02-20-2026, 09:37 AM
(02-20-2026, 09:20 AM)omahen Wrote: Clippers had a sneaky good TDL. It was obvious that their core is not title level good, despite their awesome play in the second third of the season (mainly due to Kawhi playing at MVP level). So they replaced Harden with younger Garland and Zubac with younger Mathurin plus some quality picks. If they manage to survive the Kawhi side deals, they could make a very efficient rebuild.
I liked their moves as well. Clippers playing really well (is a Leonard suspension coming?). but they were not a contender. They were focusing on cap room in the future, so they got ahead of the Harden extension talks. Mathurin is an interesting gamble. Garland probably isn't as good as Harden, but could be in the next year or so (health permitting).
Getting a 29 first and a potential lottery pick in 26 (or unprotected first in 31) for Zubac was real nice asset accumulation.
It will be interesting to see what they do with Leonard and how they plan to use their cap room in the next two years.