing that deal would be the difference between landing two stars or potentially ending up with none.

When the dust settled, Leonard’s decision had directly – and drastically – altered the direction of at least four franchises — the Raptors’ title defense would be defanged, the Thunder were suddenly a rebuilding franchise, the Lakers wouldn’t enter the season as the overwhelming title favorites, and the Clippers had put together perhaps the most talented roster in team history.

Indirectly, the rest of the NBA was impacted too. If Leonard had signed with the Lakers, it would’ve represented an extension of the league’s era of “Big Three” superstar team-ups. And we would’ve entered yet another season with a pretty good idea of which team would win the championship in the spring.

Leonard’s decision left several teams unhappy, but it might have been the best move for the NBA in general, since it created a landscape featuring six or eight legit title contenders. Atop that list? The Clippers, who were given the best title odds for professional bookmakers during the preseason.

Read more

Clippers Exercise 2020/21 Option On Landry Shamet

As expected, the Clippers have picked up their 2020/21 rookie scale team option on Landry Shamet, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Shamet, 22, was drafted 26th overall in 2018 by the Sixers, then was sent to the Clippers at last season’s deadline in the Tobias Harris blockbuster. He emerged as a reliable rotation piece for both playoff teams, averaging 9.1 PPG on .431/.422/.806 shooting in 79 total games (22.8 MPG).

We heard earlier this afternoon that Los Angeles had exercised its ’20/21 option on Jerome Robinson, so it was only a matter of time until we heard the same on Shamet’s option. It will be worth just $2,090,040. The Clippers will have until October 31, 2020 to pick up Shamet’s $3,768,342 option for 2021/22.

We’re tracking all of the decisions on 2020/21 rookie scale options right here.

Clippers Picking Up Jerome Robinson’s 2020/21 Option

The Clippers have exercised their third-year option on Jerome Robinson, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic (Twitter link). The move will guarantee Robinson’s $3,737,520 cap hit for the 2020/21 league year.

A 6’5″ shooting guard, Robinson was the 13th overall pick in the 2018 draft. However, he didn’t see much action in his rookie season, averaging 3.4 PPG and 1.2 RPG in just 9.7 minutes per contest over 33 games. Given all the veteran depth the Clippers have now, the 22-year-old probably won’t play a major role this season either. He has logged just six total minutes through four games.

Still, the Clips project to be over the cap next season and won’t necessarily need to maximize their flexibility, so locking in a prospect like Robinson at a fairly modest price makes sense. Before October 31, 2020, the club will have to decide whether or not to exercise his $5,340,916 option for the 2021/22 season.

Landry Shamet is the other Clipper who has a rookie scale option to be picked up before Thursday’s deadline. That decision will be a no-brainer for the club, given that Shamet is a starter and his 2020/21 option costs just $2.09MM.

Pacific Notes: Clippers, Baynes, Rondo, Oubre

The Clippers have a ton of potential on the defensive end this season, something that could propel the team deep into the campaign, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times writes.

As written by Greif, the Clippers quickly became a “scary” team over the NBA’s first week, defeating the Lakers 112-102 and Warriors 141-122 without the likes of Paul George. The team has tremendous talent on both sides of the ball outside of George, including Kawhi Leonard, Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, Patrick Beverley and others.

“We’re scary defensively,” Beverley said. “Very, very, very scary. … We just grind people down, grind people down. We come in waves.”

Los Angeles wound up losing in Phoenix on Saturday, but the team has yet to reach its full potential. With several newcomers getting acclimated and their second-best player still on the shelves, the Clippers are favored by many to eventually become the best team in the Western Conference.

One scenario that’s largely stayed off the radar for fans, however, is the possibility of adding Andre Iguodala from Memphis. League observers have privately wondered whether the Clippers could eventually swoop in to acquire Iguodala by trade or signing (should he get bought out), which would undeniably make them even more elite defensively.

There’s more from the Pacific Division tonight:

  • New Suns center Aron Baynes impressed in his first start with the team, filling in for the suspended Deandre Ayton against the Clippers on Saturday, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic writes. Baynes finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in 22 minutes of action, helping Phoenix win an important game at home.
  • Lakers guard Rajon Rondo underwent a precautionary MRI that revealed a mild strain of his right calf, according to Mike Trudell of Lakers.com (Twitter link). He’ll miss the team’s game against Charlotte on Sunday and be listed as day-to-day.
  • Suns forward Kelly Oubre Jr. was fined $10K by the NBA this weekend for directing inappropriate language toward a game official, the league announced in a press release. The incident occurred after the Suns lost 108-107 to Denver in overtime Friday.

Clippers Notes: Arena, Patterson, Williams, Depth

Despite a loss last night to the Suns, the 2019/20 season is off to a good start for the Clippers. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear the same can be said about the team’s effort to build a new arena, writes Jason Henry of the Orange County Register.

Per Henry, the Clippers efforts to fast track a new home in Inglewood have stalled because the California Air Resources Board does not believe the project meets the necessary environmental standards, according to a letter written by California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Newsom considers the new arena an important economic benefit for the L.A. community, urging the Clippers and CARB to continue working toward a resolution, but the Governor will not intervene in the decision-making process by CARB, an independent body tasked with determining whether the Clippers can adequately prevent a net increase in greenhouse gases and other emissions.

“I support holding project sponsors to California’s high standards for environmental benefit and mitigation, and I hope you collectively can find a path forward,” Newsom wrote in his letter.

The Clippers want to start construction in 2021 and have the arena game-ready three years later, when their lease at Staples Center expires. It appears to remain unknown at this time how much of a barrier this issue will become to that timeline.

There’s more news from the Clippers this afternoon:

  • Andrew Grief of the Los Angeles Times writes how the role of Patrick Patterson will be a bit different this season than it ever has been before for the 30-year-old power forward. Through three games, he is averaging six three-point attempts per game, nearly three times his career average, as he embraces his new role as a spot-up shooter.
  • The Clippers are looking for Lou Williams to help form a “Big 3” with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George once George returns from injury, per Mark Medina of USA Today. Williams, who is ready for the challenge, said he really wants to win a championship before he hangs it up. “I don’t know how many cracks I’m going to have at winning a championship. I feel like we really have a good group. I don’t want that opportunity to go to waste because our mentality is not sharp. I’m just doing my part to make sure everybody is on the same page and the competitive level is there. We don’t take days off and we compete.”
  • Matt John of Basketball Insiders explores how the Clippers are more than just Leonard and George, pointing out that players like Williams, Montrezl Harrell, and JaMychal Green had already played extended minutes together before this season.