Los Angeles Clippers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

James Harden Hopes To Remain With Clippers Beyond Season

January 17th, 2024 at 10:11am CST by Luke Adams

Because James Harden is on a two-year deal and an NBA contract must cover at least three seasons to be extended, the Clippers star won’t become extension-eligible before he reaches free agency this summer. However, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes, Harden indicated on Tuesday that he’s enjoying his time in Los Angeles and hopes to remain with his hometown team beyond this season.

“I’m here, home,” Harden said. “We have an opportunity. I want to be able to keep the core together for a few years and I haven’t had those opportunities the last few years. So things are going well and I’m happy.”

It took a few games for the Clippers to hit their stride following the acquisition of Harden on November 1, but the club has been on a roll since getting off to a 3-7 start, winning 23 of its past 30 games. L.A. now holds a 26-14 record, good for the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference.

Harden’s 16.9 points per game this season would be his lowest mark since he was a sixth man in Oklahoma City in 2011/12, but he’s among the NBA’s assist leaders with 8.4 per night, and his 41.9% three-point rate would represent a career high.

Prior to Harden’s postgame comments, Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT reported during Tuesday’s TV broadcast that the former MVP would like to sign a long-term contract and spend the rest of his career with the Clippers. That suggests that Harden is conveying that desire both publicly and privately.

Still, as Timothy Rapp of Bleacher Report observes, this wouldn’t be the first time that Harden’s desire to spend the rest of his career with his current team was reported by the media or expressed by the guard himself, only for that not to come to fruition. Similar reports surfaced during Harden’s time in Houston, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia, and he ultimately asked to be traded out of all three spots.

Harden acknowledged on Tuesday that he “thought the same thing last year” about signing long-term in Philadelphia, per Youngmiusk, which is why he “did all those sacrifices” — that’s presumably a reference to the pay cut he took in 2022, as well as the role he accepted in the Sixers’ offense, which he later said felt like being “on a leash.”

Still, as long as his relationship with the Clippers’ front office doesn’t break down as dramatically as his relationship with Sixers president Daryl Morey did, it sounds Harden plans on remaining in L.A. past 2023/24. For what it’s worth, after Kawhi Leonard signed a three-year contract extension with the Clippers last week, he expressed a belief that “everybody is coming back,” while Paul George said he’s optimistic about reaching an agreement on a new deal of his own with the franchise.

Clippers Center Ivica Zubac Out At Least Four Weeks

January 16th, 2024 at 7:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Clippers center Ivica Zubac will miss at least a month due to a right calf strain, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times tweets. The team says Zubac will be reevaluated in four weeks.

Zubac has been one of the most durable players in the league over the last five seasons. He has appeared in at least 72 regular season games in each of the past four seasons, but it looks like that streak will come to an end in 2023/24.

In 38 starts this season, Zubac has averaged 12.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 27.1 minutes per game. He’s in the second season of a bargain three-year, $32.8MM contract.

It’s a huge blow for the Clippers, who are 17-4 over the last 21 games. Without him, the Clippers will have to rely on veterans Daniel Theis and Mason Plumlee to pick up the slack. The front office could also explore trade options to fortify the position.

Clippers To Host 2026 NBA All-Star Game

January 16th, 2024 at 2:02pm CST by Rory Maher

JANUARY 16: The NBA officially confirmed today in a press release that the 2026 All-Star Game will take place at the Intuit Dome, the Clippers’ new arena.

JANUARY 12: The Clippers are “on track” to host the 2026 All-Star Weekend at owner Steve Ballmer‘s new Intuit Dome, though the NBA is still finalizing the plans, multiple sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link).

This year’s All-Star Game will be held in Indianapolis (Pacers), and the Warriors will host the event in 2025.

The Intuit Dome, which is located in Inglewood, California, is still under construction. It’s set to open for the 2024/25 season. Both the Lakers and Clippers currently play their home games at Crypto.com Arena, but it’s obviously far more famous for the Lakers than the Clips.

Former Microsoft CEO Ballmer is the wealthiest owner in the NBA and has shown a willingness to spend in multiple aspects of the Clippers business, including the team’s payroll and new arena. Star forward Kawhi Leonard just signed a three-year, $152MM extension two days ago, and Paul George is “optimistic” about his own extension talks.

