Цалингийн цэзтэй холбоотой зөрчил гаргасан гэх шалтгаанаар NBA-гээс Лос Анжелес Клипперс багт 30 сая долларын торгууль ногдуулж, ирэх таван жилийн хугацаанд таван драфтын нэгдүгээр тойргийн эрхийг нь хассан шийдвэр гаргалаа.
NBA-гийн мөрдөн шалгах ажиллагааны хүрээнд багийн тэргүүн Стив Баллмер, бизнесийн ерөнхийлөгч Гиллиан Закер нарыг нэг жил, сагсан бөмбөгийн ажил эрхэлсэн ерөнхийлөгч Лоуренс Фрэнк-ийг зургаан сараар тус тус эрх үүргээс нь түдгэлзүүлжээ. Мөн од тоглогч Кавай Леонард 700,000 долларын торгууль төлөхөөр болсон бол түүний нагац ах бөгөөд хуучин менежер Деннис Робертсоныг NBA-гийн тоглогчдыг төлөөлөх, багуудтай харилцах эрхийг таван жилээр хассан байна. Лос Анжелес Клипперс багийн зүгээс уг шийдвэрийг эрс эсэргүүцэж, хуулийн хүрээнд бүхий л арга хэмжээг авахаа мэдэгджээ.
Багийн бүрэлдэхүүний хувьд өөрчлөлтүүд хийгдсээр байна. Солилцооны хугацаа дуусахаас өмнө Жэймс Хардэн, Ивица Зубац нарыг солилцоогоор явуулж, Дариус Гарланд, Бэннэйдикт Матурин, Исаиа Жэксон зэрэг тоглогчдыг эгнээндээ нэгтгэсэн. Мөн Кавай Леонардыг Торонто Рэпторс руу солилцох тохиролцоонд хүрсэн нь багийн өнгөрсөн жилийн бүрэлдэхүүнээс эрс өөрчлөгдсөнийг харуулж байна.
Дасгалжуулагч Тайронн Лю одоогийн бүрэлдэхүүнтэйгээр, ялангуяа гэмтэл бэртэлд өртөмтгий Дариус Гарланд, Брэндон Ингрэм нарт тулгуурлан ялалт байгуулах хүндхэн даалгавартай тулгарч байна. Багийн хувьд ирэх жилүүдэд драфтын сонголтын эрх дутагдах боловч цалингийн цэзэд зай гаргах замаар шинэ тоглогчдыг татах боломжийг эрэлхийлж байгаа юм. Лос Анжелес Клипперс баг нэр хүндээ сэргээж, талбай дээрх тоглолтоо сайжруулах урт хугацааны хүндхэн сорилттой нүүр тулаад байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
The LA Clippers will have to play basketball at some point.
After getting bludgeoned by the NBA’s sledgehammer following a yearlong investigation into alleged salary-cap circumvention, it’s fair to wonder how the Clippers go on to try to extend the league’s longest active streak of winning seasons to 16 years and beyond.
As part of the league’s punishment, the Clippers were docked five future first-round picks (2029-33) and fined $30 million. Chairman Steve Ballmer and business president Gillian Zucker were suspended for one year, while basketball president Lawrence Frank was suspended for six months. Kawhi Leonard, the superstar at the center of it all, was instructed to pay $700,000 to the league, while his uncle and former manager Dennis Robertson was banned for five years from representing NBA players or dealing with teams.
It’s a punishment that the Clippers organization did not expect to endure, at least based on their public statements and responses in recent months. The team is “vehemently” rejecting the NBA’s findings and doubled down by having an attorney send a letter to commissioner Adam Silver claiming that the league’s investigation was “flawed from the outset” and that the organization would explore “every legal remedy to address this gross injustice.”
From a basketball operations standpoint, though, things could be much worse.
The Athletic asked Frank in February whether there was any clarity from the league about when the investigation might be resolved. He had no update at the time, adding that the investigation did not affect transaction decisions made throughout the season.
“We know it’s out there. We know at some point there’ll be a decision made,” Frank said. “We very much feel the same thing that we told you back in September, that we’re on the right side of this. And then, whenever they make the decision, they make the decision. But it really doesn’t impact anything we do on a daily basis.”
But the Clippers’ actions suggested that, even if they expected a much more favorable result, they were preparing for a rainy day.
