Los Angeles Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers have dealt forward Mfiondu Kabengele, a conditional future second-round pick and cash to the Sacramento Kings, who will send back a conditional future second-round pick, the Clippers announced Monday night.

The Kings will come away from the deal with a bench player, but the agreement has immediate implications for the Clippers.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the move brings the Clippers $2.6 million under the league's hard cap, a major win for a team that otherwise could have missed out on the opportunity to participate in the buyout market that could materialize following Thursday's trade deadline.

As Wojnarowski explained, "Under the restrictions of the hard cap, the Clippers had to wait until March 30 to sign a player. Now, there are no restrictions on using the team's two open roster spots."

With players like Andre Drummond, LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMarcus Cousins among those expected to be available on the buyout market, the Clippers will now be able to take advantage as they look to fill their pair of open roster spots.

Kabengele, the No. 27 pick out of Florida State in 2019, had averaged 4.5 minutes through 35 outings with the Clippers, who previously declined his third-year option.

Los Angeles, which holds the fourth seed in the Western Conference at 27-16, may not be done making deals ahead of Thursday's deadline.

On Monday, The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor reported that Los Angeles had reached out about the availability of a pair of point guards in the Oklahoma City Thunder's George Hill and the Minnesota Timberwolves' Ricky Rubio in an effort to get some playmaking going outside of the efforts made by the team's stars, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The Clippers rank 19th with 24.3 assists per game.

Moving Kabengele gives the Clippers, who have little to be desired in a trade other than Leonard and George, some flexibility moving forward.

The Los Angeles Clippers are reportedly looking to strengthen their depth at point guard ahead of the NBA trade deadline Thursday.

According to The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor, the Clippers reached out to the Oklahoma City Thunder about George Hill and the Minnesota Timberwolves regarding Ricky Rubio.

Los Angeles ranks 20th in assists (24.3 per game) and 23rd in assist percentage (58.0), per NBA.com.

The team doesn't necessarily need to have the most free-flowing offense since Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are effective scorers in isolation. But it's not a good sign when those two stars sit first and second on the team in assists.

The Clippers would benefit from having another veteran playmaker on the floor to take the pressure off Leonard and George in the postseason.

The New York Times' Marc Stein reported they were looking into a deal for New Orleans Pelicans star Lonzo Ball but explained how that option presents some challenges for the front office:

Likewise, Sam Amick of The Athletic reported March 10 the Clippers weighed a move for Toronto Raptors star Kyle Lowry. Not only would they have to match his $30 million salary, but they'd also have to consider what kind of extension they'd be willing to pay since he's a free agent in the offseason. 

According to TSN's Josh Lewenberg, the Raptors "do not intend to move" Lowry, so that trade could be dead in the water.

O'Connor explained how Hill and Rubio are more attainable for L.A. 

The Thunder are rebuilding, so they don't have much use for the 34-year-old Hill, who's averaging 11.8 points and 3.1 assists while shooting 38.6 percent from beyond the arc. Along the same lines, the 10-32 Timberwolves might prefer to move on from Rubio, who's signed through 2021-22. The 30-year-old doesn't have Hill's range or offensive upside, but he's a better defender and playmaker (6.7 assists per game).

Because they have little in the way of trade assets, the Clippers probably can't swing a deal for an All-Star-caliber talent. However, something would be better than nothing as they line up their pieces for the stretch run.

Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George has been fined $35,000 after he aired his frustration with officiating following the team's 105-89 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium. 

George spoke with officials following a series of what he felt were non-calls, and he told reporters Wednesday that the conversations were "just a bunch of lies." 

"They know what's going on," he said, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. 

The Clippers only went to the line 11 times in the loss, and George said he wants the team to send film into the league for review in an effort to solve a problem he says is "nothing new to me." 

Per Youngmisuk, the seven-time All-Star has shared his disappointment about a lack of calls throughout this season, and he said he has experienced this throughout his 11 seasons in the league. His career-high for free throw attempts per game is 7.0, set in the 2018-19 season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, but that has dipped in his two seasons with the Clippers to 4.05 in 2019-20 and 4.0 through 31 games this season. 

Via statistics from Second Spectrum, the Clippers draw a foul on an average of 6.6 shots per game, ranking fourth-fewest in the league behind Portland, Denver and Phoenix (h/t Youngmisuk). 

