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:
- Standard contracts:
- Kawhi Leonard: Three years, maximum salary ($103.14MM). Third-year player option. Signed using cap room.
- Patrick Beverley: Three years, $40MM. Re-signed using Bird rights.
- Ivica Zubac: Four years, $28.52MM. Fourth-year team option. Re-signed using Bird rights.
- Rodney McGruder: Three years, $15MM. Third year non-guaranteed. Re-signed using Bird rights.
- JaMychal Green: Two years, $9.77MM. Re-signed using room exception.
- Patrick Patterson: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Two-way contracts:
- Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Derrick Walton: One year, minimum salary.
- Donte Grantham: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Terry Larrier: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- James Palmer: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- B.J. Taylor: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
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:
- Wilson Chandler
- Angel Delgado (two-way)
- Danilo Gallinari
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- Garrett Temple
- Sindarius Thornwell (waived)
- Tyrone Wallace (waived)
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.