The Clippers’ latest moves have put Brook Lopez in a familiar kind of NBA danger: the kind that comes when a team starts collecting younger, cheaper options around a veteran big man.
LA already brought in Johni Broome from the Philadelphia 76ers this past week, and back in June it drafted the rights to Auburn Tigers center Narcisse Ngoy in the second round of the 2026 NBA draft. Put those pieces together with Lopez’s remaining one year and $9.1 million salary, and the direction is hard to miss.
That contract still has real value in today’s market. With the salary cap rising and the second tax apron making front offices think twice, a productive true center on that number is the sort of deal teams usually covet.
Lopez fits that description. He’s an elite shooting big man who shot 36% from the field on almost two three-point attempts per game last season.
But the Clippers don’t seem to be building around that type of player anymore. They’re entering a rebuild, and that was already clear from agreeing to a Kawhi Leonard trade with the Toronto Raptors that is still pending finalization.
In a rebuild, veterans like Lopez tend to become trade chips, not foundational pieces. Youth takes over.
Value gets extracted.
And the Clippers have been lining up that youth in more than one place. Yanic Konan Niederhäuser appeared in 41 games, Isaiah Jackson still has two years left on his deal, and Jamarion Sharp signed a two-way deal with LA and could play his way into the picture as well.
So the question isn’t really whether Lopez is on the block. It’s what happens to Broome and Ngoy if he is.
Broome looks more like a short-term body than a long-term answer. He was underwhelming in Philadelphia during the 2025-26 season, putting up 0.9 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 0.4 assists per game while shooting 6/30 overall in 11 appearances. He did have a stronger showing in Summer League, averaging 14.7 points, nine rebounds, and a block per game over three games, but the Sixers still used a future pick to move him out.
That makes his place with the Clippers pretty fragile. He was brought in because of an incentive, and his arrival only adds to the logic of moving Lopez before the start of the 2026-27 season if LA wants maximum value.
Ngoy, though, is the more interesting piece. As a draft-and-stash prospect, he was clearly valued enough by the front office to be taken a year early.
And over the next year on the Plains, he could make that bet look smart. His size and athleticism have already shown up in Steven Pearl’s practices, and the Tigers were missing exactly the kind of presence he now brings.
He passes the eye test. The measurables are there. If one Auburn connection is going to push the Clippers’ front office in a new direction, it’s Ngoy.
His future arrival makes letting Lopez walk next summer easier to swallow. And if Broome can find his footing in his new NBA home, LA may decide not to wait that long and instead move Lopez sooner rather than later.
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Pearl has made clear he likes the identity his team is building, but he is still exploring ways to add talent if the right fit presents itself. Among the names Auburn is reportedly monitoring are Dan Skillings Jr. and Dug McDaniel, though both players are drawing attention from multiple programs, so the Tigers may have competition if they decide to push hard in this newly reopened market. [Read more 🡒]