The Clippers’ post-Kawhi Leonard reality keeps getting uglier, and Brandon Ingram may be the next problem they have to stare straight in the face.
Leonard’s departure to the Toronto Raptors is now complete, but the fallout from the saga is still hanging over the franchise. LA was already hit with the loss of five future first-round picks, and several top team personnel were suspended. Now the front office is left trying to figure out how much value it can squeeze out of whatever assets remain.
Ingram should, in theory, be one of those assets. He has made an All-Star team, he can score in bunches, and he brings plenty on the offensive end.
But the league has moved in a direction that does not exactly reward his style. He is a mid-range-first scorer, and that kind of player does not carry the same appeal it once did.
Add in a contract that runs big, and the market gets even colder.
That’s the central issue for the Clippers: Ingram is not the kind of easy trade chip teams line up to chase.
There was a time when a former All-Star like him could be used to fetch real draft capital. The Raptors paid first-round picks to the New Orleans Pelicans to get Ingram, which is the kind of return LA would love to replicate. But the current league climate is different, and the second apron has changed how teams approach these kinds of deals.
Money matters more than ever, and teams are far less willing to commit to players whose contracts they don’t view as clean matches for their roster building. Ingram is owed $40 million this year, and he has a player option for just over $41 million the following season. That is a hefty price for a player whose fit doesn’t line up neatly with where most teams are trying to go.
The Clippers can hope a desperate team steps forward and offers first-round picks. If that doesn’t happen, they may be stuck carrying Ingram’s deal for the next two seasons.
And with Leonard gone, that leaves LA with one fewer path to restocking its draft capital after one of the most painful offseasons the franchise has endured.
In Other News...
Clippers Suddenly Need One Newcomer To Change Everything
The Clippers have spent the offseason turning over nearly half their supporting cast, adding seven newcomers as they try to keep the roster competitive while also laying groundwork for the future. Draft picks Baba Miller and Keaton Wagler are part of that influx, and the group also includes players such as Johni Broome, Max Strus, Rui Hachimura and Gradey Dick, giving Los Angeles a mix of youth, shooting and frontcourt help to sort through as camp approaches.
What makes the whole exercise feel unusually fragile is how much the franchise has already committed to this reset, with so many future assets tied up in the larger restructuring of the roster. Among the newcomers, one name has quickly become the most important to watch because the Clippers need him to stabilize the gamble and justify the cost of reshaping the team so aggressively. [Read more 🡒]
Clippers Punishment Just Raised A Brutal Question For The Franchise
Adam Silvers explanation of the Clippers punishment put the focus squarely on the leagues old playbook for salary-cap circumvention cases, and just how hard the NBA wanted to come down here. Los Angeles was stripped of five future first-round draft picks, hit with a $30 million fine, and saw owner Steve Ballmer receive a one-year suspension, along with suspensions for team executives, in a ruling Silver said was built to deter future violations.
What makes the situation even starker for the Clippers is that there is no indication the penalty is moving off its current terms. Silver said the league will not reduce the punishment, which leaves the franchise with a long-term roster-building hit and a fresh reminder that the league sees this as a line it does not want crossed again. [Read more 🡒]
Gallinari Reopened A Clippers Debate Fans Still Cant Shake
Danilo Gallinari has revived a familiar Clippers flashpoint with comments on his podcast that circle back to one of the franchises biggest roster inflection points. Looking back on how his time in Los Angeles ended, Gallinari said he regretted leaving the team and tied the turn in his career to the upheaval that followed Kawhi Leonards arrival, a move that reshaped the Clippers almost immediately and pushed Gallinari elsewhere.
For Clippers fans, it is the kind of old argument that never fully goes away because the roster decision carried consequences well beyond one season. Gallinari also reflected on the stops that came after Los Angeles and how those moves fit into the broader arc of his career, but the sharpest edge of his remarks was the reminder that the Clippers pursuit of Leonard still invites fresh debate years later. [Read more 🡒]