What's Next for the Clippers After the NBA's Cap Circumvention Punishment?

It's a dark day for the Los Angeles Clippers. After receiving a severe punishment for their violation of league rules, the Clippers have to make a lot of difficult decisions. The leadership has to decide what the best course of action is for the franchise going forward. Let's explore what Clippers fans can expect in the short- and long-term future of the organization.

What Happens With Steve Ballmer and Lawrence Frank?

Steve Ballmer is suspended from all league and team activities for a year. Plus, the Clippers are unlikely to be able to build a contender in the next decade given the severity of their draft capital punishment. How much interest will Ballmer have in owning this team if he can't even attend games for a year or have a relevant, competitive team?

Considering the damage to his reputation stemming from the investigation, Ballmer may want to take a step back. He could make billions of dollars in profit by selling the Clippers. He would also benefit from being away from the public eye for a little bit before returning to buy another team.

Lawrence Frank is suspended without pay for six months. He will not be the lead decision-maker for the Clippers until after the trade deadline. Will the Clippers replace him with someone else? Or will he get his job back once his suspension is over?

A fresh start may be best for everyone involved, but Ballmer, Frank, and Ty Lue have been attached at the hip for a long time. They could very well decide to weather this storm together.

Ty Lue and the Roster

Lue is under contract through the 2028-29 season. He is one of the highest-paid head coaches in the NBA. It will be difficult to justify that for a team that will not be a contender during the duration of that contract.

There is obviously no reason for Lue to give up that contract. There is no reason for the Clippers to fire him but continue to pay him. In that scenario, they would be paying two coaches at once, which is also hard to justify. Unless there is an ownership change, Lue will likely be the Clippers' head coach for the foreseeable future.

In terms of the roster, it's difficult to know what to expect. What makes the most sense is to trade veterans for future assets. The Clippers need to start stockpiling draft capital and young players after losing five future first-round picks. This requires them to be willing to move on from any veteran with trade value, including Darius Garland and Brandon Ingram.

Clippers' Immediate Future

The Clippers still have no incentive to lose games next season. Since they don't control their own 2027 pick, they will try to win as many games as they can.

Unless, however, they trade back for their pick. The Oklahoma City Thunder have swap rights for LA's 2027 first-round pick. It behooves the Clippers to try to get their pick back so that they can bottom out and build through the draft.

Barring that specific trade, not much changes in terms of the Clippers' intentions for the 2026-27 season. But it would still be wise for them to trade the likes of Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr. to help refill their asset coffers.

Clippers' Long-Term Future

The Clippers' long-term outlook is where things start to look really bleak. The Clippers don't have control of their own pick until the 2034 NBA Draft. It will be very difficult for the Clippers to build a competitive playoff team without any meaningful draft capital.

LA will still get Toronto's first-round picks in 2031 and 2033. They also have the less favorable first-rounder between OKC and themselves in 2027 and the less favorable first-rounder between Philadelphia and themselves in 2029. They could get lucky, and one of these picks could be a lottery selection, but that's not enough to feel good about the state of their future draft capital.

The damage to the Clippers organization also extends beyond the forfeiture of draft picks. It will be much harder for the team to attract free agents or retain their in-house talent. The reputation of the organization has taken a serious hit, and considering how difficult it will be to contend, the Clippers will no longer be an attractive destination for the league's best players.

There are still ways for the Clippers to put out a good product. Keaton Wagler could turn out to be a star. Yanic Konan Niederhauser and Kobe Sanders could establish themselves as long-term starters. There might be another gear for Darius Garland to hit. It's not unfathomable to think that the Clippers could have a playoff team with their current core.

But if that's the best-case scenario for this team for the next half-decade, that is not nearly good enough.

That is why the Clippers need to hit rock bottom as quickly as possible. The only goal needs to be to maximize their future assets. If that means being the worst team in the league for the next two seasons, so be it. Only then can they bounce back quickly and still have a decent team by the time their draft picks are getting taken away.

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