The Clippers’ salary-cap mess has already put the franchise in a brutal spot, and now one NBA insider is floating a trade idea that would help Los Angeles start clawing back some value.
On a recent episode of the “ Third Apron Podcast ” with Yossi Gozlan, Sam Quinn suggested a deal built around Darius Garland and De’Aaron Fox, with a first-round pick attached. Quinn laid out the idea this way: “Could I pitch something else to you?
… Would you trade Darius Garland and/or Brandon Ingram for worse contracts and get some picks attached? So, like, here’s an idea.
Darius Garland for De’Aaron Fox and one first-round pick.”
Gozlan wasn’t sold, brushing aside the thought that the San Antonio Spurs would actually bite. But the concept has enough moving parts to at least make sense on paper, especially with the Clippers staring at the reality of having been docked five first-round picks. With the NBA’s ruling hanging over them, Los Angeles needs draft capital, and badly.
The proposed framework would send Darius Garland to San Antonio and De’Aaron Fox to the Clippers, while Los Angeles also picks up a first-rounder. Financially, the swap checks out. Garland’s $42.1 million cap hit is lower than Fox’s $49.4 million, which would trim about $7.3 million from San Antonio’s books and bring the team’s active cap to $190.9 million.
For the Clippers, taking on Fox becomes more manageable because of their trade exceptions. They currently have about $4.8 million in trade exceptions from earlier moves, and that figure is expected to rise to roughly $8.0 million once the Leonard trade is completed. In other words, Fox’s contract should not create a major payroll problem in Los Angeles.
The basketball fit is where the trade gets more interesting. The Spurs have been one of the league’s best teams and came off a title push in the playoffs this year, but there’s still a question in the backcourt. Victor Wembanyama is clearly the centerpiece, and if San Antonio wants to streamline the roster around him, moving Fox could make sense.
Garland would give them a different kind of lead guard. He’s the better playmaker of the two and could be a strong fit next to Wembanyama.
Last season, Garland put up 18.8 points and 6.7 assists while shooting 46.0% from the field and 39.6% from three. That kind of multi-level scoring and distribution would give the Spurs another layer offensively.
Fox, meanwhile, would give the Clippers speed and pressure at the point. He averaged 18.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 6.2 assists last season while shooting 48.6% from the field.
His burst to the rim would pair cleanly with a mid-range scorer like Brandon Ingram and perimeter options such as Max Strus and Rui Hachimura. The result might not turn Los Angeles into a true playoff threat, but it would at least make the team more watchable with Fox running the offense.
Quinn’s pitch may not have convinced Gozlan, mostly because he doubted San Antonio would do it, but the Clippers’ situation changes the conversation. When a team is trying to recover from a massive punishment and rebuild its draft stock, moving a franchise point guard for another star-level guard plus a first-round pick starts to look a lot more practical.
Los Angeles could also explore flipping Brandon Ingram later in the season if Garland isn’t the preferred route. The catch is simple: Ingram’s value depends heavily on him staying on the floor and producing, so the Clippers would need him healthy and effective to get a strong return.
For now, the idea sits in the category of intriguing rather than likely. But in a situation this messy, the Clippers can’t afford to ignore any path that gets them closer to draft assets and a cleaner future.
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