The Clippers were 3-7 at one point in the immediate aftermath of the James Harden trade, but they’ve gone 21-6 since to currently hold a 24-13 record, good for the No. 4 seed in the West.

Tyronn Lue Talks About Incorporating James Harden

January 15th, 2024 at 9:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Seerat Sohi of The Ringer looks at how the Clippers were able to get all their stars on the same page after a rough start to the James Harden era. Coach Tyronn Lue believes they were too deferential to one another following the trade that brought Harden to L.A. “I think not wanting to step on each other’s toes. I think having respect, all four guys having a huge respect for each other,” Lue said. “Sometimes that can be a negative because now they don’t want to do what they’re capable of doing.”

Zubac Playing Big Role In Climb Up Standings

January 12th, 2024 at 9:49pm CST by Rory Maher

Center Ivica Zubac has been playing an important role during the Clippers‘ surge up the standings, per Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. The eight-year veteran is averaging career highs in multiple categories this season and has formed a strong two-man game on offense with James Harden while anchoring the paint defensively. “I knew I could play in that pocket, that I could be a roll man on offense and defense,” said Zubac. “I’m confident in my game a lot, so I’ve always been confident. But right now, it’s at a high level.”

Paul George “Optimistic” About Extension Talks With Clippers

January 11th, 2024 at 8:00am CST by Luke Adams

After Kawhi Leonard signed a three-year, $152MM extension with the Clippers on Wednesday, teammate Paul George expressed confidence that he’ll agree sooner or later to a new deal of his own that keeps him in Los Angeles beyond this season, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

“I mean, absolutely,” George said when he was asked if Leonard’s extension increases the chances of him signing his own contract. “You secure and lock in Kawhi. Definitely leaves the door open for myself, but very, very optimistic something will get done on my behalf, as well.”

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on Wednesday in the wake of the Leonard news that the Clippers have been motivated to get both forwards locked up to longer-term contracts and that talks with George are ongoing. Asked later in the day about how close he and the Clippers are to finding common ground on an extension, George essentially confirmed Wojnarowski’s report.

“We’re working on it,” he said. “… I’m extremely excited and happy for Kawhi reaching a deal to hopefully make him a Clipper for the rest of his career. We’ll see my situation when we get there, but just happy they got the deal done on his end. I know he wants to stay here, myself as well. When my time comes, we’ll be ready for those conversations as well.”

Like Leonard, George has been affected by various injuries since he joined the Clippers in 2019 and didn’t appear in more than 56 regular season games in any of his first four years with the team. However, he has played in 35 of 37 contests so far this season and is performing at a high level, averaging 23.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.6 steals in 34.6 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .464/.414/.918.

George’s current contract situation is identical to the one Leonard was in before agreeing to his extension — he’s earning approximately $45.6MM this season and holds a $48.8MM player option for 2024/25. In order to sign an extension, George would have to decline that option, at which point he would be eligible to receive up to approximately $220MM over four years on his new deal.

Of course, Leonard accepted a three-year deal worth slightly below his maximum salary, and the two Clippers stars have essentially been on matching contracts since teaming up in Los Angeles, so it will be interesting to see if George’s next deal features terms similar to Kawhi’s. Leonard suggested on Wednesday that he feels good about the likelihood of both George and James Harden sticking with the Clippers beyond this season.

“With the conversation that I have with them about it, I think for the most part everybody is coming back,” Leonard said. “So with me signing an extension, I think it gives us a chance to sign both of those players.”

Harden won’t become extension-eligible prior to the expiration of his current contract, but the Clippers will hold his Bird rights this offseason.

Pacific Notes: Leonard, Frank, Lue, Green, Durant

January 10th, 2024 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kawhi Leonard has been eligible for an extension for the past six months, and Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank never had any doubt that a deal would get done, writes Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. L.A. signed the star forward to a three-year, $152.4MM extension on Wednesday that will keep him under contract through the 2026/27 season.

“We knew this union was going to happen,” Frank told reporters before Wednesday’s game. “We both wanted it to happen and we came to an agreement.”

Frank added that there was “no hesitation” about making such a large commitment to a player with a long injury history who is in 30s. Leonard has dispelled some of those physical concerns this season by playing in the Clippers’ first 27 games and 32 of 36 overall. The team is 13-1 with him in the lineup since the start of December and he’s putting up All-Star numbers over that stretch, averaging 26.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals per night while shooting 57% from the field and 48% from long distance.

