Los Angeles Clippers Rumors

Former NBA Sixth Man Of The Year Rodney Rogers Dies At 54

November 22nd, 2025 at 12:54pm CST by Rory Maher

Former NBA forward Rodney Rogers died on Friday at age 54, according to a Wake Forest press release written by Will Pantages.

A native of Durham, North Carolina, Rogers had a highly decorated college career with the Demon Deacons, having been named the ACC’s Freshman of the Year in 1991, earning first-team All-ACC honors in 1992, and winning the conference’s Player of the Year award in 1993. He helped Wake Forest make three straight NCAA tournament appearances and held averages of 19.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.6 steals on .579/.349/.694 shooting in 89 games (31.6 minutes per contest).

According to the university, Rogers is one of only seven players in ACC history to win both the Freshman and Player of the Year awards, and the only Demon Deacon to hold that distinction.

Rogers turned pro after his junior season and was selected ninth overall in the 1993 draft. The 6’7″ combo forward played 12 seasons in the NBA for seven different teams (the Nuggets, Clippers, Suns, Celtics, Nets, the New Orleans Hornets, and the Sixers), holding career averages of 10.9 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.0 APG and 1.0 SPG in 866 regular season contests, including 347 starts (25.3 MPG).

Rogers’ most productive seasons came with Denver, Los Angeles and Phoenix. He was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year for the 1999/00 season while a member of the Suns, averaging 13.8 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 2.1 APG and 1.1 SPG on .486/.439/.639 shooting in 82 regular season appearances (27.9 MPG).

Unfortunately, Rogers was paralyzed from the shoulders down following a serious accident in 2008. His wife Faye said in a statement that Rodney passed away from natural causes related to the spinal cord injury he suffered 17 years ago.

The NBA put out a statement (via Twitter) saying it was “deeply saddened” by Rogers’ death.

“He will be remembered not only for his achievements on the court but also for the extraordinary resilience, courage and generosity that he demonstrated throughout his life — qualities that inspired so many,” the league said in part.

We at Hoops Rumors send our condolences to Rogers’ family and friends.

Kawhi Leonard Expected To Return On Sunday

November 22nd, 2025 at 11:03am CST by Luke Adams

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard is expected to return to action on Sunday vs. Cleveland, reports NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link).

Leonard has been sidelined since November 3 while dealing with right ankle and foot sprains. He has missed nine games during that time and has been ruled out of a 10th on Saturday vs. Charlotte. Based on Haynes’ reporting, it sounds like the 34-year-old will suit up for the second game of the Clippers’ weekend back-to-back set, barring a setback.

Leonard got off to a strong start this season, averaging 24.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per night on .505/.400/.963 shooting through six games. The Clippers, who were 3-3 in those games, have struggled mightily without Leonard, losing eight of nine contests since he went down.

As disappointing as L.A.’s start has been, the team certainly isn’t out of the playoff race in the Western Conference. The 5-10 Jazz currently hold the 10th spot in the standings, so it wouldn’t take much for the 4-11 Clippers to get back among the play-in teams.

Defensive ace Kris Dunn initially started in Leonard’s place. Following injuries to Bradley Beal and Derrick Jones Jr., the Clippers have also inserted John Collins and Kobe Sanders into their starting five, so one of them – likely Sanders – figures to move back to the bench when Leonard returns.

Chris Paul To Retire After Season

November 22nd, 2025 at 10:43am CST by Luke Adams

Veteran NBA point guard Chris Paul will retire at the end of the 2025/26 season, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Heading into free agency this past summer, Paul said that he would likely only play for no more than one more year, and Charania stated when he reported CP3’s one-year contract agreement with the Clippers a few weeks later that it would likely be the 40-year-old’s final NBA season. However, that decision wasn’t confirmed until now.

As Charania notes (via Twitter), Paul revealed his plans in a roundabout way on Saturday morning, publishing an Instagram reel of several career highlights with the caption, “Back in NC!!! What a ride…Still so much left…GRATEFUL for this last one!!”

The Clippers are visiting the Hornets on Saturday for what will be their only game in Charlotte this season. Paul, who played his college ball at Wake Forest, was born and raised in North Carolina.

A 12-time All-Star, Paul entered the NBA as the fourth overall pick in the 2005 draft and is playing in the league for a 21st season. He has made 11 All-NBA teams and nine All-Defensive teams in addition to leading the league in steals six times and assists five times. He also won a Rookie of the Year award and claimed a spot on the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.

