The Clippers’ punishment for salary cap circumvention is already rippling through the East, and the Celtics are positioned to cash in.
Boston’s path to a valuable 2028 first-rounder came through the deal that sent Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia this summer. According to Brian Robb of MassLive, that return includes a first-round pick/swap tied to the selection that originally belonged to Los Angeles.
Here’s how the mechanics break down: if the Clippers finish between 1 and 16 in the expanded lottery and the Sixers land between 1 and 8, Boston can take the better of those picks while sending out its own. If Los Angeles ends up between 17 and 30 and Philadelphia falls between 9 and 30, the Celtics get the pick outright and keep their own choice.
Robb points out that the penalties handed down by commissioner Adam Silver make a Clippers collapse in 2027/28 more plausible, which could leave Boston with either a premium draft asset or a chip it can move in a bigger deal.
Philadelphia has its own reason to watch Los Angeles closely. As Chris Hine of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports in a subscriber-only story, the Sixers hold a 2029 top-three protected pick swap from the James Harden trade in 2023. A league source told Hine that the Clippers will lose a 2029 first-rounder they are owed from Indiana, but the pick sent to Philadelphia remains intact.
Hine also expects the Clippers to slide in the standings over the next few years, and he, like Robb, sees the biggest payoff from the pick coming as trade currency.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic, Bruce Brown could be on the Knicks’ radar before training camp opens. Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints raised Brown as a possible target on the Clutch Scoops podcast, noting that he is a CAA client and shares a similar style with Josh Hart. Siegel also said there have been Lakers rumors around Brown, but he considers New York the more realistic landing spot.
And Julius Randle had kind words for his old team after the Knicks won the NBA title last season. In a Twitter video, the Nets forward said, “What the organization accomplished is great,” he said.
“Been a long time coming. Took a lot of hard years, a lot of different players, to build it up to what it was.
It’s amazing. Definitely look forward to creating that in Brooklyn.”
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The off-court side of it has drawn almost as much attention. James also announced a partnership with Polymarket, a sports betting-related company, a choice that landed in the middle of the NBAs ongoing unease about how closely players should align with gambling businesses. NBA insider Brett Siegel was among those to criticize the partnership, and it is the latest example of how James can still turn a routine business decision into a debate with real league-wide implications. [Read more 🡒]