Predicting Clippers' Decisions on Their Pending Free Agents

The Los Angeles Clippers' roster could look very different next season than it did in the 2025-26 campaign. GM Lawrence Frank revealed the organization's desire to "win with Kawhi Leonard," but we don't have an indication of what that exactly looks like.

The Clippers have two pending free agents and five players with team options. They own two second-round picks and a potential lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. They can also trade multiple first-round picks to upgrade the roster and have a ton of cap space to be active in free agency.

How aggressive they can be in free agency, however, will depend on the types of contracts they sign with their own pending free agents. Bennedict Mathurin and John Collins will hit the market this summer. What should we expect in the extension negotiations with the two key contributors?

John Collins (Unrestricted Free Agent)

The Clippers knowingly traded for Collins on an expiring contract last offseason. So, they presumably think of him as a long-term piece. Plus, he is the only true power forward on the roster, and was solid in his first season in LA.

Collins is not as good an offensive player as he was earlier in his career with Atlanta, but he can do a little bit of everything. He is hitting 40% of his threes over the last two seasons, albeit on low volume, and can hold his own defensively.

The 28-year-old power forward doesn't have a ton of upside, but is a good rotation player, both as a starter or the sixth man. With a clear role on this team, there should be mutual interest in keeping Collins in LA.

A multi-year deal around the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which starts at $15.1 million next season, seems like a fair deal for Collins. This would also allow the Clippers to retain some cap space not only to re-sign Mathurin, but also to chase other free agents, depending on their team option decisions on Brook Lopez and Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Prediction: Three-year, $47.4 million extension with the Clippers (non-taxpayer MLE)

Bennedict Mathurin (Restricted Free Agent)

Mathurin's extension negotiations will be more complicated. Restricted free agency prevents players from getting their worth on the market, as teams don't like to have their cap space tied up for 48 hours while they await the team that holds the rights to the player to decide whether to match the offer sheet. Therefore, Mathurin may get squeezed out of the market, similar to the Jonathan Kuminga situation with the Warriors last season.

Ideally, the Clippers would want to keep Mathurin. At the same time, they presumably don't want to break the bank on a long-term deal. Mathurin hasn't proven himself to be a great fit next to Darius Garland and Kawhi Leonard yet, and may top out as a sixth man on a good playoff team. His defensive, playmaking, and shooting concerns remain, making it difficult to justify a big investment.

The best-case scenario for both sides may be a lucrative, short-term extension, which could allow Mathurin to get back on the market as an unrestricted free agent sooner rather than later.

This way, the Clippers get to evaluate Mathurin more properly, and the 23-year-old shooting guard gets a chance to earn his worth on the open market.

Plus, the Clippers would want to keep their financial flexibility for the future with the uncertainty of the Kawhi Leonard situation. Depending on how the next season or two go, they could always re-sign Mathurin to another extension in a few years. Otherwise, they could use him as a matching salary on his team-friendly, tradeable deal.

Prediction: Two-year, ~$45 million extension with the Clippers

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