Brandon Ingram left Clippers media day with a clear belief in what this roster can be, but the on-court reality still points to one obvious hole.
When asked about the team’s chances this season, Ingram didn’t sound like a newcomer bracing for a long grind. He sounded convinced the group has something to work with.
“We have enough in the building to compete. This is what we love to do.
We go out and compete every single night.”
That optimism matters, especially for a team that hasn’t exactly been handed much in the way of outside expectations. But if the Clippers are going to make Ingram’s words ring true, they may need one more move before the season really starts.
The issue is simple: they don’t rebound well enough.
That concern starts with the projected starting frontcourt, where Brook Lopez and Rui Hachimura both carry a known weakness on the glass. And if that’s already a problem at the top of the rotation, the depth behind them doesn’t exactly erase it.
With Yanic Konan Niederhauser recovering, the next best options are Derrick Jones Jr. and Isaiah Jackson. Both are likely to come off the bench, and neither has averaged more than 5.5 rebounds over a 65-game season. That leaves the Clippers with real questions in an area that can’t be ignored.
Late in the offseason, the easiest path would be to grab a free agent and try to patch the issue. Mason Plumlee is one example. But that kind of fix could come with another flaw attached, and the Clippers can’t really afford to trade one problem for another.
So the cleanest answer is a trade.
A few names stand out as possible targets: Daniel Gafford of the Dallas Mavericks, Jakob Poeltl of the Toronto Raptors, and Domantas Sabonis of the Sacramento Kings. Any of them would give the Clippers a much better shot at becoming a team that has to be taken seriously, even if the contracts aren’t ideal.
For now, though, the Clippers remain in that familiar spot: close enough to dream, but still one move away from matching the confidence Ingram showed on day one.
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