Preseason Game 4: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Dallas Mavericks | 6:30pm CST on TNT

[SleepingHero]

LAC's cap situation is not that simple.

They are a repeater tax team, and have a real window this season to slip under the tax line and log a year under the line, which then has an impact for the 4 following years. At the moment, they are less than one minimum salary over the line.

Obviously Ballmer can afford it. But there are big questions whether they are going to be competitive. 

If they are competitive, then yes they have room to work with. A few more dollars won't matter, as long as they feel it makes them better. 

BUT IF they are NOT competitive, why wouldn't they pull the plug at some point, get someone to take a contract, and slide under the tax line? If that's where they appear to be headed, I don't think they will want a trade that is taking them the other way and increases their team payroll. And the fact that Kawhi is out "indefinitely" would tend to make them a bad team.

There's even another factor - if Kawhi is hurt enough to wreck their season, shouldn't they just tank for Flagg? Are they smart enough to see that? And in a wasted season, isn't that when you make sure you are UNDER the tax line?

I completely forgot about the repeater tax regarding them. Good catch and thanks for bringing it up. That does muddle it up a bit.

They are about 1.5mil over the tax line as it stands. Which means any DJJ trade should get them a guy making 7mil or less.

But regarding the tanking aspect if they're bad, they don't have a choice. OKC owns their pick this year, next year, and the year after that. The PG13 trade is paying dividends now. 

If anything we should have a vested interest in making sure the Clippers are at least somewhat competitive. We don't want OKC landing Flagg.