"We play physical, no different than any other player in this league, you know?" George said. "There's nothing more that we can do. We're attacking, we're putting pressure at the rim, again. There's nothing that I feel—unless we just start diving and playing a flopping game—there's really nothing much that we can do."

The Clippers are back in action Saturday at 10 p.m. ET against the Charlotte Hornets. 

The Los Angeles Clippers could use some help at the point guard position, especially with Patrick Beverley currently out with right knee soreness.

On that front, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard George Hill's name was thrown out there as a possibility for the Clippers, per comments from ESPN's Brian Windhorst on Thursday's edition of The Jump.

The Hill remarks begin at the 3:40 mark, with discussion about the Clips' current pre-deadline situation starting at 3:00:

"If you're looking for one guy to look for, keep an eye on George Hill with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who's been out with surgery on his hand.

"He's a guy who played for [Clippers head coach Ty Lue] in Cleveland and could fit there, but it would probably take a trade of [Clippers guard Lou Williams] to get that to happen, so they just don't have a lot of options.

"They could really use somebody to get surprise bought out. It would really help them. Last year they got Reggie Jackson on the buyout market. They've been starting Reggie recently, but they need an upgrade there and there's not a lot of options for them to do it."

Hill has averaged 11.8 points on 50.8 percent shooting, 3.1 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game. He's only played 14 contests for the Thunder this year and none since Jan. 25 due to a mallet finger injury of his right thumb that required surgery on Feb. 2, per a team statement.

The latest news regarding the 34-year-old came from head coach Mark Daigneault, who told reporters Thursday (h/t Joe Mussatto of the Oklahoman) that he was still in a cast.

"We're being cautious with him. He's working really hard to stay in shape. He's getting a lot of work in," Daigneault said.

The timetable for Hill's return from injury would certainly play a role in a hypothetical Clips-Thunder deal involving him (or a trade with any other team). However, the 13-year veteran would be a strong asset to any team that lands him for the stretch run if and when he returns.

Of note, he's been shooting quite well over the past two years, notably hitting 46.0 percent of his three-pointers with the Milwaukee Bucks last season.

As Windhorst noted, the Clippers have "less than a million dollars under the hard cap," meaning any trade would have to be for a player who takes less money. He also said that it's not realistic for the Clips to be players in the buyout free agent market.

L.A. can't trade any future first-round picks because it is over the luxury tax. The Clips do have second-round draft picks to trade, but Windhorst noted that any deal "probably would have to include a guy like Lou Williams in the trade."

Williams is third on the team in scoring with 12.2 points per game and currently leads the second unit offensively. In other words, trading Williams would only create another problem.

Regardless, L.A. has found itself in a tough situation, with the team currently sitting at 26-16 following a 105-89 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. It has lost eight of its last 12 games to fall to fourth in the Western Conference, 4.5 games behind the first-place Utah Jazz.

The good news is that 11 of the Clippers' next 13 games are at home, where the team is 13-6. Perhaps staying in the Staples Center for a longer period of time will help the Clippers right the ship.

However, the March 25 deadline is rapidly approaching if L.A. wants to make a trade before then.

Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George voiced the need for an end to hate crimes and urged all races to treat each other with equality and respect.

George was asked about the treatment of Asian Americans on Wednesday after eight people were killed, including six women of Asian descent, in three shootings at Atlanta-area massage parlors Tuesday:

Christian Boone and Joshua Sharpe of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long was charged with multiple counts of murder but denied the shootings had any connection to the race or ethnicity of the victims. He has confessed to the murders.

Long attributed the shootings to a "sexual addiction at odds with his religious beliefs," but Georgia State sociology professor Rosalind S. Chou told the AJC that Long's comments to investigators don't mean the killings weren't a hate crime.

"The entire Asian massage parlor industry is sexualized in a particularly racialized way," Chou said.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp added it's possible Long may face hate-crime charges, but he wanted the investigation to conclude so authorities could make that decision.

"Early indications look like that could be the case," Kemp told the AJC. "I'm willing to ... let the GBI, FBI and others get into the facts before we start weighing in."

NBC News' Kimmy Yam reported research from the Stop AAPI Hate group showed there were 3,800 reports of anti-Asian racist incidents over the past year amid the coronavirus pandemic, and 68 percent of those reports came from Asian women.

