Off season, free agency, coaching change.

[madmaxmedia]

It’s all speculative. It can be fun and frustrating.

One of Kawhi’s biggest fans (Jamal) and he does have some sources. Still. He hasn’t corrected anyone yet. Something to chew on anyway. He posted some other tweets of Kawhi Spurs talking full circle. Weird thing to put out there.

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Without really diving into the Spurs cap and future draft picks (I know they are in the black on both), this is the first report/rumor/speculation regarding Kawhi that I think could conceivably develop some legs. Like yeah it's probably nothing, but if did develop any traction I could see a scenario develop that is desirable by all parties (SAS, LAC, and Kawhi himself.)

For us it would likely be less about the actual return (although it wouldn't only be a flat out salary dump), and more about trying to align our cap with some sort of rebuilding plan. It's also the only place I could imagine Kawhi actually wanting to go to, besides staying a Clipper. And out of any team, the Spurs would have the most familiarity with Kawhi.

[wakelaunch1]

How about we take some salary dump off of Boston. With Tatum injury, they might want to punt on salary cap hell next year. We could send Powells 20m for Holidays 32 million. Powell is proven scoring to help and they would save 12 million.

Holiday can play point and guard the best player allowing Harden more rest and play some off the ball.

Holiday
Harden
Kawhi
DJJ
Zu

Or Powell for PJ Washington. they are going to need to make room for Cooper with all their bigs

Harden
Kawhi
DJJ
Washington
Zu

[Ballings7]

How about we take some salary dump off of Boston. With Tatum injury, they might want to punt on salary cap hell next year. We could send Powells 20m for Holidays 32 million. Powell is proven scoring to help and they would save 12 million.

Holiday can play point and guard the best player allowing Harden more rest and play some off the ball.

Holiday
Harden
Kawhi
DJJ
Zu

Or Powell for PJ Washington. they are going to need to make room for Cooper with all their bigs

Harden
Kawhi
DJJ
Washington
Zu

Either of those I think are plausible, not necessarily slim chance. Both Holiday and PJW would fill needs pretty well.. like both their games quite a bit.

[Roscoe Sheed]

How about we take some salary dump off of Boston. With Tatum injury, they might want to punt on salary cap hell next year. We could send Powells 20m for Holidays 32 million. Powell is proven scoring to help and they would save 12 million.

Holiday can play point and guard the best player allowing Harden more rest and play some off the ball.

Holiday
Harden
Kawhi
DJJ
Zu

Or Powell for PJ Washington. they are going to need to make room for Cooper with all their bigs

Harden
Kawhi
DJJ
Washington
Zu

Either of those I think are plausible, not necessarily slim chance. Both Holiday and PJW would fill needs pretty well.. like both their games quite a bit.

I agree- however, it seems that Holiday has lost a step defensively- he is struggling at times in the Knicks series

[wakelaunch1]

How about we take some salary dump off of Boston. With Tatum injury, they might want to punt on salary cap hell next year. We could send Powells 20m for Holidays 32 million. Powell is proven scoring to help and they would save 12 million.

Holiday can play point and guard the best player allowing Harden more rest and play some off the ball.

Holiday
Harden
Kawhi
DJJ
Zu

Or Powell for PJ Washington. they are going to need to make room for Cooper with all their bigs

Harden
Kawhi
DJJ
Washington
Zu

Either of those I think are plausible, not necessarily slim chance. Both Holiday and PJW would fill needs pretty well.. like both their games quite a bit.

I loved PJ in the playoffs last year. Also a bigger body to help with guarding size

[KL2]

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[esqtvd]

Ballmer likes winning games. Can't blame him, even if Beard is a proven playoff choker. He's an iron man and was our MVP this year.



Just get through the next couple years until Kawhi expires and the draft picks come trickling back. In the meantime, make the best of it.

[wakelaunch1]

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those free agents are terrible

[TrueLAfan]

This is what happens when you’re laid up and have time to spend/waste. So, ladies and gentlemen, this is my dream off-season trade/FA/draft plan. First, the trades (yes, there are two of them):

WAS trades:
Saddiq Bey
Richaun Holmes
1-2 second round picks

LAC trade:
Bogdan Bogdanovich
Kobe Brown
2.1 million trade exception (Bamba)

Washington gets the best immediate impact on an expiring deal along with another low cost expiring deal ... and an extra $1 million in salary cap relief. With Sarr and the big they will certainly draft, Holmes’s value is (much) lower. Bey didn’t play last year—and the Wiz are overloaded at SF (Coulabily, Kispert, Champagnie, Middleton). To get the scoring at the 2 to replace Brogdon, a cheap big as a 13-15th man, expiring deals and over a million bucks … I think they’ll deal.

Now, this one is strictly for the future.

