Riding high on a three-game win streak, the 9-21 Los Angeles Clippers are looking to make some peripheral changes around the fringes of their roster.
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LA has rarely looked particularly coherent this season. After going 50-32 and pushing the Denver Nuggets to seven games in the first round of the 2024-25 playoffs, the Clippers opted to double down on… experience (old guys) over the summer. LA re-signed 36-year-old James Harden and 37-year-old Nicolas Batum. The Clippers also brought in several over-the-hill new free agent additions, adding 40-year-old point guard Chris Paul (now away from the roster), 37-year-old center Brook Lopez (who had fallen out of coach Tyronn Lue’s rotation before an Ivica Zubac injury), 32-year-old shooting guard Bradley Beal (now done for the year with a hip tear).
The Clippers’ two best players — Harden and 34-year-old small forward Kawhi Leonard — are already aging and not inclined to defend much at this stage of their careers.
But the Clippers’ fortunes appear to be changing for the better as they look to claw their way back into at least the play-in tournament conversation. LA’s three-game win streak is a good start, especially since Lopez appears to have rediscovered his shooting stroke. Harden and Leonard continue to light it up on offense, even if they’re major minuses on the other end.
Now, Los Angeles is bringing in some young help to develop in its system.
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports that LA intends to make two roster changes. The Clippers will ink former first-round draft pick TyTy Washington to a new two-way deal, and they intend to cut two-way point guard RayJ in a corresponding move.
In 16 Tip-Off Tournament games for the Clippers’ G Leageu affiliate, the San Diego Clippers, Washington has been averaging a stellar 19.9 points on .494/.434/.893 shooting splits, 5.6 dishes, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.6 swipes per. The Houston Rockets selected the 6-foot-3 Kentucky product with the No. 29 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
Across 58 NBA games with the Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns, Washington has averaged 33.3 points, 1.2 assists and 1.1 rebounds in 10.5 minutes a night.
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