Several teams were part of the move, but the big swing ended with the LA Clippers missing out on Peyton Watson, who is headed to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and bringing in Max Strus instead.
The deal also sends Tre Mann, the Clippers’ 2027 second-rounder and cash from Cleveland to the Washington Wizards for Cam Whitmore, according to the report. Washington is also sending Julian Reese to the Nuggets, and the Nuggets will waive Reese off his two-way deal.
For the Clippers, Strus is the headline piece. He’s a seven-year veteran who gives Tyronn Lue exactly what the team has been short on: reliable, high-volume three-point shooting. That mattered because the Clippers were efficient from deep last season, hitting 36.8% as a team, but they ranked 23rd in attempts at just 33.8 per game.
Strus has built his value on that skill set. He’s a career 37.0% shooter from three on 6.3 attempts, and that kind of volume should help right away.
But there’s a catch. The Clippers already have a crowded rotation, and this trade only tightens it further.
Strus joins a long list of players fighting for minutes, including Kris Dunn, Bradley Beal, Jordan Miller, Kobe Sanders, Derrick Jones Jr. and Gradey Dick, pending trade. Bennedict Mathurin is also in the mix, as the front office is trying to bring him back in restricted free agency.
That’s where the move gets tricky for Lue. If Strus is going to play heavy minutes, someone else has to lose them. The most likely candidates are Kris Dunn, Gradey Dick if the trade involving Kawhi Leonard goes through, and Jordan Miller.
All three have value in their own ways, but the math of the roster is brutal. There are only so many minutes to go around, and Strus’ arrival means a few players may barely see the floor.
Still, the Clippers targeted Strus for a reason, and the fact that he’s on an expiring contract makes the deal even more appealing. It helps a real need. It also creates a new problem.
In Other News...
Bradley Beal Gives Clippers A Bench Threat Fans Should Watch
Bradley Beal is back in the mix for the Clippers after the team chose to bring him in on a two-year contract, banking on the veteran guard to add a different kind of scoring punch. Even with the season-ending hip injury that cut short his last year after just eight games, the fit is easy to picture: a proven shot-maker with plenty of experience, now positioned to strengthen a second unit that can use another reliable creator.
Beal is expected to work as a sixth man, which could make him one of the more interesting bench pieces to watch in the Western Conference. His time with the Phoenix Suns showed he can still provide offense in the right role, and the recovery window since the injury gives him a chance to come back with something to prove. If he settles in quickly, the Clippers could end up with a bench threat that changes the tone of games when the starters sit. [Read more 🡒]
Kawhi Leonard Investigation Keeps Dragging The Clippers Back Into Spotlight
Nearly a year into the NBAs review of Kawhi Leonards old Raptors arrangement, the leagues attention keeps circling back to a matter the Clippers would probably prefer to leave in the rearview mirror. The investigation has become a major topic among league executives, and every new report seems to pull Los Angeles back into the conversation, even though the central questions reach back to Leonards move to Toronto.
Recent reporting added another layer of confusion when it suggested the league had found no evidence implicating Steve Ballmer, only for the NBA to push back and say those accounts contained significant inaccuracies. For the Clippers, the issue is less about the public back-and-forth than the fact that the story is still alive at all, with the league continuing to examine whether Leonards Raptors-related deal crossed the line on salary-cap rules. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Just Made A Peyton Watson Move Fans Will Debate
The Clippers latest offseason move came out of a complicated three-team deal that sent Peyton Watson from Denver to Cleveland, shifted Cam Whitmore to the Cavaliers, and added more draft capital into the mix for the Nuggets. From Los Angeles side, the most immediate part of the transaction is familiar enough in this league: a useful rotation piece changing teams as front offices try to keep reshaping the edges of a roster that still has bigger questions to answer.
What makes this one worth watching in Clippers circles is how the deal was structured and what it says about the teams flexibility moving forward. Max Strus is headed to Los Angeles, and the Clippers are able to take him in using the $17 million trade exception from the John Collins sign-and-trade, a reminder that their summer bookkeeping can still open real roster doors even after the headline names are off the board. [Read more 🡒]