The 2025-26 NBA season is right here! We’re rolling out our previews analyzing the most important questions, best- and worst-case eventualities, and win projections for all 30 franchises from the still-rebuilding groups to the true title contenders.
OK, lets get this out of the best way: That isnt actually the most important query surrounding the Clippers proper now.
The most important questions all revolve round Kawhi Leonard: on what the NBAs investigation into reporting in regards to the risk that the workforce circumvented the leagues wage cap by setting the celebrity ahead up with a “no-show job” that might successfully pay him as much as $48 million off the books will flip up; on what influence, if any, that ongoing investigation might need on the off-court ambiance across the workforce, or on the on-court efficiency of Leonard or his teammates, all through this season; on what punishment, if any, the league may levy in opposition to the Clippers group and its personnel, all the best way as much as proprietor Steve Ballmer; and on how any sanctions may have an effect on the long-term outlook of a franchise determined for championship competition after advancing previous the second spherical of the playoffs simply as soon as since its inception in 1970.
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I do know that; you already know that; canines know that. However since none of us have any solutions to any of them proper now, and since weve all devoted loads of hours (and can certainly commit loads extra) to the most recent twists and turns within the Aspiration saga, lets spare a minute or two for what this Clippers workforce may really appear like on the basketball court docket this season as a result of it could be fairly good?
The Clippers simply gained 50 video games regardless of Leonard making simply 37 appearances. Whereas projecting Leonards availability is clearly a fools errand at this level, its value noting that, amid all of the chaos, he really entered coaching camp wholesome and is enjoying within the preseason a far cry from 2024-25, when he didnt make his debut till after New Years Day. On the danger of enjoying Captain Apparent right here, Kawhi being on the ground is an excellent factor for Tyronn Lues membership; when he did play final season, the Clips gained at a 58-win tempo, and had the purpose differential of a 66-win workforce when he was on the ground.
Whereas getting Leonard wholesome and out there for the total season is the most important transfer the Clippers may make, in addition they spent the summer season including items across the edges. Bidding farewell to Norman Powell after a profession yr hurts, however successfully plugging two gamers into his wage slot Bradley Beal, in the hunt for redemption after a disastrous sojourn in Phoenix, and John Collins, in the hunt for video games that truly matter after two years within the parallel noncompetitive universe that’s Utah ought to assist.
Beal (17 factors per recreation on 50/39/80 taking pictures splits) and Collins (19 on 53/40/85) add some offensive spice, selection and flexibility to a squad that completed in the midst of the pack in factors scored per possession for the total season, however that ranked seventh after Leonards debut in early January. It stays to be seen who will begin alongside Leonard, Beal, James Harden and Ivica Zubac come opening night time; if nothing else, Lue has loads of choices.
Stretch-5 Brook Lopez, too, brings a dose of floor-spacing prowess and a potential pick-and-pop associate for ball-screen maestros like Harden and prodigal son Chris Paul, who was nonetheless actually rattling good final season subsequent to Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio. Maybe much more necessary, although, Lopez may assist hold Lues coverages organized when All-Defensive Crew middle Zubac hits the bench.
Final season, the Clips gave up 6.9 extra factors per 100 possessions with out the Croatian huge man patrolling the paint, in accordance with Cleansing the Glass the distinction between stopping factors at an elite stage and a below-average price. The previous Bucks huge man won’t be fairly as glorious an inside deterrent as he was earlier in his tenure in Milwaukee, however he may very well be devastatingly efficient in a extra restricted position behind Zubac and, in sure matchups, perhaps even alongside him. (Pardon me whereas I daydream about kaiju battles between Zu-Brook and Şengün-Adams, Jokić-Valančiūnas and Hartenstein-Chet.)
Add these newcomers to holdovers like Nicolas Batum, Kris Dunn, Derrick Jones Jr. and (the presently injured) Bogdan Bogdanović, and youve received a rotation that may go a legit 11 deep which, as we realized over the course of the runs that the Thunder and Pacers made to the 2025 NBA Finals, is a recipe for having the ability to survive the extraordinary, grueling strain of the fashionable postseason.
There’s, in fact, a evident, gigantic distinction between the workforce L.A. has put collectively and those that OKC and Indiana rode to June. Sure, this roster is outdated like, traditionally outdated, as Tom Haberstroh and I detailed on “The Huge Quantity”:
And outdated groups usually dont fare all that properly come the top of the marathon NBA season, as Jared Dubin detailed at Final Night time in Basketball:
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(For the file: Jared wrote that final line earlier than all of the Aspiration stuff broke. Generally, the universe simply turns up a contented accident, yall.)
If when a number of members of the oldest rotation in NBA historical past undergo some bumps and bruises, it looks like loads to ask end-of-the-bench kids like Kobe Brown, Cam Christie, Jordan Miller and No. 30 decide Yanic Konan Niederhäuser to supply any respite. The Clippers probabilities of rising above the fray in a brutal West relaxation with how properly Lue can handle the minutes of his veteran group, and if hell be capable to hold sufficient of the proper plates spinning late into April and Could to maintain the entire thing from coming crashing down earlier than June as soon as once more.
An completely unfazed and unbothered Kawhi performs 70 video games for the primary time since San Antonio at an All-NBA First Crew stage, permitting all people else to suit comfortably into their complementary roles. Harden stays one of many video games premier orchestrators, and Paul ably serves as an understudy in his absence. Beal bounces again, Collins seizes the chance, all people else stars of their position, and Lue pulls all the proper levers. The Clippers win 55 video games, end with a top-two seed within the West and home-court benefit in Spherical 1 and a wholesome Kawhi leads them again to the Western Convention finals.
Kawhi will get harm, and Beal thinks the remedy for what ails the Clipper offense is extra Beal. (It isnt.) Previous guys do what outdated guys do: particularly, miss time, and many it. Lues press conferences begin carrying a substantial quantity of existential dread, as he tries with out success to explain the frustration and hopelessness of teaching a roster that’s simply by no means going to have all of the items there. The protection splinters, the offense sputters and the Clips miss the playoffs
at which level the NBA pronounces the outcomes of its investigation. Which, since theyre coming on this part, are actually, actually dangerous.
Ty Lue gained 50 with Kawhi lacking greater than half the season, and this workforce is healthier. Sick take the over.
East: Atlanta Hawks Boston Celtics Brooklyn Nets Charlotte Hornets Chicago Bulls Cleveland Cavaliers Detroit Pistons Indiana Pacers Miami Warmth Milwaukee Bucks New York Knicks Orlando Magic Philadelphia 76ers Toronto Raptors Washington Wizards
West: Dallas Mavericks Denver Nuggets Golden State Warriors Houston Rockets LA Clippers Los Angeles Lakers Memphis Grizzlies Minnesota Timberwolves New Orleans Pelicans Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder Phoenix Suns Portland Path Blazers Sacramento Kings San Antonio Spurs Utah Jazz