Lawrence added that Leonard’s willingness to accept less that the full amount he was eligible to receive — approximately $220MM over four years — will help the organization in upcoming negotiations with Paul George and James Harden.

“In order to win, you need to be able to have flexibility to have really good teammates,” Frank said. “And in order to do that, there’s sacrifices that need to be made. And what I love what I’ve heard from our guys, what Kawhi has shown is … we want everyone to be compensated fairly and yet also preserve flexibility to both in the short and long term have contending rosters.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Leonard’s extension with the Clippers includes a 15% trade kicker, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Coaches and players throughout the league are recognizing the job that Clippers coach Tyronn Lue has done in making all the pieces mesh after the early-season trade for Harden, per Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Lue guided the team through a rough stretch after Harden arrived and found a way to build an effective offense around numerous players who are used to having the ball in their hands. “He was giving us confidence, he was telling us this is not going to last for a long time, that we’re going to figure out, figure out how we want to play both ways. (He kept saying) it’s going to happen, and he was the one that was preaching that from the start, and we trusted it,” Ivica Zubac said. “Now we’re playing at a high level, and everyone is really confident. We know what we want to do, and it’s been a big time for him.”
Whenever Draymond Green resumes playing, he hopes to cut out the antics that have already led to two extended suspensions this season, relays Kendra Andrews of ESPN. Green addressed his behavior Tuesday at a news conference that marked his return to Warriors practice. “I’ve cost my team enough. I’ve cost this organization enough,” he said. Green will accompany the team on its upcoming trip and may return to action in one of the road games, Andrews tweets.
Suns star Kevin Durant clarified that he intended “no ill will” when he said last month that he hopes Green “gets the help that he needs” following “incident after incident,” per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

Clippers Sign Kawhi Leonard To Three-Year Extension

January 10th, 2024 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

1:00pm: Leonard’s new contract is a three-year extension worth $152.4MM, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links). The deal, which runs through 2026/27, doesn’t include a player option and comes in a little below Leonard’s maximum salary, Charania adds.

The precise value of Leonard’s maximum salary for next season won’t be known until the 2024/25 salary cap is set, but based on current projections, Leonard could have earned up to about $161MM on a three-year max extension; that figure could end up at nearly $170MM if the cap increases by the maximum 10%.

Leonard’s new deal will feature a salary in the $52MM range in year one before dipping to approximately $50MM for each of the next two seasons, per Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The cap would have to rise by more than 9% this summer for Kawhi’s max to get to $52MM — if it doesn’t, the first-year salary on his new deal will come in slightly lower than that.

The extension will make Leonard ineligible to be traded until July 10.

12:34pm: The Clippers have signed star forward Kawhi Leonard to a contract extension, the team announced today in a press release.

Prior to agreeing to a new deal, Leonard was eligible to reach unrestricted free agency this summer by turning down a $48.8MM player option for 2024/25. The terms of his extension aren’t yet known, but he had the ability to decline that option at any time up until June 30 and then add as many as four years to the final season of his current contract.

“We’re thrilled to continue our relationship with Kawhi,” president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said in a statement. “He is an elite player, a terrific partner and a relentless worker who knows how to win and makes it his first priority. He elevated our franchise from the moment he arrived. We feel fortunate that Kawhi chose to join the Clippers four years ago, and excited to keep building with him.”

Leonard, who signed with the Clippers in 2019 on the heels of leading the Raptors to a championship, has been hampered by injuries during his time in Los Angeles, appearing in no more than 57 regular season games in any of his first four years as a Clipper. He missed the entire 2021/22 season while recovering from an ACL tear that he sustained during the ’21 playoffs.

However, the 32-year-old has continued to perform at an All-NBA level when he’s healthy and has played in 32 of 36 Clippers games so far in his fifth season with the franchise, leading L.A. to a 23-13 record. Leonard has averaged 23.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.8 steals in 34.5 minutes per night in 2023/24, posting an elite shooting line of .516/.430/.871.

Entering the day, Leonard and Paul George were on identical contracts, with George also eligible to sign an extension of up to four years if he declines a $48.8MM player option for ’24/25.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), the organization’s extension talks with George are ongoing, with the Clippers hoping to get both stars locked up to longer-term contracts as they prepare to move into their new arena later this year.

