2017 Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Clippers
Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2017 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2017/18 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Los Angeles Clippers.
Signings:
- Blake Griffin: Five years, $171.175MM. Fifth-year player option.
- Danilo Gallinari: Three years, $64.763MM. Acquired in sign-and-trade.
- Milos Teodosic: Two years, $12.3MM. Second-year player option. Second year partially guaranteed ($2.1MM).
- Willie Reed: One year, minimum salary.
- Jamil Wilson: Two-way contract. Two years. $50K guaranteed.
Camp invitees:
- Marshall Plumlee: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.
- Tyrone Wallace: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.
- C.J. Williams: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.
- LaDontae Henton: One year, minimum salary. Summer contract.
Trades:
- Acquired the draft rights to Sindarius Thornwell (No. 48 pick) from the Bucks in exchange for cash ($2MM).
- Acquired Lou Williams, Patrick Beverley, Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell, DeAndre Liggins, Kyle Wiltjer, Darrun Hilliard, the Rockets’ 2018 first-round pick (top-three protected, and cash ($661K) from the Rockets in exchange for Chris Paul.
- Note: Wiltjer and Hilliard later waived.
- Acquired the draft rights to Jawun Evans (No. 39 pick) from the Sixers in exchange for cash ($3.2MM).
- Acquired Danilo Gallinari (sign-and-trade) in a three-way trade with the Hawks and Nuggets in exchange for Jamal Crawford, Diamond Stone, the Rockets’ 2018 first-round pick (top-three protected), and cash ($1.3MM).
- Note: All of Clippers’ outgoing pieces sent to the Hawks.
- Acquired the Hawks’ 2018 second-round pick (top-55 protected) from the Hawks in exchange for DeAndre Liggins and cash ($100K).
Draft picks:
- 2-39: Jawun Evans — Signed to three-year, minimum salary contract. Third-year team option.
- 2-48: Sindarius Thornwell — Signed to three-year, minimum salary contract. Third year non-guaranteed.
Departing players:
- Alan Anderson
- Brandon Bass
- Jamal Crawford
- Raymond Felton
- Luc Mbah a Moute
- Chris Paul
- Paul Pierce (waived; retired)
- J.J. Redick
- Marreese Speights
- Diamond Stone
Other offseason news:
- Promoted Lawrence Frank to president of basketball operations. Doc Rivers now just head coach.
- Hired Michael Winger as general manager.
- Hired Trent Redden as assistant general manager. Hired Mark Hughes as assistant GM.
- Hired former GM Dave Wohl as special advisor.
- Introduced new expansion G League team, the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario.
- Willie Reed charged with domestic battery.
Salary cap situation:
- Operating over the cap and very slightly under the tax. Carrying approximately $119MM in guaranteed salaries. Hard-capped. Small portion ($775K) of mid-level exception still available. Otherwise, only minimum salary exception available.
Check out the Los Angeles Clippers’ full roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.
Story of the summer:
Following another disappointing first-round exit from the 2017 playoffs, the Clippers entered the offseason in a difficult spot. The Chris Paul-led squad of the last six years had never made it beyond the Western Conference Semifinals, and while injuries to key players at inopportune times created some tantalizing what-ifs in previous seasons, the 2016/17 Clippers didn’t look like a team on the verge of a breakthrough.
With Paul, Blake Griffin, and J.J. Redick all eligible for free agency, the possibility of re-signing the trio, blowing by the luxury tax line, and continuing to struggle in the early rounds of the postseason didn’t look like the right approach. But players like Paul and Griffin aren’t easy to replace, particularly given the Clippers’ lack of cap flexibility, and letting them go for nothing wouldn’t have made sense either.
In a somewhat fortunate turn of events, Paul ultimately made the decision simpler for the Clippers, deciding that he wanted a change of scenery. Instead of signing with the Rockets as a free agent though, Paul gave the Clips a heads-up on his intentions, allowing the team to work out a trade with Houston. That deal helped the Clippers add depth, gave the club a first-round pick to dangle in a subsequent trade, and created the cap flexibility necessary to lock up Griffin to a long-term contract while potentially avoiding the tax.
Of course, losing an All-NBA caliber guard is never ideal, but the Clippers were in need of a shake-up, and the team did an admirable job revamping the roster in the wake of CP3’s departure.
29 Of 30 NBA Teams Made Trades In 2017 Offseason
The 2017 NBA offseason didn’t feature any stars like LeBron James or Kevin Durant signing with new teams in free agency, but it was still one of the most eventful summers in recent memory. Trades played a big part in the offseason excitement, with NBA teams completing a total of 39 swaps since the 2016/17 season ended.
Not all of those deals were blockbusters. The Rockets, for instance, made several moves that saw them pay cash to acquire players on non-guaranteed salaries in the hopes of flipping them in later trades — most of those players were ultimately waived.