In recent years, the point guard’s production has declined and he has bounced around the league more than he did earlier in his career. Paul is playing for his fourth team in four years, having gone from Phoenix to Golden State to San Antonio to L.A., where he rejoined a Clippers club with whom he spent six seasons with from 2011-17.

Paul has played a very minor role for the Clippers so far this season and hasn’t been effective in his limited minutes. In 10 games off the bench, he has averaged 2.5 points and 3.3 assists on 27.3% shooting in 13.7 minutes per contest.

For his career, Paul holds averages of 16.9 points, 9.2 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.0 steals in 33.5 minutes per game across 1,364 regular season outings. He has also put up 20.0 PPG, 8.3 APG, 4.9 RPG, and 1.9 SPG in 149 playoff games.

Pacific Notes: Kuminga, Lakers, Gillespie, Clippers

November 21st, 2025 at 3:05pm CST by Luke Adams

With the Warriors off to an up-and-down start and sitting over .500 by a single game, there’s a growing expectation “in various corners of the league” that forward Jonathan Kuminga will be on the move prior to the February 5 trade deadline, Marc Stein writes for his Substack (subscription required).

While a veteran executive who spoke to Stein referred to Kuminga’s two-year, $46.8MM contract (which includes a second-year team option) as “one of the best trade chips in the league,” sources who talked to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps about Kuminga aren’t convinced that Golden State will be able to find a trade partner that covets the 23-year-old and is willing to send the Warriors the sort of value they’ll be seeking for the former No. 7 overall pick.

“Who is going to take him?” one Eastern Conference scout said. “And are they going to move him for stuff they don’t want, or just wait? It’s very hard to find a trade that makes sense for everyone.”

That same scout suggested that Kuminga, who is currently sidelined due to knee soreness, hasn’t done a whole lot so far this season to boost his trade value.

“He is who he is, even though he’s on the younger side,” the scout said. “He has looked better, and has been trying to fit in, but he still falls back into his old habits.”

We have more from around the Pacific Division:

A pair of Los Angeles Dodgers executives – Farhan Zaidi and Andrew Friedman – are serving as advisors with the Lakers during the transition from the Buss family to new owner Mark Walter, sources tell Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. As Shelburne explains, Zaidi and Friedman are functioning as senior executives with TWG Sports, the entity Walter created to oversee his sports holdings. Zaidi has been Walter’s representative during the transition process, according to Shelburne, while Friedman has consulted with general manager Rob Pelinka.
Back with the Suns after signing a one-year, minimum-salary contract over the summer, point guard Collin Gillespie is enjoying his expanded role in Phoenix. Gillespie, one of the team’s top reserves, is averaging 10.5 points and 5.1 assists in 24.3 minutes per game off the bench as he makes a case to stick with the Suns beyond this season. “I would like to be here long-term,” he said (Twitter video link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic). “It’s 15 games into the season. There’s a ton of time. I’m not even worried about that or focused on that right now. Just play the year out. Hopefully have a really good year. Win a lot of games and then focus on it after the season, but I would like to be here long-term.”
Law Murray of The Athletic takes a look at some of the issues plaguing the 4-11 Clippers, including an inability to keep up with faster-paced offenses, poor point-of-attack defense, losing the rebounding and possession battles, and – in the words of head coach Tyronn Lue – a lack of “point-of-attack offensive guys that can create their own shots.”

Clippers Apply For Disabled Player Exception

November 21st, 2025 at 11:53am CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers have applied for a disabled player exception in response to Bradley Beal‘s season-ending hip injury, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line and Bleacher Report (Twitter link).

An NBA team becomes eligible for a disabled player exception when one of its players sustains an injury that is considered more likely than not to sideline him through June 15 of that league year. That’s expected to be the case for Beal, who was diagnosed last week with a fracture in his hip.

A disabled player exception doesn’t grant the team an extra roster spot, but it generates some additional cap flexibility. The exception can be used to acquire a player on an expiring contract via trade or waiver claim, or to sign a free agent to a one-year deal.

The value of the disabled player exception is equivalent to either the non-taxpayer mid-level exception or half of the injured player’s salary, whichever is lesser. Since Beal’s cap hit is $5,354,000, well below the mid-level, the DPE would be worth $2,677,000.

The Clippers have used their full mid-level exception and don’t have their bi-annual exception available this season since they used it in 2024/25. That means a disabled player exception actually could come in handy for L.A., perhaps accommodating a free agent signing above the veteran’s minimum or a trade for a player on a near-minimum contract.

