Duke Sizemore here, and the NBA just dropped a HAMMER on the Clippers: five first-round picks gone, thirty million dollars in fines, and that is only the beginning! Here’s what we’ve got today: the full L.A. penalty, a blockbuster trade worth remembering as preseason approaches, and an Atlanta finish that went ice-cold at exactly the wrong time.
Okay okay okay, Clippers first. The league stripped Los Angeles of FIVE first-round picks, covering 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033, over salary-cap circumvention involving off-court income opportunities arranged for Kawhi Leonard. Five consecutive first-rounders! Steve Ballmer is suspended for one year, Leonard was fined seven hundred thousand dollars, Dennis Robertson was banned from NBA-related business for five years, and the franchise itself takes that thirty-million-dollar fine.
And here is the market piece: no qualifying power-board move since September third. Nothing. The Clippers are also the top faller on the broader hype measure at minus 130.4 after a 42-and-41 record, but the day-over-day futures board has NOT produced a fresh move big enough to register.
Now keep Minnesota on your radar when basketball returns, because that roster changed in a major way last week. The Timberwolves acquired LaMelo Ball and Josh Green from Charlotte. Going back to the Hornets: Naz Reid, an unprotected 2033 first-round pick, three first-round swaps and three second-rounders. That is a pile of draft capital surrounding a major-name deal!
And Atlanta, WHEW. The Hawks' final six listed games against New York produced a minus-48.2 recent Elo swing. They won two nail-biters, 107-106 and 109-108, then lost THREE straight. The finale was an 89-140 demolition at home. Atlanta enters the preseason model at 1531.5 Elo, ranked 15th. Mouhamed Gueye is out with a foot issue through at least mid-October, while RayJ Dennis, Keshon Gilbert and Jock Landale are day-to-day.
No recycled Summer League noise today, no pretending stale title odds are breaking news. The next confirmed game on the board is Miami at Toronto on October third. Until then, we track the moves that actually MOVE. Duke Sizemore signing off, and I will catch you tomorrow!