The Clippers’ long game may hinge on Jalen Duren and the Pistons failing to strike a deal.
Duren is still sitting in restricted free agency as training camp nears, and his side seems to be pushing for more than Detroit has put on the table. For the Clippers, the ideal outcome is simple: no agreement before the season, and Duren taking the $9.6 million qualifying offer.
That would keep the door open for Los Angeles to chase him next summer as an unrestricted free agent, a much more realistic path for a team that just took a major hit in the cap circumvention punishment tied to Kawhi Leonard. If Duren reaches that point, the Clippers could finally be in position to give him the long-term money he wants.
It matters because LA’s future is thin in a lot of places. The team’s draft capital over the next seven years looks rough, with only four first-round picks once the trade of Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors is finalized.
The young talent base is shaky, too. Right now, the only serious pieces the Clippers have that are viewed as stars or future stars are Darius Garland and Keaton Wagler, plus a group of unproven players around them.
That’s why Duren would matter so much. He’s 22, already has an All-Star appearance and an All-NBA honor, and his résumé says plenty about where his game could go from here.
Last season with Detroit, he started 70 games and put up 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting 65.0% from the field. He’s also been relatively durable since entering the league in 2022, appearing in 276 of 328 games.
If Duren were added to the core of Garland and Wagler, the Clippers’ outlook would change fast. And if Kobe Sanders, Jordan Miller, Baba Miller and Yanic Konan Niederhauser also develop the way the team hopes, LA could finally have something real taking shape.
But all of it depends on one thing: Duren and Detroit not getting an extension done, and the center choosing the qualifying offer instead.
In Other News...
Clippers Kawhi Trade Is Stuck On One Crucial NBA Fallout Issue
The Clippers long-discussed Kawhi Leonard deal has run into a procedural snag, with the trade delayed while the franchise works through the fallout from the NBAs cap-circumvention investigation. The front-office suspensions have left the team waiting on interim management to handle the final steps, turning what was supposed to be a straightforward transaction into a holding pattern.
Trent Redden is expected to oversee basketball operations while an interim governor replaces Steve Ballmer for the final approval, a wrinkle that has slowed things down but not changed the expectation around the deal itself. Sources say Toronto is still expected to get Leonard and Los Angeles is still expected to receive Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, multiple draft picks and a pick swap, with no renegotiation on the table. [Read more 🡒]
Clippers Punishment Could Leave Ballmer In An Even Tougher Spot
The fallout from the leagues ruling on the Clippers is still rippling beyond the punishment itself. The NBA found the club guilty of salary cap circumvention, a finding that has already put Steve Ballmer in a far different position than he was in before the case surfaced. For an owner who has long been one of the leagues most influential and visible figures, the issue now is not just the penalty handed down to the franchise, but how the rest of the ownership group is reacting to it.
Brian Windhorst said some owners were reportedly stunned by what they read in the leagues report, and that Ballmers standing with his peers may not be what it once was. He also pointed to the possibility that the Clippers could look at legal and negotiating options as they work through the consequences, which leaves the team in a tricky spot: trying to manage the league response while also dealing with whatever leverage, or lack of it, remains around Ballmers name. [Read more 🡒]
Clippers Still Havent Finalized The Kawhi Leonard Blockbuster
The Kawhi Leonard trade remains in limbo nearly a week after the agreement was struck on June 30, with the deal still not finalized as the Clippers work through a front office reshuffle triggered by suspensions of key executives. Before the transaction can be completed, Los Angeles needs fresh approval from interim decision-makers, a reminder that even a blockbuster trade can get tangled up in the bureaucracy behind the scenes.
There has been some chatter that Toronto might try to revisit the terms while the paperwork sits unfinished, but the early read from sources and analysts is that the original framework is still likely to hold. For the Clippers, the delay is less about changing the basketball logic of the move than about getting the right signatures in place, and until that happens, one of the biggest deals of the summer stays just out of reach. [Read more 🡒]