The Clippers’ punishment for salary cap circumvention is already rippling through the East, and the Celtics are positioned to cash in.
Boston’s path to a valuable 2028 first-rounder came through the deal that sent Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia this summer. According to Brian Robb of MassLive, that return includes a first-round pick/swap tied to the selection that originally belonged to Los Angeles.
Here’s how the mechanics break down: if the Clippers finish between 1 and 16 in the expanded lottery and the Sixers land between 1 and 8, Boston can take the better of those picks while sending out its own. If Los Angeles ends up between 17 and 30 and Philadelphia falls between 9 and 30, the Celtics get the pick outright and keep their own choice.
Robb points out that the penalties handed down by commissioner Adam Silver make a Clippers collapse in 2027/28 more plausible, which could leave Boston with either a premium draft asset or a chip it can move in a bigger deal.
Philadelphia has its own reason to watch Los Angeles closely. As Chris Hine of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports in a subscriber-only story, the Sixers hold a 2029 top-three protected pick swap from the James Harden trade in 2023. A league source told Hine that the Clippers will lose a 2029 first-rounder they are owed from Indiana, but the pick sent to Philadelphia remains intact.
Hine also expects the Clippers to slide in the standings over the next few years, and he, like Robb, sees the biggest payoff from the pick coming as trade currency.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic, Bruce Brown could be on the Knicks’ radar before training camp opens. Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints raised Brown as a possible target on the Clutch Scoops podcast, noting that he is a CAA client and shares a similar style with Josh Hart. Siegel also said there have been Lakers rumors around Brown, but he considers New York the more realistic landing spot.
And Julius Randle had kind words for his old team after the Knicks won the NBA title last season. In a Twitter video, the Nets forward said, “What the organization accomplished is great,” he said.
“Been a long time coming. Took a lot of hard years, a lot of different players, to build it up to what it was.
It’s amazing. Definitely look forward to creating that in Brooklyn.”
In Other News...
Celtics Have One Roster Battle That Matters More Than It Should
Milos Uzan turned enough heads in Summer League to make himself part of a real Celtics conversation, which is more than most undrafted guards manage this time of year. The former Houston Cougar showed a blend of offensive organization, defense and three-point shooting that fits neatly into what Boston tends to value, and his size-speed-skill mix has kept him on the radar as the team fills out its two-way spots.
Boston already has two of its three two-way contracts spoken for, so the last opening carries a little more weight than it might on a deeper roster. Uzan is in the mix with forward Tucker DeVries, and the Celtics current roster makeup could end up shaping which direction they go, leaving one of the summers quieter competitions with a surprisingly relevant finish line. [Read more 🡒]
Jared Sullinger Leaves Celtics Fans Revisiting One Frustrating What If
Jared Sullingers retirement announcement sent Celtics fans back to a familiar place: wondering what might have been if his Boston run had gone a little differently. After his last NBA season in 2017, he kept his career going overseas, playing in China, Korea and Puerto Rico before closing the book on professional basketball. Boston acknowledged the move with a thank-you message, a small reminder that his time in green still left an imprint.
For stretches, Sullinger was exactly the kind of productive inside presence the Celtics hoped he could become, a tough rebounder and scoring option who fit into the teams early rebuilding years. But the bigger story around his career never really changed, with conditioning questions and injuries lingering as obstacles that kept the conversation tied to untapped potential. His retirement does not rewrite any of that, but it does put another clean ending on one of those Celtics careers that still invites a little regret. [Read more 🡒]
Former Celtics Guard JD Davison Faces A Tough New NBA Opportunity
JD Davison is getting another shot at sticking in the NBA, this time with the Orlando Magic, who signed the former Celtics guard to an Exhibit 10 contract ahead of training camp. Orlando also added Malaki Branham, and both moves give the team a little more backcourt depth as the roster takes shape for the season ahead. Davison, who was previously with the Houston Rockets, now finds himself in a familiar position for a young guard trying to carve out a place in the league.
The challenge is the same one facing a lot of players on the fringes in late summer: the Magic have limited openings on the roster and only a small number of two-way spots to work with. Davison is competing for either a full roster spot or one of those two-way contracts, which makes his margin for error slim. For a player still looking to turn opportunity into permanence, training camp will do a lot of the deciding. [Read more 🡒]