The problem for the Clippers is that they’re currently operating just $1.28MM away from their first-apron hard cap. A team can’t exceed its hard cap for any reason, so if the NBA awards them a DPE for Beal, the Clippers wouldn’t be able to use more than $1.28MM of it unless they shed salary elsewhere on the roster.

March 10 is the deadline to use a disabled player exception.

Injury Notes: Leonard, Jerome, Murray-Boyles, Heat, Cavs

November 20th, 2025 at 6:56pm CST by Rory Maher

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard went through portions of Wednesday’s practice, though he didn’t do any contact drills, head coach Tyronn Lue told Law Murray of The Athletic and other media members (Twitter video link).

“He did a few things,” Lue said. ” … He’s definitely gotten better. I mean, I don’t know how long it’s gonna be (until he returns). But he’s definitely gotten better. Just seeing him on the floor yesterday was really good to see.”

Leonard, a two-time Finals MVP, was off to a strong start this fall prior to suffering right ankle and foot sprains on November 3. The Clips were 3-3 in the six games Leonard played but have gone just 1-7 without their highest-paid player. The 34-year-old missed his ninth straight game on Thursday in Orlando.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

Free agent addition Ty Jerome has yet to play for the Grizzlies in 2025/26 after suffering a high-grade right calf strain during the preseason. The seventh-year guard will be reevaluated on Friday, with a return timeline expected to come in the days after that examination, tweets Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Collin Murray-Boyles, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2025 draft, will miss his second straight game on Friday due to an MCL sprain in his right knee, as Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca relays (via Twitter). The Raptors forward/center has averaged 8.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 20.0 minutes per game through 11 appearances as a rookie, with a shooting line of .500/.500/.762.
Heat forward Andrew Wiggins has been diagnosed with a left hip flexor strain and will be sidelined for his first game of the season on Friday in Chicago, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Fourth-year forward Nikola Jovic was ruled out of Wednesday’s game with a right hip impingement and will miss at least two more, as he didn’t travel with the team on its two-game road trip, Jackson reports.
While Cavaliers sharpshooter Sam Merrill will be out for the second straight contest on Friday with a right hand sprain, it’s possible point guard Darius Garland could return to action. The two-time All-Star is questionable against Indiana, per the NBA’s injury report, as are Jarrett Allen (right third finger strain) and Jaylon Tyson (concussion). Garland has missed the past five games after re-injuring his surgically repaired left great toe last week, but head coach Kenny Atkinson recently said the 25-year-old was “really close” to suiting up.

And-Ones: NBA Schedule, Breakout Players, Cap Room, More

November 20th, 2025 at 9:05am CST by Luke Adams

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who has advocated in the past for shorter regular seasons, is beating that drum again this fall with soft tissue injuries on the rise around the NBA, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN. Kerr said he’s “very concerned” about the increase in injuries, pointing to an increased pace of play and a relentless schedule as two factors he believes are contributing to the trend.

“The pace difference is dramatic,” Kerr said after Tuesday’s game vs. Orlando. “This team tonight has really upped their pace compared to last year. I think across the league everybody understands now it’s just easier to score now if you can beat (the other team) down the floor, get out in transition. But when everybody’s doing that, the game’s are much faster paced, and everyone has to cover out to 25 feet because everyone can shoot threes.

“… We have all the data,” Kerr continued. “Players are running faster and further than ever before, so we’re trying to do the best we can to protect them, but basically have a game every other night and it’s not an easy thing to do … (The medical staff) believe that the wear and tear, the speed, the pace, the mileage, it’s all factoring into these injuries.”

Kerr said the NBA has done a commendable job of trying to reduce back-to-backs and instances of four games in five days, but points out that it has resulted in teams rarely getting more than one day off between games, which results in little recovery time and almost no opportunities for practices.

“We literally have not had a single practice on this road trip. Not one,” Kerr said after the fifth game of a six-game trip. “We’ve gone a week, or longer, eight days, not one practice. It’s just game, game, game. So not only is there no recovery time, there’s no practice time. What was different back in the day — you did have four in five nights, which was not great, but then you’d have four days before your next game. So you’d take a day off, and you’d actually have a couple good practices and scrimmage. So there’s no easy answer here.”

Kerr isn’t alone in believing that playing fewer regular season games would benefit the players — Knicks forward Josh Hart agreed with that sentiment on Thursday, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Post relays. However, both Kerr and Hart acknowledged that it would be very difficult to actually implement that change due to the loss of revenue that would occur..