Still, there was no shortage of big-name players on the move. Five Eastern Conference All-Stars changed teams in trades, with Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas involved in the same deal, and Paul George, Jimmy Butler, and Carmelo Anthony all being sent to new homes in the West.
With opening night just two weeks away, 29 of 30 NBA teams have completed at least one trade this offseason, leaving the Spurs as the only club not to make a deal. Of those 29 teams that made a trade, most completed more than one — the Cavaliers, Heat, Suns, Warriors, and Wizards each finalized just one deal apiece, while the league’s 24 other teams made multiple trades.
Here’s the breakdown of the teams that made the most trades this offseason:
- Houston Rockets (8): Houston’s total was artificially inflated by those aforementioned deals involving non-guaranteed contracts. Six of their eight trades saw the Rockets trade cash or a draft pick for a player with a non-guaranteed salary. The team did complete one massive deal though, acquiring Chris Paul from the Clippers.
- Los Angeles Clippers (5): The CP3 swap was the Clippers’ biggest move, but it was hardly their only trade. The team also acquired Danilo Gallinari in a sign-and-trade and acquire multiple second-round picks on draft night.
- Philadelphia 76ers (5): Most of the Sixers’ trades were draft-night deals, though the biggest one happened a few days earlier, when Philadelphia acquired the first overall pick from Boston in order to snag Markelle Fultz.
- Atlanta Hawks (4): The rebuilding Hawks made a handful of trades with an eye toward the future, including taking on Jamal Crawford‘s contract to land a first-round pick, and getting rid of Dwight Howard and his $23MM+ annual salary.
- New Orleans Pelicans (4): The Pelicans essentially completed a pair of salary dumps when they traded Tim Frazier to Washington and Quincy Pondexter to Chicago, since the pick acquired for Frazier was later sold. The team’s most notable deal came on draft night, when New Orleans traded up to No. 31 to select Frank Jackson.
The other NBA teams that made the most trades this offseason are as follows
- Boston Celtics (3)
- Brooklyn Nets (3)
- Chicago Bulls (3)
- Dallas Mavericks (3)
- Indiana Pacers (3)
- Memphis Grizzlies (3)
- Orlando Magic (3)
- Portland Trail Blazers (3)
- Toronto Raptors (3)
- Utah Jazz (3)
- Charlotte Hornets (2)
- Denver Nuggets (2)
- Detroit Pistons (2)
- Los Angeles Lakers (2)
- Milwaukee Bucks (2)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (2)
- New York Knicks (2)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (2)
- Sacramento Kings (2)
Note: The Magic sending the Raptors a draft pick for the right to hire Jeff Weltman and the Knicks sending a pick to the Kings for the right to hire Scott Perry are both considered trades for our purposes.
Ballmer Felt Paul Wanted To Leave In Spring
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer had a feeling last spring that Chris Paul wanted to move on, he told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times in a Q&A session. Ballmer’s feelings were confirmed shortly after the season but he didn’t get a final decision from Paul until a phone conversation while Ballmer was vacationing in the Greek Isles. Ballmer has stayed in touch with Paul since he was traded to the Rockets but doesn’t believe the team is necessarily worse off without the All-Star point guard, he told Turner. “Chris is an awesome player. But we’re such a different team,” he said. “We are younger. We are more athletic than we were. We are longer than we were. … But we’re different and we’ll see whether we’re different good or not.”
Willie Reed's Arraignment Hearing Pushed Back
Russell Westbrook‘s decision to sign a max extension is bad news for the Lakers in their pursuit of two top-level free agents next summer, as Eric Pincus examines in a Bleacher Report column. The Lakers were hopeful they could fill a max slot with Westbrook, who now has all season to convince another Los Angeles target, Paul George, to re-sign with the Thunder in the offseason, Pincus continues. Moreover, the Lakers are currently projected to have $47MM in cap space if they let restricted free agent Julius Randle walk, which isn’t enough to land two star free agents, Pincus notes. Unless they can convince LeBron James to come West, their best remaining options could be DeMarcus Cousins or DeAndre Jordan, provided Jordan doesn’t sign an extension with the Clippers, Pincus adds.
- Clippers point guard Milos Teodosic has a simple explanation why he decided to play in the NBA this season after gaining a reputation as Europe’s top player, as Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times passes along. “I decided long time ago that I wanted to play in the NBA, but I didn’t have that much chances because I was always under contract and I was not free agent,” Teodosic told Turner. “This summer I was free and the first big opportunity was here with the Clippers.” Teodosic signed a two-year, $12.3MM contract to be the Clippers’ primary ballhandler.
- Clippers center Willie Reed had his arraignment hearing for a misdemeanor domestic battery charge in Miami rescheduled from today to Oct. 16, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel tweets. Reed was booked on the charge in August. The alleged incident occurred shortly after Reed, who played for the Heat last season, signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract with the Clippers.
Lou Williams Tries To Fill Jamal Crawford Role
The Clippers had their work cut out for them replacing Jamal Crawford this season but fortunately had already landed Lou Williams, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times writes. Williams has carved out a successful career being one of the league’s best reserves.
