After months of speculation and back-and-forth, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has finally shown some teeth. Just when it looked like the Los Angeles Clippers and Steve Ballmer might skate by after clear salary cap violations, the league came down hard.
For more than a year, Pablo Torre has piled up evidence, paper trail, and testimony aimed at showing the Clippers knowingly worked around the salary cap to pay Kawhi Leonard under the table. Leonard and his uncle Dennis had already tried to pull off that shtick in 2019, and Ballmer had already been punished for trying to go around the cap, so the whole thing never felt all that shocking. But with the punishment now in place, the fallout has shifted to another name: Darius Garland.
The Clippers were stripped of five first-round picks, which means they won’t have a first-round selection through the 2034 season. With Leonard out of the picture, their path to an NBA title looks even narrower. And that leaves Garland in a very different spot than the one the team likely imagined when it brought him in to replace James Harden with a younger All-Star.
Now, Garland may be the Clippers’ most valuable trade chip.
He has had his share of inconsistency and injury problems, but he’s still a young three-level scorer with playoff experience and a former first-round pick. In a market like this, that profile could be enough to bring back one or two first-round selections, along with young players, if the Clippers decide to start digging out of the mess.
Garland’s first season with the Clippers didn’t amount to much. He was banged up, had to wait before making his debut with the team, and ended up playing 19 games, including 17 starts. In that stretch, he averaged 19.9 points, 6.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game.
Even with the injury concerns, he’s talented enough to tempt another team into taking the risk. And with Rich Paul controlling the direction of his career, it’s hard to imagine Garland staying in Los Angeles for long.
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The competition is still there, with Tyrese Proctor and rookie Meleek Thomas also in the mix for the job, but Porters challenge goes beyond simply winning minutes. Cleveland has asked him to grow into more of a leadership presence and to be more assertive both on the floor and around the team, a test that could shape not just his role this season but his standing in the organization moving forward. [Read more 🡒]