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So… the Clippers, huh.
The year-long probe surrounding alleged salary cap manipulation ended on Wednesday and handed down one of the biggest punishments in professional sports history, suspending multiple key officials, fining the organization $30 million, and taking five first-round picks. It’s not entirely unprecedented (see: Joe Smith), but it’s pretty damn startling.
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While there are many things to take away from this ruling (particularly with how Kawhi seems to have completely gotten away with this), the biggest thing might just be how unimaginably bad the Kawhi Leonard era went in LA.
To get Leonard to sign with them in 2019, the Clippers had to trade for Paul George, a trade that has gone down as one of the worst in league history due to the sheer magnitude of picks traded and how it kickstarted the Thunder’s contention window by giving them Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
In seven years, it was disappointment after disappointment, with the highlight being a trip to the 2021 Western Conference Finals that ended in a blowout defeat at home in Game 6. George left and was replaced by James Harden; Harden left, and Leonard is choosing to return to Toronto after burning this franchise to the ground behind him.
In total, with Leonard (likely) going to the Raptors at some point, this is what the Clippers gave up for his services, both to convince him to sign and convince him to stay:
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2021 MIA 1st (#18 – Tre Mann)
2022 LAC 1st (#12 – Jalen Williams)
2023 1st Pick Swap (not conveyed)
2024 LAC 1st (#26 – Dillon Jones)
2025 MIA 1st (Lottery Protected, became Thomas Sorber)
2025 1st Pick Swap (Conveyed, Nique Clifford)
2026 LAC 1st (#12 – Aday Mara)
2029 IND 1st (voided by NBA)
2030 LAC 1st (voided by NBA)
2031 LAC 1st (voided by NBA)
2032 LAC 1st (voided by NBA)
2033 LAC 1st (voided by NBA)
Good grief.
This is, hands down, the worst trade in NBA history. It destroyed an entire franchise’s future 10-15 years for three playoff series victories in seven years. At least Billy King only messed up the Nets for five years.
It does get you thinking, though. How bad has it gotten for the Knicks? We can recall some…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/worst-trades-knicks-history-153553105.html
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Publish date : 2026-09-05 15:35:00
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