PHO trades:
Vasilije Micic (released)
2 second round draft picks

LAC trade:
Drew Eubanks
4.1 million trade exception (Bones)

Welcome to the Kevin Durant trade party! Phoenix unloads a player they don’t want/need—Micic played 21 minutes for the Suns after they got him at the break. Not games … minutes. OTOH, Eubanks was totally serviceable for them; he can help in the frontcourt, and the Suns are likely to need help up front. They also gain about 3 million in cap relief, which could and will help them in the Durant trade. The price to get that cap space and a helpful player? Two measly second round picks.

Resign: James Harden (3 years/$115 mil; start at $37.5 mil), Amir Coffey (3 years/$20 mil)
Release: Jordan Miller, Ben Simmons

FA – Use part of MTE on Malcolm Brogdon (3 years/$30 mil)
Use part of MTE on Day’Ron Sharpe (3 years/$16.5 mil)

We should make third years partially, or non-guaranteed. I think this is more or less market value for these two. This is where having a good owner and quality coach and franchise could pay off.

Draft – Use both of our picks to move up if we have to, but get Labaron Philon. He got put in a tough position leading a good team as a freshman, and he passed (literally) with flying colors. 10.6-3.3-3.8 in 25 mpg on a team that had a brutal schedule and went to the finals. People grade him down for his inconsistency and mediocre range, and forget he’s growing into his body (in a big way), and his 2.3-1 A/TO ratio. And that he was starting PG on a team that played for the championship and was 18 years old at the start of the year. Those 45/32/77 shooting splits are going to go up, up, up.

It all looks like this:

OUT:
Bogdanovic
Eubanks
Simmons
Brown
Miller

IN
Bey
Brogdon
Holmes
Sharpe
Philon
3-4 second round draft picks


Roster: Harden (37.5M), Kawhi (50.5M), Zubac (18.1M), Powell (20.5M), Brogdon (9.3M), DJJ (10M), Dunn (5.1M), Bey (6.7M), Holmes (13.2M), Coffey (6.3M), Batum (4.9M), Sharpe (5.1M), Philon (2.7M)

Cage match for Final Roster spot and Two-Way Deals: Christie, Lundy, Baldwin

That’s about 190 million on 13 signed players. Add in Milicic at 8.1M. (We may need to stretch him.) The first apron is projected at 195.9 million; the second apron is going to be closer to 205 million. Even with the salary of the 14th/15th man, we’re less than $2.5 million over the first apron—so if we can time our (re)signing of Coffey and Philon, we can use our Trade Exceptions and be under the second apron.

Rotation:
Zubac
Bey (!) or Holmes
Kawhi
Powell
Harden

Second Wave:
Sharpe
Holmes or Bey
DJJ
Brogdon
Dunn

As Needed:
Coffey
Batum

Giving them time:
Philon

Sorry for long post. Still ... Good plan, yes?

[KL2]

What’s with the Ball family wanting LaMelo on the Clippers?

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[MartinToVaught]

What’s with the Ball family wanting LaMelo on the Clippers?

LaVar obviously misses the attention he used to get when at least one of his kids was in a top 2 media market. And I assume the Lakers have no interest in signing up for another round of the Ball family soap opera, so they're begging the Clippers now.

Setting that aside, LaMelo is always injured and he's just an empty stats player in the handful of games that he plays. The only appeal he has is that he's not 38 years old like most of our roster. No thanks.

[KL2]

It’s going to be a long off season so speculation is all we’ve got right now.

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[KL2]

It’s pretty quiet on the draft workouts for the Clippers. I know they don’t release the names but we usually have them leaked elsewhere.

Only one name is out there:

6’2 pg Lamont Butler

[Clemenza]

It’s pretty quiet on the draft workouts for the Clippers. I know they don’t release the names but we usually have them leaked elsewhere.

Only one name is out there:

6’2 pg Lamont Butler

This is what L. Frank and the team should be talking about. The upcoming draft, Zu's goals for next season, wanting to see how Kobe, Cam Christie, and Trentyn Flowers perform in Summer League. Just talk about real tangible things from now on instead of trying to sell us hard on some open cap space in '26-'27 where he could possibly f*ck it all up like he's done with the 213 Era. Its like he thinks we're little kids and he's Pennywise, the clown from "IT" hanging out in the drainage gutter and instead of enticing us to come on down with candy, he's enticing us like, "Hey Clipper fan, come on down, I got open cap space in '26 and '27."

Man, GTFOH with all that bullsh*t!!

[esqtvd]

It’s going to be a long off season so speculation is all we’ve got right now.

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Ugh, John Collins is such a dog, from what I gather. At least Bogi and Norman come to play every day, although they were heartbreakingly lousy in the playoffs. If either had come through, we probably get by Denver [although not OKC].

I don't think Kawhi is interested in championships or his legacy anymore, and it's questionable he'd agree to a trade. He's got life in SoCal all worked out nicely for himself, with no real pressure to perform. He doesn't even look like he enjoys playing. He's still good, but there's no fire, no shouting, no handshakes, no hugs. Ballmer could "Blake Griffin" him, but I'm not sure the franchise's reputation has recovered from that.

The Cavs make the most sense for him and them, but who the hell wants to live in Cleveland?

