Paul George trade debacle aside, the Los Angeles Clippers have been one of the better run organizations in recent NBA memory. Things are unraveling for them very quickly in a way the Los Angeles Lakers can only laugh at.
The Norman Powell trade was a pivotal point of the 2025 offseason that doomed the Clippers. The other Los Angeles team pushed for the addition of John Collins in anticipation of adding Bradley Beal. The latter was supposed to supplement Powell's departure. He didn't.
Beal suffered a season-ending injury on his left hip. Even before that came to pass, the new Clipper was struggling on the court, averaging just 8.2 points per game on 37.5 percent from the field. Collins has been fine, but nothing special.
Powell, meanwhile, continues to thrive with his new team. Being forced to acclimate to his new environment with the Miami Heat was not something the former Clipper was ever anticipating. The veteran wing explained as much during his appearance on the Ball in the Family Podcast.
Powell said, "I was extremely surprised just because, one, the year that I had, almost making All-Star, filling that void. ... [I was] going into the exit meetings and stuff and talking to them like, ‘Oh, we love you, we want you here as a Clipper, we’ll figure out the extension.’ ... So I’m expecting that."
Clippers' mismanagement of Norman Powell is another big reputational hit
The Heat wing talked about how surprising it was for the Clippers to rapidly shift gears like they did. There was disappointment in all the conversations about extensions misleading him. Powell made it sound like the organization could have offered more transparency with the business side of things.
This comes as another deadly hit to their Clippers' reputation amid the Kawhi Leonard scandal and Chris Paul debacle. It is also a notable contrast to the crosstown Lakers, who have established a strong history of taking care of their players.
So, why does this matter for both sides?
The Clippers, as most would know, are drained of draft capital. Their means to improvement will largely go through trade markets, and free agency. The latter is where this really comes into focus.
Both Los Angeles teams have been positioning themselves to be players in free agency with team-friendly contracts that lean on optionality. How much would free agent players really want to join the Clippers amid the constant negativity coming from their direction?
The good news for the Lakers here: if Los Angeles is a desirable spot for a free agent, there is an increasing imbalance of which team should be preferrable. For Rob Pelinka and company, that would make filling out the roster around Luka Doncic much easier in the coming years.