The Clippers have a tempting decision in front of them with Bennedict Mathurin, but the real issue isn’t whether he can help. It’s what bringing him back would cost.
Mathurin checks a lot of boxes for LA. He’s only 23, he can put points on the board in a way the Clippers’ bench needs, and his athleticism makes him a strong fit alongside Darius Garland.
But there’s a catch that hangs over the whole conversation: he’d need real minutes. Mathurin isn’t coming back to sit lightly in the rotation, and that’s where the problem starts for Keaton Wagler.
Wagler was just taken with the fifth overall pick, and the Clippers can’t afford to mishandle his development. The concern is simple and severe - if Mathurin is back, Wagler loses court time, and that kind of damage doesn’t just disappear later. Once a young player’s early progress gets interrupted, there’s no clean way to undo it.
That’s why the Clippers’ priority has to be Wagler, even if it means letting another team set the market for Mathurin. LA can match whatever offer comes in, but the front office has to treat the rookie backcourt plan as the bigger investment.
The roster math makes the issue even clearer. Right now, the Clippers already have Darius Garland, Kris Dunn, Gradey Dick, Wagler, and Kobe Sanders. Add Mathurin to that group, and there simply isn’t enough room for Wagler to get the kind of runway he needs in his first season.
There are ways to shuffle things around - moving Sanders to the four and Dick to small forward, for example - but that creates a size problem that would bring its own headaches.
So even with Mathurin’s talent and upside, the Clippers may have to walk away. The cost of keeping him could be too high, and for a team trying to protect Wagler’s future, that’s a risk they can’t take.
In Other News...
Clippers Kawhi Mess Just Put The Toronto Deal In Serious Doubt
The NBAs investigation into the alleged salary-cap circumvention scheme involving the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard, his uncle Dennis and Aspiration has already done more than create another league headache. It has frozen a trade framework that would have sent Leonard back to Toronto, and now the Raptors are left waiting on a deal that once looked like a clean path to a reunion with the player who helped deliver their title.
Brian Windhorst said Toronto still wants to complete the trade, but the terms may not stay intact if the leagues review leads to real consequences for Leonard. The Raptors have interest in getting the deal done, yet they may have to reopen or revise it depending on how the NBA handles the situation, which leaves one of the offseasons most intriguing moves hanging in the balance. [Read more 🡒]
Clippers Finally Seem To Be Fixing Their Biggest Kawhi Era Mistake
The Clippers post-Kawhi planning is starting to look a lot different from the all-in veteran model that defined so much of this era. A position-by-position look at the roster points toward a younger, deeper group built with more room to grow, with names like Darius Garland at point guard, Brandon Ingram on the wing and Brook Lopez anchoring the middle giving the team a very different kind of backbone than it has had in recent seasons.
What stands out most is how much of the depth chart now leans toward players who can matter beyond the next few months. Keaton Wagler, Sean Pedulla, Jordan Miller, Cam Christie, Nick Martinelli, Isaiah Jackson and Baba Miller all fit into that broader shift, but the picture still comes with some obvious uncertainty, especially around health and contract situations. The Clippers may finally be correcting a roster-building mistake from the Kawhi years, even if the cleanest version of that fix is still waiting to be fully proven. [Read more 🡒]
Keaton Waglers Clippers Debut Raised A Bigger Concern Than Fans Expected
Keaton Waglers first summer league run for the Clippers offered a useful first look, but not much comfort. Against the Kings, he finished with seven points, two rebounds and one assist in 27 minutes, and the box score only hinted at the bigger issue: he never looked fully settled, and his 1-for-7 shooting night reflected how often he struggled to find clean answers against NBA-caliber length and pressure.
What stood out most was how hard it was for Wagler to create any real space or rhythm. For a player the Clippers are hoping can grow into more than a developmental flier, the debut felt more like a reminder of how much work remains than a glimpse of immediate help, and that makes the rest of his summer worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]