[KL2]

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[Clemenza]

It’s going to be a long off season so speculation is all we’ve got right now.

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Ugh, John Collins is such a dog, from what I gather. At least Bogi and Norman come to play every day, although they were heartbreakingly lousy in the playoffs. If either had come through, we probably get by Denver [although not OKC].

I don't think Kawhi is interested in championships or his legacy anymore, and it's questionable he'd agree to a trade. He's got life in SoCal all worked out nicely for himself, with no real pressure to perform. He doesn't even look like he enjoys playing. He's still good, but there's no fire, no shouting, no handshakes, no hugs. Ballmer could "Blake Griffin" him, but I'm not sure the franchise's reputation has recovered from that.

The Cavs make the most sense for him and them, but who the hell wants to live in Cleveland?

Not high on John Collins at all. We definitely could use Kawhi for another season but if some teams come sniffing on his availability then by all means explore it. Cavs sound perfect, but a team like Houston who also you use a vet scorer and playoff performer would be preferred since they have a ton of assets. Our pick goes to OKC next season yet again, what else is new, but I'm sure the team would loved to be in the 2026 draft since its going to be stacked to death with talent. We'll see.

[TrueLAfan]

I’m not as down on Collins as some other people. I just don’t think he’s worth what he makes. He’s a good player. That’s an MLE player. If he made $15-18 million, maybe $20 million, I’d say sure. He fills up numbers, he’s effective. Again, MLE player. But he makes $26.6 million. You need a needle mover at that price, and Collins doesn’t seem like he is. He would have to be better for us, and I that’s a risk I’m not up for taking.

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those free agents are terrible

I dunno. Goga is 100% C and he’s good—but I would rather have a stretch 4/5. Sheppard would be a good get, but he’s a member of a team in the Conference Finals. He’s still young and has some upside. I’m kinda thinking the Pacers hold onto him.

As for Bey and what we need … like I said, I’m thinking 4/5. Chris Boucher is (again) on the radar … but he gets older every year he’s (again) on the radar. The guys I would be looking at are Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Day’Ron Sharpe, and Precious Achiuwa. Any of those guys could play 20 mpg and give us some help at stretch 4/small ball 5. Sharpe is the best of that group, but he’s (much) more of a 5. Achiuwa has fallen out of the rotation with return of Mitchell Robinson, but he’s a lunch pail player. And Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is a high energy guy that can stretch the floor enough to offset mediocre scoring. I suspect any of those guys could be had for under $8 million (maybe $10 million for Sharpe). That’s a third of Collins’ salary next year. John Collins is not three times better than Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.

It sounds weird, but I think Saddiq Bey *not* playing indicates his value. Because, let’s face it, Washington was in the Cooper Flagg Tanking Business for the last 15-20 games. They weren’t trying to win. Starters got shelved or were listed as “injured.” Bey could/would have helped and could have used the court time. Nope. Anyway, Bey is a risk--but it’s a much better risk than, say, John Collins. Bey is coming off an injury—but he doesn’t have a history of injuries or knee issues. At their peak, they’re similar in effectiveness. I’d rate Bey slightly higher because of his energy and attitude, but that’s (really) subjective. Bey is 18 months younger. And he’s making $20 million less. That’s a good risk. Collins isn’t.

I'd hold onto Coffey as well, unless we get something markedly better/more useful for him.

[esqtvd]

I'd hold onto Coffey as well, unless we get something markedly better/more useful for him.

Clippers have said nice things about him, that he's gonna get PAID, but somewhere else. Remember Willie Green, who started like 60 games for us but barely sniffed the court in the playoffs. That was Amir this year and even worse, with 1700 RS minutes played but ZERO in the playoffs. He's like that innings-eater that gives you 150 IP at an 4.95 ERA and is left off the playoff roster. I don't know what the market is for him.

If I'm Amir, I'm headed anywhere there's minutes, even a crap team. The $$ is about the same but I need some respect.

[Captain Ballmer]

My preferred idea on getting Zubac's back-up was using MLE, but after looking at this draft and the bigs I changed my mind that we should use pick #30 for the back-up. Zu's architype centers are always available late in the draft because lack of shooting and slow footspeed. For this reason they tend to overlook this players and they slip like a lot. Trayce Jackson Davis, Yves Missi, Filipowski comes to my mind easily in latest drafts.

Rocco Zikarsky in 2025 class is intruging to me.

Using Full MLE on Nickeil Alexander Walker might be a better for us finding the 5th starter on closing line-up instead of back-up big. Minnesota is lux tax team and already linked they will keep Naz with 20+ million USD annually. They might let NAW go for 14 Million USD annually. NAW is killing it both defensively and hitting those open shots, has handles to bring ball and drive.

Then, I would try TrueLAfan's idea of Bey-Bogdanovic trade for wing help. Just my thoughts.

Harden-Norm-Kawhi-Bey-Zubac
Dunn-Naw-DJJ-Batum(Kobe)-Rocco