The Clippers Will Make the Playoffs
The Los Angeles Clippers hold the longest active streak of winning seasons in the NBA with 15 straight seasons. This feat is also good enough to be the 4th most consecutive winning seasons in all of NBA history! Steve Ballmer plans to never have a losing season and I believe it will not start now.
There are two ways to rebuild, a hard rebuild and a soft rebuild. A hard rebuild consists of selling your best players in exchange for mostly draft compensation, resulting in ranking seasons to acquire even more top picks. A soft rebuild consists of selling your best players for picks while acquiring reliable players in return in order to not tank. The Clippers went the route of a soft rebuild.
The team began this process by trading away James Harden abruptly after winning 17 out of their last 21 games. In return, Darius Garland made his way to the Clippers which proved immediately that the Clippers will look to stay competitive as they acquired a young, two-time all-star that started on a 64-win team just the previous season.
Next on the trade block was center Ivica Zubac. The team traded away Zubac for a reliable, promising young player in Bennedict Mathurin in order to not tank. Despite this solid acquisition, they obtained two first round picks in return, including the fifth pick in the 2026 NBA draft where they selected Keaton Wagler.
The team then traded away their biggest signing in franchise history in Kawhi Leonard. As of this writing, the trade is still pending upon investigation. However, if the trade goes through as initially agreed upon, all-star Brandon Ingram and former lottery pick Gradey Dick will make their way over to the Clippers along with three first round picks, two of which are unprotected in the 2030s.
The Clippers were able to retain promising players that can contribute to winning immediately while also receiving a generous selection of draft picks. This does not even mention the young players on the current roster that will be looking to make a leap, such as Kobe Sanders, Yanic Konan-Niederhauser, and Jordan Miller. I haven’t even mentioned the reliable veterans on the team that are capable defenders such as Kris Dunn, Derrick Jones Jr, and Brook Lopez.
The team’s most recent main roster signing is Rui Hachimura. Rui ended last season as a top five shooter in the league and was beloved by Lakers fans due to his reliable play, especially in the playoffs. The vet now gets to stay in Los Angeles where he will have a bigger role with more opportunities to produce for a team on the rise.
Another name the Clippers are on the hunt for is Peyton Watson. My first article published to this website is a breakdown of Watson and his potential so I won’t dive much into that here. However, all you need to know is that there is real star potential on both the offensive and defensive end for the restricted free agent.
The Clippers are following their footsteps from the 2017-2019 years where they traded away lob city for a selection of draft picks as well as win-now players that can create an identity of the franchise being a place to be. There are many players to be excited about for this upcoming season and many looking to prove themselves once again, which will ultimately result in the Clippers continuing their streak to 16 consecutive winning seasons.