“Do I think there’s too many games? Yeah,” Hart said. “Conversely, will (team owners) and the league and players take a pay cut to not do that? I don’t know. It’s easy to sit there and say that we play too many games — which we do — but conversely, we’re also blessed to be able to benefit greatly from it.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:

In a pair of stories for The Athletic, Fred Katz takes a look at some of the NBA’s most improved players so far this season, while John Hollinger zeros in on several of the league’s breakout players. Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Pistons center Jalen Duren show up on both lists, with Hollinger suggesting Duren appears to be on track for max or near-max money when he reaches restricted free agency next summer.
Previewing the salary cap landscape for the 2026 offseason, Keith Smith of Spotrac projects that six teams will operate with cap room, led by the Wizards with over $80MM in space. We conducted a similar exercise earlier this month, noting that the Wizards, Jazz, Nets, and Bulls are best positioned to go under the cap, while several other teams – like the Lakers and Clippers – are in the “maybe” category depending on what happens with certain free agents and player options.
A panel of ESPN’s NBA insiders takes an early look at potential trade-deadline needs for eight NBA teams hoping to contend this season, including the Pistons, Lakers, Warriors, Timberwolves, and Knicks. In the view of Bobby Marks, the Pistons are better positioned than any other Eastern Conference playoff team to make an in-season move, given their cap flexibility, movable contracts, and extra draft picks.

Derrick Jones Jr. Out At Least Six Weeks With MCL Sprain

November 17th, 2025 at 4:45pm CST by Rory Maher

Clippers forward Derrick Jones Jr. suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his right knee during Sunday’s loss in Boston and will miss at least six weeks, which is when he’ll be reevaluated, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (via Twitter).

According to Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Clippers were “relieved” that Jones’ injury wasn’t more serious.

The injury occurred late in the second quarter when Jaylen Brown lost his dribble and dove to retrieve the ball just as Jones was reaching for it (YouTube link). The incidental contact resulted in Jones’ knee bending inward at an odd angle, with Jones immediately grabbing at his knee in pain. The high-flying swingman had to be helped off the court and was unable to put any weight on his right leg.

Whiles Jones’ stats are fairly modest — he was averaging 10.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks on .540/.341/.786 shooting in the 12 games (26.0 minutes per contest) leading up to the injury — his absence will certainly be felt by the Clippers. The former dunk contest winner is an offensive lob and transition threat and one of the team’s best defenders.

Third-year wing Jordan Miller also exited Sunday’s game with an injury — he aggravated the left hamstring strain that caused him to miss the first three weeks of the season, Murray notes (Twitter links). It’s an unfortunate setback for the 25-year-old, who scored a career-high 22 points in his season debut on Wednesday.

Miller, who is on a two-way deal with Los Angeles, has been ruled out of Monday’s back-to-back in Philadelphia with left hamstring soreness, but isn’t expected to miss extended time, according to the team (Twitter link via Murray).

Rookie guard/forward Kobe Sanders, another two-way player, will get his first career start on Monday, tweets Murray.

Star forward Kawhi Leonard, who is dealing with right ankle and foot sprains, has resumed on-court work and is nearing his return, though it’s unclear if he’ll resume playing during L.A.’s ongoing road trip, which wraps up next Tuesday at the Lakers, Murray adds.

Bontemps/Windhorst’s Latest: Davis, Magic, Clippers, LeBron

November 14th, 2025 at 9:02am CST by Arthur Hill

With the Mavericks off to a 3-9 start, there’s a feeling around the league that trading Anthony Davis — and possibly Kyrie Irving as well — might be their best strategy, according to Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Dallas fired general manager Nico Harrison this week amid continued fan uproar over February’s Luka Doncic trade, and now personnel moves may be necessary to carve out a brighter future.

Trade speculation has already focused on Davis, who is currently sidelined with a left calf strain and has appeared in just five games this season. He’s under contract for $58.5MM in 2026/27 and has a $62.8MM player option for the following season. He’ll become eligible for an extension next summer and could earn up to $218.5MM by picking up the option and extending for three more years.

Considering Davis’ contract situation and his long injury history, Windhorst states that the Mavs may have trouble getting the return they would want in a potential trade.

“I just looked it up so I could say this to my owner if he asks me about it, AD is turning 33 in March and he’s going to be in position next summer where he’ll probably want a contract extension that would cost $70MM per year when he’d be 37,” a rival general manager said. “He’s a great player, full stop. But when you consider a player at his age with his injury history, you’d also be trading for the stress of that extension. That plays into it.”

Executives around the league tell Bontemps that while the Mavericks could still be formidable with a fully healthy roster, moving the two stars and replenishing their draft assets while building around Cooper Flagg is probably their best strategy. After the 2026 draft, Dallas doesn’t control any of its first-round picks for the rest of the decade.