Williams came over as part of the massive Chris Paul trade and will take on an even larger share of the Clippers’ offensive load than he may have initially expected now that Crawford has been bought out and signed with the Timberwolves.
The Clippers guard may not have three Sixth Man of the Year Awards to his name like Crawford does but he does at least have one. So far.
Clippers Discussing Extension With DeAndre Jordan
DeAndre Jordan‘s extension talks with the Clippers haven’t reached the point of discussing numbers yet, according to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times.
The 29-year-old center will make $22.6MM this year, then has a player option for 2018/19 worth $24.1MM. Jordan is heading into his 10th NBA season, which makes him eligible for 8% annual raises next summer if he stays with the Clippers.
If he decides to opt out and re-sign with L.A., he could get more than $207MM over five years. If he goes to another team, he would be limited to four seasons with 5% annual increases.
“Obviously we want DJ and we want DJ to finish his career with the Clippers,” said president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank. “But there’s no news to report. That’s kind of where it’s at right now.”
Blake Griffin Will Do A Bit Of Everything
- Don’t rule out seeing Blake Griffin spend time as the Clippers‘ tallest man on the floor, only to turn around and bring the ball up the court, Doc Rivers tells the Associated Press. Quite frankly, the 28-year-old will do a bit of everything now that Chris Paul is with the Rockets.
Willie Reed Files $13.5MM Arbitration Claim Against Andy Miller, ASM
10:40am: The Heat deny making a three-year, $15MM offer to Reed, tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel.
8:46am: Multiple players are parting ways with agency ASM and agent Andy Miller, and Willie Reed has filed an arbitration claim seeking $13.5MM, league sources Jeff Goodman and Chris Haynes of ESPN.com. Reed alleges he was defrauded by the agency.
The agency’s troubles are related to former agent Christian Dawkins, who was one of 10 people arrested this week in the FBI’s probe into fraud and corruption in NCAA recruiting. Dawkins was reportedly let go by ASM back in May after racking up more than $40K in charges on a player’s Uber account. An investigation by the National Basketball Players Association determined that worked out to 1,865 Uber rides, and “all but a small number” of those charges were made without the player’s permission.
However, despite no longer being certified, Dawkins remained the primary ASM representative for multiple players, including Reed, Edmond Sumner, and Justin Patton. All three of those players have now severed ties with Dawkins, Miller, and ASM, according to Goodman and Haynes, who note that Reed left the agency in July, while Sumner and Patton have done so this week.
Sources tell ESPN that Dawkins advised Reed to turn down a three-year, $15MM offer from the Heat this summer, suggesting he’d receive more lucrative offers. The big man ultimately signed a one-year, minimum salary deal with the Clippers that will pay him about $1.5MM, which explains why his arbitration claim is worth $13.5MM.
While Miller has until October to respond to Reed’s claim, it remains to be seen whether the agency will retain all of its higher-profile clients in the wake of a federal raid on ASM’s offices. Miller and ASM represent dozens of NBA players, including big names like Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, Myles Turner, and Kristaps Porzingis.
Austin Rivers Finds Opportunity Post-CP3
If Austin Rivers is going to silence naysayers who claim his career has been propped up by his head coach father, now is as good an opportunity as any. Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times spoke with the 25-year-old Clippers guard about life after Chris Paul.
Rivers averaged 12.0 points per game in 74 games for the Clippers last season but drove that up to 16.1 in 29 games as a starter. With Paul and shooting guard J.J. Redick no longer with the squad, he could see a lot more time as a primary scoring option.
Rivers also spoke about the rumor that Paul requested a trade because Doc Rivers, then still the president of basketball operations, refused to trade his son in an effort to bring Carmelo Anthony to the Clippers.
Clippers Sign LaDontae Henton
SEPTEMBER 28: Henton’s deal with the Clippers is now official, according to RealGM’s log of NBA transactions.
AUGUST 24: The Clippers have reached an agreement with veteran forward LaDontae Henton and will sign him to a training camp contract, a league source tells Chris Reichert of 2 Ways & 10 Days (Twitter link). According to Reichert, the deal will include an Exhibit 10 clause, meaning it’ll be a one-year, minimum salary contract.
Henton, 25, went undrafted in 2015 after playing his college ball at Providence. Since then, the 6’6″ small forward has spent time with teams in Spain and the Philippines. He also played for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League last season, averaging 13.6 PPG and 5.3 RPG with a .402/.383/.735 shooting line in 37 games.
Because Henton played for Santa Cruz last year, the Warriors’ G League affiliate will still hold his returning rights heading into the 2017/18 season. The Clippers’ new G League team, the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, will have to trade for those rights in order to make him an affiliate player this fall. Convert Henton’s Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal would be another way L.A. could hang onto him.
Once the Clippers officially finalize their reported agreements with Henton and Marshall Plumlee, the team will have 19 players under contract, one short of the 20-man offseason limit.