Clippers Group &quot: "Career Home" hidden mystery? 2027 may become a big fish to close the net!

The recent offseason operation of the Clippers made fans scratch their heads - the young man was not chasing him, and the rumors were rumored to have a 40-year-old Paul and 37-year-old KD. They even wanted to make up the "Four Elders 150-year-old combination" of Leonard (34) + Harden (36) + KD (37) + Paul (40). How is this team building? It's really a good idea to open a "NBA nursing home"!

But don't rush to draw conclusions, the Clippers are clear about it. Let’s talk about Paul, who has been circulating the most recently. This old man just played for the Spurs for a year. At the age of 40, he can still average 7.4 assists per game, and his game control ability is still online. What's the biggest headache for the Clippers now? No one can handle the bench point guard - Powell's attendance rate is less than 60%. If Paul comes, he will play Harden with 15-20 minutes in each game, and he will have multiple "live calculators" on the court, which will indeed solve the urgent problem.

But Paul is not a sucker, and he publicly said that he wanted to accompany his family. Los Angeles meets the needs of "going home", but the Clippers cannot guarantee playing time and an annual salary of up to 10 million yuan - is this condition enough to attract a 40-year-old veteran? It seems that it is still hanging now. After all, if Paul wants to make money from retirement, some teams will grab it.

Looking at KD again, it is more like a "dewy love". In the early days, KD did not have the Clippers' list of next players. Later, it was suddenly rumored that the Clippers could exchange assets such as Zubac and Powell, which really made people excited - KD's ability to attack just makes up for the shortcomings of the Clippers' unstable offense. But the problem is that changing to KD requires emptied the wing's assets and the defense is downgraded directly; in addition, the Spurs have been chasing tightly recently, US media say that the probability of the Clippers has been "degraded". This matter is basically ruined.

But the Clippers did not panic and turned around and targeted veterans such as Brogden and Smart. Brogden was 32 and a half years old. He only played 24 games with the Wizards last season, with a three-pointer of 28.6% sprint; Smart was 31 years old, and he played not many games in his two careers from the Grizzlies to the Wizards, and his defense fell and his weight soared. You said these two are crisp and the other is watery. What are the Clippers’ goals?

To put it bluntly, the Clippers are playing "time difference". Leonard's contract expires in 2027, Harden expires in 2026, but tends to stay in the team until 2027; the contracts of players such as Powell are also concentrated around 2026. Looking further - in the summer of 2027, Zubac's 21 million guarantee contract was left in the Clippers' account, and the option of two newcomers to 5 million is almost in a "naked run".

The problem is clear at this time: now we are making up veterans to give Leonard and Harden the final peak period - if these two are healthy, they can still make a rush in the 2025 and 2026 seasons; it doesn’t matter if they can’t make it out, just clear your salary space in 2027 and go to the market to catch big fish.

Who are you fishing for? The most fragrant is Thunder's Alexander (SGA). This kid's contract expires in 2027, and he is traded during the rookie contract period + added MVP for two consecutive years, which is a perfect super top salary qualification. But if the Thunder did not win the championship in the finals this year, or had priority to renew Chett and Homgren, SGA might not want to change the environment. As the old SGA boss and Los Angeles football market, Ballmer is not short of money - he will be able to hand over a maximum salary contract at that time, which is very attractive.

Let's take a step back, even if you don't catch SGA, the Clippers can still be a "taker" - there is a lot of salary space in 2027, helping other teams eat junk contracts to exchange draft picks, and there are also bargaining chips for reconstruction. I don’t spend money now, just to be able to "allin" at that time.

You may ask: Now there are veterans, what if Leonard and Harden decline early? But the reality is that the training cycle of rookies is long, high-quality young people are asking for high prices, and veterans are cheap and can plug and play. Besides, this year's playoffs, the Clippers and Nuggets are playing seven games, and all the players can compete with the top Western Conference teams when they are healthy. The goal in the past two years is not to win the championship, but to "maintain the basic market".

To put it bluntly, the Clippers are now "walking on two legs": one leg is supported by the veteran, so that Leonard and Harden will rush for another two years; the other leg is quietly gathering strength, and wait for a complete "reshuffle" in 2027. Does this layout look like Leonard signed back then? In 2019, the Clippers cleared the space and made a super big nude choice, and now they use the same trick again - Ballmer's "Champion Dream" has never given up, but has changed into a smarter way.

In the summer of 2027, let's look at: On the roster of the Los Angeles Arena, maybe there will be a familiar name - such as Alexander, or another person who plays as a super giant. At that time, these veterans in "nutritional homes" have become "stepping stones" that pave the way for the future. Do you think this wave of operation is "smart"?