Parting with Davis and Irving would also help the Mavs escape the luxury tax, Bontemps adds. The team is projected to have a tax bill around $32MM this season, and the current roster is about $16MM over the tax threshold.

Bontemps and Windhorst share more inside information from around the NBA:

The Magic have won five of their last seven games, but their offense is still just 18th in the league and the offseason trade for Desmond Bane hasn’t provided the spark that was hoped for. According to Windhorst, head coach Jamahl Mosley has turned over most of the play calling to assistant Joe Prunty, who was hired during the offseason. However, some observers are skeptical that the current roster is capable of producing an efficient offense. “It’s got to get a little better, but the pieces aren’t changing,” a West executive said. “Bane will settle in eventually. But you still have a ball-dominant, iso star in Paolo (Banchero) that doesn’t scream ball movement, player movement and getting open shots. It hasn’t been pretty at all.”
With an old roster and growing injury concerns, the Clippers may be “cooked” after a 3-8 start. Bradley Beal has been lost for the season with a hip fracture, and Kawhi Leonard has been diagnosed with a sprained foot as well as a sprained ankle. It appears the decision to invest heavily in veteran talent is backfiring, as Windhorst notes that Brook Lopez, Nicolas Batum and Bogdan Bogdanovic haven’t been productive early in the season, while Chris Paul is completely out of the rotation. “They move so slowly, they can’t recover when they turn the ball over or give up a quick transition,” one advance scout said.
The Spurs and Lakers are both off to impressive starts, but there are mixed opinions on whether they can finish in the top four in the West. A West scout doesn’t believe Victor Wembanyama can hold up for 82 games, while an East executive isn’t convinced that L.A. will get better when LeBron James returns from his injury. “Don’t ask me about the Lakers until I can see LeBron play and see him move and how he looks,” the executive said. “He isn’t just dealing with the sciatica, he hurt his knee at the end of last season, and it surely affected his training routine. He’s never started a season coming off injuries like this before.”

L.A. Notes: LeBron, Luka, Thiero, Clippers’ Young Reserves

November 13th, 2025 at 11:01pm CST by Rory Maher

LeBron James, whose season debut has been delayed by sciatica on his right side, is ramping up his activity. The Lakers superstar practiced with the team’s G League affiliate on Wednesday, including doing contact five-on-five work, as Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group writes.

“It was also an incredible opportunity for [South Bay coach] Zach [Guthrie] and his staff and all the guys that are with South Bay right now to have that experience,” head coach JJ Redick said. “But the reports are that he looked good, and was moving well.”

James was also a full participant in South Bay’s practice on Thursday and showed no ill effects from Wednesday’s session, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, who hears from sources that the 40-year-old forward could practice with the Lakers on Monday if he continues to experience no discomfort in the coming days.

Here’s more from Los Angeles:

The Lakers were thoroughly outclassed by the Thunder on Wednesday, losing by 29 points. After being limited to a season-low 19 points (on 7-of-20 shooting), star guard Luka Doncic said he wasn’t concerned about the apparent gap between the two teams, instead using it as a source of motivation. “Definitely wasn’t our best game, probably one of the worst this season,” Doncic said, per Price. “They all did a great job on me. They’re champions for a reason. They showed that. We need to be more ready. Obviously, it starts with me. I need to be way better than that.”
Lakers rookie Adou Thiero has been listed as questionable for Friday’s matchup in New Orleans, tweets Dan Woike of The Athletic. The 21-year-old was selected 36th overall in the 2025 draft, but has yet to make his NBA debut after undergoing left knee surgery in college. Redick previously expressed optimism that the high-flying forward could return during the team’s current road trip, which concludes Saturday in Milwaukee.
While the Clippers have had a rough start to the season – they hold a 3-8 record after dropping six straight games – their young reserves have been a bright spot of late. Second-year guard Cam Christie had some encouraging performances late last week against Phoenix, notes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register, then Jordan Miller and Kobe Sanders received rotation minutes in Wednesday’s loss to Denver, with third-year wing Miller having a career night (22 points and four rebounds in 26 minutes). “I thought they came in, gave us a lot of energy … so they got to keep growing, these young guys,” head coach Tyronn Lue said (story via Carr). “They’re going to make some mistakes, we understand that. But I did love the way they played. I thought they played the right way. The ball moved, guys got open shots, we attacked the paint, made the right play, and so just kept giving those guys room to grow. And I thought tonight was a step in the right direction.”