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John Wall To Sign with Clippers; How Does This Affect Thunder Pick Stash?

Oklahoma City owns the Clippers’ draft for the next several years.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are beginning to see the benefits of the Paul George trade and the picks they acquired from the LA Clippers. On top of obtaining Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, they got a record setting amount of draft capital.

The first of the picks from the Clippers came to fruition last week when Oklahoma City took Jalen Williams with the No. 12 overall pick. This was the first of several picks the Thunder could use moving forward that are via the Clippers.

With that in mind, LA is expected to be back near the top of the standings next season. With a healthy Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers are a legit contender.

On Monday night, they got even better.

After being bought out by the Houston Rockets, veteran point guard John Wall is reportedly set to join the Clippers next season.

While it’s likely a short-term deal, Wall could ultimately find a LA to be a new home and sign a longer deal if things work out. If that’s the case, the picks from the Clippers might not be back in the lottery for several years.

With that in mind, Wall joining George and Leonard likely doesn’t impact where these picks land towards the end of the stash of draft capital. However, in the short to medium term, if the Clippers have success, they’re less likely to blow things up.

As such, there could be some significance to this happening. It will be interesting to monitor that situation next season, but Wall certainly elevates the ceiling of the team for now.

It’s a low risk move for the Clippers.


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