3 Stars Clippers Can Trade For Using the No. 5 Pick

If the plan is to try to build a contender around Kawhi Leonard and Darius Garland, the LA Clippers can use their first-round pick to acquire one of these stars who may be available.

Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Clippers have optionality this offseason. They can either embrace a rebuild by letting Kawhi Leonard go and building around Darius Garland and the No. 5 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Or, they can keep both stars and add another veteran star to try to contend in the next few seasons.

GM Lawrence Frank said after the season that they intend to build a winner around Leonard. If that is in fact the plan, then the Clippers have to be aggressive in free agency and the trade market to close the gap between them and the top of the Western Conference. That means that they should at least consider trading their fifth-overall pick. Who can they realistically get using that selection?

Trey Murphy

The New Orleans Pelicans have held firm in their unwillingness to trade Trey Murphy. However, the No. 5 pick in a draft where they don't have any first-rounders may be too difficult to turn down for the Pels.

Not only is Murphy an elite shooter with a ton of two-way upside, but he is also only 25 years old and on a team-friendly contract. The fact that he only makes $27 million for next season makes a potential trade logistically much easier. The Clippers could give up the fifth-overall pick and another future first-rounder to poach the talented small forward. They would need to add some matching salary to make the deal work, perhaps with a Bennedict Mathurin sign-and-trade, but this shouldn't be too difficult.

Murphy, alongside Leonard and Garland, could be a core piece of this team over the next several seasons.

Rudy Gobert

This would be more of a short-term move, so the Clippers have to be cautious about giving up their pick. Perhaps they can get back Minnesota's 28th-overall pick in the draft to balance out the trade.

The Clippers desperately need a starting center and a defensive anchor. Even at age 33, the French big man is as good as anyone not named Victor Wembanyama on that end of the floor.

Gobert makes $36.5 million next season, and given Minnesota's bleak financial situation going forward, they should have some interest in moving him. It is certainly a risky move for the Clippers, but matching OKC and San Antonio's size with the addition of Gobert may be the only way for LA to have a real shot at contention over the next couple of seasons.

Alperen Sengun

It's not clear whether the Houston Rockets are ready to make sweeping changes, but given their disappointing first-round loss to the Lakers, presumably, everything should be on the table. Kevin Durant could also be a trade target, but two-time All-Star center Alperen Sengun might make a little more sense.

Assuming that the Rockets wouldn't be too interested in another high lottery pick, this may have to be a three-team deal. In terms of trade value, however, the No. 5 pick for Sengun may be a fair and fascinating swap.

The Turkish big man wasn't able to deliver in the playoffs, but he is only 23 years old. On a team with more talent and shooting around him, he could look significantly better as an offensive hub. For the Clippers, he could be the long-term solution at center.

The Garland-Sengun duo certainly creates some defensive concerns, so the Clippers would have to surround them with as much defense, size, and athleticism elsewhere.

A major appeal for Sengun is his contract. He makes $35.6 million next season and is on a team-friendly deal for the next three years. Even if things don't work out and the Clippers have to pivot, they would always have the option to trade him again for positive value.