Western Conference · Pacific · 93 updates
+2A trade idea would send Brook Lopez and Derrick Jones Jr. from the Clippers to the Lakers in exchange for Jaden Hardy, Jake LaRavia and Dalton Knecht.
Sam Amick of The Athletic reports Golden State and New York were among the teams pursuing Ben Simmons before he agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with Sacramento.
Knicks on SI's Max Wildstein suggests New York could dangle one of its distant future first-round picks, from 2030, 2032 or 2033, to pry second-year center Yanic Konan Niederhäuser away from the Clippers, who are dealing with the loss of five straight first-rounders as league punishment.
On the Third Apron Podcast, Sam Quinn floated sending Darius Garland to San Antonio for De'Aaron Fox and a 2029 first-round pick, a way for the Clippers to claw back draft capital after their punishment in the Kawhi Leonard cap case.
+2A hypothetical four-team trade would send Kevin Durant back to Golden State, with Jimmy Butler going to the Clippers, De'Aaron Fox to Houston, and Darius Garland plus Derrick Jones Jr. to San Antonio.
The Ringer's Zach Lowe said the Clippers had been quietly positioning for a run at Nikola Jokic if he ever left Denver in 2027 free agency, but called that dead after the NBA stripped Los Angeles of five first-round picks over its Kawhi Leonard cap circumvention case.
A trade idea floated by Heavy would send Derrick Jones Jr. from the Clippers to the Lakers, reuniting him with Luka Doncic after the two shared the 2024 Finals run in Dallas.
With the NBA's salary cap circumvention findings against the Clippers now final, the Raptors have paused the previously agreed trade sending Kawhi Leonard back to Toronto, reportedly wary his contract could be voided.
The NBA's cap-circumvention ruling stripped the Clippers of five first-round picks (2029-2033), fined owner Steve Ballmer $30 million and suspended executives Gillian Zucker and Lawrence Frank over off-court payments steered to Kawhi Leonard.
The NBA has fined the Clippers $30 million and penalized Kawhi Leonard $700,000 over cap circumvention tied to his collapsed Aspiration sponsorship.
