The Los Angeles Clippers were rolling. Winners of 15 of their last 18, they looked like a team ready to make noise in the Western Conference.
Then came the curveball: James Harden requested a trade. And just like that, the Clippers went from playoff hopefuls to a team hitting the reset button.
In the span of days, the roster went from veteran-laden to future-focused. Harden is now in Cleveland.
Ivica Zubac, their reliable anchor in the paint, was shipped to Indiana in exchange for Bennedict Mathurin and two first-round picks. Chris Paul, once brought in to stabilize the backcourt, is also gone.
The teardown is officially underway.
From Contenders to Rebuilders - Fast
This wasn’t the plan. The Clippers entered the season with championship aspirations, having added Paul, Brook Lopez, and John Collins to support Kawhi Leonard.
On paper, it looked like one of the deepest rosters in the league. But the season never got off the ground.
First, the NBA opened an investigation into Leonard’s endorsement deal with a team sponsor. Then came the injuries - Bradley Beal fractured his hip and was shut down early, Leonard battled ankle and foot issues, and Lopez struggled to find his shooting rhythm from beyond the arc. Paul, expected to be a veteran presence, was ultimately sent home after reportedly becoming a disruptive force in the locker room.
And the worst part? The Clippers’ draft cupboard was already bare.
Their 2026 first-round pick is owed to the Thunder, and they’re still on the hook for a 2027 pick swap and another first-rounder to the Sixers - all fallout from the Paul George and James Harden trades. Neither player is on the roster anymore.
Harden’s exit was the tipping point. With the writing on the wall, the Clippers made the tough call: pivot to a rebuild.
A Tough Pill, But a Smart Play
In the short term, there’s no sugarcoating it - the Clippers got worse. Zubac was a rock in the middle, a double-double machine who shot over 60 percent from the field and rarely missed time.
At $20 million a year, he was one of the better values at the center position, especially for a team trying to win now. But for a team heading toward a reset, his value was more as a trade chip than a building block.
What the Clippers got in return, though, is intriguing.
Bennedict Mathurin, the No. 6 pick in the 2022 draft, has flashed real upside in Indiana. He’s still raw in some areas, but the talent is obvious. He’s a restricted free agent this summer, which gives the Clippers control - either to negotiate a long-term deal or potentially flip him in a sign-and-trade if the right opportunity comes along.
They also landed Darius Garland in the Harden deal. Garland’s had a rough go with toe injuries the past two seasons, and his fit next to another small guard like Donovan Mitchell in Cleveland was never ideal. But when healthy, Garland is an elite shooter and two-time All-Star - the kind of player who could thrive in a system that lets him operate with freedom.
And then there’s the draft capital - the real gem of these moves. The Pacers’ pick comes with a 47.1 percent chance of landing between picks 5 and 9 after the lottery. That’s a legitimate shot at grabbing a potential franchise cornerstone, something the Clippers desperately need with so many of their own picks already spoken for.
A New Era, Whether They Wanted It or Not
This isn’t the script the Clippers wrote for the 2025-26 season - especially not with the All-Star Game coming to town on February 15. And it’s certainly not the plan they envisioned when they went all-in on a veteran core built around Leonard, George, and Harden.
But sometimes the game forces your hand. Harden’s trade demand accelerated the timeline, and to their credit, the Clippers didn’t wait around. They acted decisively, flipping key veterans for young talent and draft assets that could shape the next era of Clippers basketball.
The contender core is gone. The rebuild is on. And while the present looks uncertain, the future just got a lot more interesting in Los Angeles.