11:11pm: The trade is now official, according to a press release from the Clippers.
“Mason will help fortify our center position with his energy and playmaking ability,” president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said in a statement. “He is an impressive passer with great vision. Our team will enjoy playing with him.”
As we relayed in a separate story, Jackson is expected to be bought out by the Hornets.
1:46pm: The Clippers will get the veteran center they’ve been seeking by acquiring Mason Plumlee from the Hornets, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Point guard Reggie Jackson will head to Charlotte in return, and the Hornets will also receive the Clippers’ 2028 second-round pick, according to Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
Plumlee is making $9.08MM in the final year of his contract. He has been the Hornets’ starting center over the past two seasons.
Despite being 32 years old, Plumlee is posting career highs in most statistical categories, including points (12.2), rebounds (9.7), assists (3.7), FG% (66.9) and minutes per game (28.5) in 56 games this year. The Clippers are undersized off their bench and have been looking for a reliable big man to back up Ivica Zubac.
Jackson had been a focus of the Clippers’ offense since he arrived in L.A. three years ago, but he has seen his role reduced recently. The 32-year-old has an expiring contract worth $11.2MM.
Through 52 games (38 starts, 25.7 minutes) with the Clippers in 2022/23, Jackson was averaging 10.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
Clips aint playing today! Plumlee Gordon and hyland. West gonna be a war!
Might as well add Russ to that list as well. TLue gonna have a strong squad no doubt
Not sure they’re even better at all. Kennard was a pretty big loss. So’s PatBev.
Canard was inconsistent, and Beverly hasn’t been on this team for a couple seasons now.
Lol, Plumlee isn’t going to be as good as you think he will be. Based on how he played in CLT, he’s subpar
Frustrating as a Kings fan
Very
Not sure I understand this from a Hornets perspective but oh well. Maybe they get some 2nds, too.
They have to get something else. Saves the Clips a lot of tax money.
I don’t see what Charlotte gets out of this either. You clear n extra $2 mil next year? Doesn’t seem worth it.
They’re doing their best to plead with Silver for Wenbanyama in the rigged lottery.
we saw San Antonio also dump their center tit for tat
Clippers are active. Surprised by this. Thought Zubac was holding down the fort alright. Always have liked the passing element Plumlee brings with his game, but I am surprised to see them trade Jackson, and keep Gordon. Clippers are gonna give it a go this season it looks like.
Think they’re going to pair Plumlee with Zubac the same way they did with Isaiah Hartenstein last year.
Clips badly needed a backup 5. Covington was struggling playing out of position all season
Covington is great for versatility. 3 and D with size. Lue has been weird with Covingtons playtime and position all season. I hope this stabilizes that
Feel bad for Reggie gave it all for the clippers
Wait until you see where he ends up. Gonna be someone the Clips will have to beat in the playoffs (betting Nuggets, who have a roster spot open).
I don’t. He’s had plenty of time to improve decision making and be #1 PG. He didn’t get much better so yeah
Charlotte has a thousand bigs, so it makes sense they would move him, but I dont get the return…
I think theoretically Plumlee is a strong fit around what the Clippers have, and could be similar for them as Hartenstein was, depending on when he might play
Nick Richards time!
Anyone who’s in a deep fantasy league, this dude is going to help a ton down the stretch. Excited to see what this dude can do with starter minutes
I believe mark williams will play more and has better upside, but Nick played well when had the chance nay split the center time between them
That’s fair, good point. I’ll take even 20 mins a game. It’s an incredibly deep league
If Jackson gets bought out by Charlotte, don’t count out the Suns to kick the tires on adding depth with Jackson.
This will be interesting ….
Guessing they will add Russ via a buy out
Russ PG Kawhi Morris Zubac
Bones Gordon Powell Batum/Roco Plumblee
It’ll be great to see how Lue mixes all the players minutes up and finds the right combinations. For example Bones Gordon Powell all off the bench is probably a little to much offence and not enough defence. I can see them going into small line ups with Morris coming off for Gordon to add floor spacing. Then if Russ becomes too ball dominant and you want PG and Kawhi to have more touches then I’d bring on Powell. Giving you no real point guard but 4 wings/forwards. I think the challenge comes from trying to find bones minutes where the defence holds its own and everyone gets touches. I can understand why they got Bones with Reggie and Wall gone and him only costing 2 second round picks but in terms of fit alone he’s probably not the right option.
Anyways I love to see the competition heating up and the under dog clippers are a serious threat now if they can add Russ
Plumlee is a good rotation big for them. They need the depth there. Seems like Russ will be coming to Clippers. So it’s looking up for LAC.
Trade Reggie Jackson ……. Bad move here
Unless they get Westbrook I guess