The Kawhi Saga: What the NBA’s investigation into the Clippers revealed
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The trade deadline saw All-NBA point guard James Harden and All-Defensive selection center Ivica Zubac sent away in two separate deals with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers. The Harden deal sent two-time All-Star Darius Garland and a 2026 second-round pick that was ultimately used on domestic draft-and-stash center Narcisse Ngoy to the Clippers. The Zubac trade, a sell-high maneuver given Zubac’s spiked production while playing with Harden, sent Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, a 2026 first-round pick if it stayed out of the top four, a 2028 second-round pick and a 2029 first-round pick to the Clippers. The 2026 pick was conveyed to the Clippers and used on Illinois point guard Keaton Wagler. The Clippers had the 2029 pick stripped, and Mathurin left this offseason for the New Orleans Pelicans.
If the Clippers complete the agreed-upon trade with the Toronto Raptors, sending Leonard to Canada in exchange for All-Star Brandon Ingram, 2023 lottery pick Gradey Dick, first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, a first-round pick swap in 2027 and two second-round picks in 2030 and 2033, then it completes the franchise’s pivot from the team they had a year ago when the league’s investigation commenced. Furthermore, trading Leonard at some point was foreshadowed back in 2024, when the Clippers’ window for contendership shut in the wake of letting multitime All-Star Paul George walk in unrestricted free agency.
The expectations for the 2024-25 Clippers team were very low, especially given the chronic knee issues Leonard was experiencing that would delay his Intuit Dome debut that season until January 2025.
Instead, despite only 37 games from Leonard, that Clippers team won 50 games. When Leonard missed the entire 2021-22 season because of right ACL knee surgery and George played in only 31 games, the Clippers won 42 games.
In the short term, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue is tasked to do what he is always asked to do: Find a way to win games without Leonard, who missed 208 regular-season games after Lue replaced Doc Rivers in 2020, an average of 34.7 per season. That doesn’t include 13 playoff and two Play-In Tournament games.
The problem the Clippers have is that they don’t have future Hall-of-Famers on the court anymore. A team led by Garland and Ingram represents the lowest Clippers ceiling of the 2020s, and both are injury-prone players. Garland has missed an average of 19 games per season over the last five years, while Ingram has missed an average of 30 games per season over the last five years. Defensive coordinator Jeff Van Gundy will also have his work cut out for him since he has to account for stars who aren’t consistently strong defenders, as well as not having a 30-minute stalwart at center like Zubac.
Longer term, Frank isn’t going to be around to run the front office, and the NBA’s “compliance and monitoring program” that the Clippers are now subject to during the next five years behooves them to not try any funny business to keep in contact with Frank. Ballmer’s financial assets are most evident in how the organization buttressed the front-office depth over the past decade, a process that started when Rivers was stripped of his title as president of basketball operations in 2017, putting Frank in charge of a bolstered group that included Michael Winger, Trent Redden, Mark Hughes and the late Jerry West. Redden is now the general manager, and Hughes is now the senior vice president and assistant general manager. Those two will be expected to lead while Frank is away.
The Clippers won’t have a full complement of first-round picks to use, but this is an organization that has been conditioned to operate without a full complement of first-round picks already. Their biggest issue this season will be navigating a trade deadline in which they may have several contract-year veterans of assorted value to pawn off, such as Derrick Jones Jr., Kris Dunn, Brook Lopez, Rui Hachimura, Max Strus and Bradley Beal. Even Garland and Ingram will be playing for their next contracts immediately; Garland is extension-eligible and a 2028 free agent, while Ingram has a 2027 player option. The Clippers aren’t committed to a single veteran past 2028.
While the Clippers don’t have a blue-chip star, they have been planning to position themselves with a surplus of cap space since George walked in 2024. The Clippers said in a statement upon George’s departure that they are “excited by the opportunities we’ve now been afforded, including greater flexibility under the new CBA,” and that they intend to “use our organizational advantages to bring top talent to Intuit Dome.”
After the league’s ruling, however, the Clippers have a lot of work to do to repair a tarnished reputation, locally and beyond. Taking some level of accountability would be a step, as would apologizing to fans.
On the court, it will be up to the players and coaches to pick up the pieces and compete. That’s their job. How well that job is done will go a long way in determining whether LA can traverse the murky waters that lie ahead.
