The Memphis Grizzlies are heading toward a roster squeeze, and that could put Walter Clayton Jr. on the move before long.
With only 15 spots available, Memphis will have to waive four players in the near future. Jake Fischer of “The Stein Line” said on a Bleacher Report live stream that the names to watch could be Walter Clayton Jr., Jordan Hawkins, D’Angelo Russell, and Kris Murray. All four bring real talent, but there simply isn’t enough room for everybody.
If Clayton Jr. is one of the players let go, the LA Clippers should be ready to pounce.
A first-round pick in the 2025 draft, Clayton Jr. was a player plenty of Clippers fans had their eyes on coming out of Florida. LA held the 31st pick, and the hope was that he might somehow still be there. Instead, Memphis took him 18th overall.
Now there’s at least a chance he reaches the open market a little over a year later, and that’s where the Clippers should get aggressive. He’s 23, he can really shoot it from deep, and he’s the kind of playmaker who can help a team in more ways than one.
Clayton Jr. also already has some NBA production to point to. In his rookie season with Memphis - after being traded there at the deadline in a blockbuster deal involving Jaren Jackson Jr. - he averaged 9.7 points, 5.7 assists, and 2.1 rebounds in 25.0 minutes over 24 games.
Those are strong numbers for a first-year player, plain and simple. He can score, he can create, and even though the Clippers already have some of that on the roster, more of it never hurts.
The bigger appeal is the long view. Clayton Jr. has shown enough to suggest that, at minimum, he could grow into a high-end role player in the NBA. Getting there will take development, but the upside is real.
Of course, he wouldn’t be handed anything in LA. If the Clippers wanted him, he’d have to earn a roster spot in training camp and outperform someone the front office had already planned to keep.
Still, chances to grab a first-round pick who was just drafted last season don’t pop up very often. If Memphis does waive Clayton Jr., the Clippers should move fast.
In Other News...
Kawhi Leonard Scandal Just Became A Serious Threat For The Clippers
Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into allegations that the Clippers arranged secret sponsorship contracts for Kawhi Leonard in an effort to get around the NBA salary cap, turning a long-running controversy into something far more serious for the franchise. The probe is being run by the U.S. Attorneys Office in Brooklyn and is still in its early stages, but it already adds a federal layer to a matter that had previously lived in the realm of league scrutiny and public suspicion.
No charges have been filed, and the case is still unfolding, but the stakes are obvious for a Clippers organization that has spent years trying to build around Leonard as the centerpiece. The investigation is looking at possible violations of federal law, including fraud and tax-related offenses, which means the team is now facing questions that go well beyond basketball and into the kind of legal territory that can shadow a franchise for a long time. [Read more 🡒]
Clippers May Have An Unexpected Path To A Young Center
The Clippers have spent plenty of time hunting for frontcourt answers, and Jalen Duren is suddenly the kind of name worth keeping on the radar. The Pistons center is still working through restricted free agency, and his situation has the kind of timing that could matter in Los Angeles if the team is looking to reshape its roster around a younger big man.
Duren and Detroit have until Oct. 1 to work out a new deal, and the longer this drags, the more interesting it gets for teams with future flexibility. If the Pistons center winds up taking a short-term path instead, the door could open for him to hit the market in a way that lines up with the Clippers and whatever cap space they are able to create next summer. [Read more 🡒]
Clippers Letting Kawhi Tension Spill Into A Trade Standoff
The Clippers cap circumvention saga has already left a real mark, with the franchise hit hard by penalties that included the loss of five first-round picks and a $30 million fine. Kawhi Leonard was fined $700,000 but avoided anything more severe, and the trade sending him to Toronto has become part of the same messy aftershocks, the kind of transaction that now feels loaded with more than just basketball implications.
What has kept the deal in the spotlight is the sense that it has not moved cleanly across the finish line, which has only added to the speculation around how Los Angeles is handling the fallout. Leonards decision to accept the NBAs punishment without appealing appears to have sharpened the tension, and it has left the Raptors waiting on a resolution while the Clippers sort through the consequences of a scandal that is still shaping their present. [Read more 🡒]