The Clippers won’t be able to extend James Harden‘s contract before he becomes an unrestricted free agent in the 2024 offseason, but if the rest of this season goes well, the team would presumably be looking to sign him to a new deal as well.

The Clippers lost their first six games after acquiring Harden on November 1, but have been on fire since then, winning 20 of their past 26 games to move up in the Western Conference standings from 12th place to fourth.

L.A. Notes: LeBron, Ham, Leonard, Lue, Russell

January 8th, 2024 at 9:00am CST by Arthur Hill

In need of a signature win to turn their season around, the Lakers hope they got it Sunday night against the cross-town Clippers, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Coming into yesterday’s game, the Lakers had been slumping badly, with just a 3-10 record since winning the in-season tournament. LeBron James, who sparked the victory with a game-high 25 points, said the team needs to move past the mistakes that have led to losing.

“Try to use this to try to catapult a little bit better play from us,” he said. “But it still doesn’t take away from the fact of how we’ve been playing like the last 11, 12 games. Tonight was a good start. Hopefully we can start from here and continue to build.”

The win should ease the pressure on Darvin Ham amid recent rumors that his security as Lakers’ head coach is starting to be shaky. Ham, who told reporters before the game that he doesn’t feel like he’s coaching for his job, was happy with how the team responded to adversity.

“Everybody contributed, competed at a very high level,” Ham said. “And I’m proud of them. Now the cat’s out the bag for this one, in terms of how we need to approach each and every game and everybody do it as a committee.”

There’s more from Los Angeles:

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said a minutes restriction is the reason Kawhi Leonard was pulled from the game with 2:47 remaining, McMenamin states in the same story. Leonard, who recently missed four games with a left hip contusion, didn’t return until there were 17 seconds left to play. “He was close to his minutes restriction, and we got a back-to-back tomorrow,” Lue explained. “We got five games in eight days, so my thought was we need him in the game [earlier in the fourth] because the game kind of got away from us a little bit. … He had to play his extended minutes early in the quarter instead of late in the quarter. So that’s on me as a decision that I made to get him in early to come back.”
The Clippers have been on a roll lately, but James believes it’s more attributable to Lue’s guidance than the trade for James Harden, McMenamin adds. “Nah, it’s the T-Lue Clippers,” James said. “I know T-Lue very well. It don’t take T-Lue long to make sure s–t get right. It took him five games, and they’ve been cooking since.”
The Lakers were boosted by the return of D’Angelo Russell, who was back on the court after missing three games with a bruised tailbone, per Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Russell, who started 28 straight games before being moved to a reserve role, came off the bench again Sunday with 13 points and six assists. Russell left without talking to reporters, but Ham said his presence makes a difference. “Obviously, a guy that can orchestrate things, a guy that can stretch the floor, just his 3-point shooting ability and his ability to make shots,” Ham said. “You can’t have too much of that on your team. He definitely provides that.”

Lue: Criticism Of Ham “Definitely Unfair”

January 7th, 2024 at 9:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

There was plenty of intrigue before the Clippers–Lakers game on Sunday night as Darvin Ham’s job status was a topic of conversation.

Ham has taken heavy criticism during the Lakers’ slide after winning the in-season tournament. A report from The Athletic claimed there was a “deepening disconnect” between Ham and his players over his frequent tinkering with the lineup and rotations. In response, Ham insisted he was “aligned” with owner Jeanie Buss and vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka.

Ham denied during the pregame press conference on Sunday that his job was on the line, Khobi Prince of the Orange County Register tweets.

“No, I don’t,” he said when asked whether he felt he was coaching for his job. “I feel like I’m coaching a hell of a franchise and it comes with the territory when you’re coaching in this business. I’ve seen a lot of coaches come and go, good ones, and some that have some bad circumstances around them. But in no way, shape or form do I feel that way.”

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue defended Ham, saying the criticism he’s been taking is “definitely unfair,” Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times tweets.

“It’s a long season. A lot of different things go on throughout the course of the season, a lot of changing parts,” Lue said. “And we said the same thing last year when they were 2-10 and they went to the conference finals and so are you giving the coach all the credit for that? I don’t think so. And I think D-Ham did a hell of a job last year by doing that. And the same thing this year. They got a lot of injuries, a lot of different rotations, a lot of starting lineups and it’s hard.”

The Lakers entered the game with a 17-19 record and a four-game losing streak.