George, who's also been a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter cause, was in Atlanta earlier this month for the 2021 NBA All-Star Game.

The Los Angeles Clippers are reportedly in the market for backcourt help as the March 25 trade deadline approaches.   

According to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, there is "strong internal interest in Terry Rozier." Mannix also reported George Hill of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Ricky Rubio of the Minnesota Timberwolves are "in play," although the Clippers are short on draft capital for any potential deal.

Patrick Beverley has dealt with injury issues throughout the 2020-21 season, so any trade for a point guard would help provide more depth alongside Reggie Jackson and move Lou Williams into more of an off-ball role with the second unit.

It has been something of an up-and-down season for Los Angeles, which came into the campaign with championship expectations. It is fourth in the Western Conference at 26-15 but just 5-7 in the last 12 games.

Adding Rozier would give the Clippers a third scoring option alongside Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The Charlotte Hornets guard is averaging a career-best 20.4 points per game while shooting 43.0 percent from three-point range. He also has playoff experience from his time on the Boston Celtics.

Hill isn't the type of scorer that Rozier is, but he has played in 127 career postseason games and could provide veteran leadership for a team that collapsed in last season's playoffs while blowing a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in the second round.

Rubio is more of a facilitator with 6.5 assists per game this season, but that would also work because the Clippers already have go-to scorers in Leonard and George.

The Clippers have the talent to compete with any team in the league as constructed, but overcoming the Los Angeles Lakers or even the Utah Jazz in a seven-game series without some additional help will prove difficult.

Any of these three guards would provide a spark to a team looking for consistency.   

Kawhi Leonard didn't mince words following the Los Angeles Clippers' 135-115 shellacking at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.

Leonard told reporters he's "very concerned" about the team's recent form, indicating his belief the Clippers have lacked the consistency necessary to be a true championship contender:

By now, the Clippers should've worked through the growing pains that are natural after signing two marquee free agents and then making a coaching change following an embarrassing postseason flameout. That's what makes Los Angeles' present situation even more head-scratching.

Following a four-game winning streak in mid-February, L.A. has gone 4-7. Not all of those losses have been blowouts, but the Clippers lost to the Utah Jazz by 18 on Feb. 17 and the Memphis Grizzlies by 28 on Feb. 25. Sunday was the worst of the bunch.

The Pelicans are better than their record (17-22) indicates, but there's no excuse for allowing them to shoot 65.4 percent from the field. The Clippers surrendered 36 points in the first quarter, and that set the tone for a lifeless showing on defense.

Last year, it was easy to downplay any drama behind the scenes or flat performances in the belief head coach Doc Rivers would get everybody on the same page when the games really counted. Then the collapse happened, and it turned out all of those problems couldn't simply be waved away.

That's not to say the Clippers are going to experience the same outcome all over again this summer. Current head coach Tyronn Lue saw firsthand with the Cleveland Cavaliers how a team can come together in the playoff crucible.

But you can't blame fans who think they're watching a repeat of the 2019-20 season.

Los Angeles Clippers guard Patrick Beverley is out for the remainder of Thursday's game against the Golden State Warriors with right knee soreness, the team announced (h/t Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN).

The 32-year-old is averaging 8.5 points and 3.8 rebounds through 28 games this season.

He was forced to miss time earlier in the year when he dealt with knee soreness. That injury pulled him out of a Jan. 24 matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and he missed the next eight games as a result.

He returned to play 18 minutes in a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Feb. 10, grabbing six points and three rebounds. 

The Arkansas product, who was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round in 2009, was hampered by injuries at the end of last season, when he missed five of the first six postseason games due to a strained left calf.

When Beverley was sidelined earlier in the year, the Clippers looked to the veteran duo of Reggie Jackson and Lou Williams to carry the load. 

They should be able to weather what comes while Beverley is out. 

The Los Angeles Clippers reportedly "feel very good about their core" and won't attempt to make any blockbuster deals before the 2021 NBA trade deadline on March 25.

Sam Amick of The Athletic reported Wednesday that L.A. could still pursue some smaller moves that improve its roster at the "margins" over the next few weeks.

The Clippers entered the All-Star break with three straight losses and a 3-6 record over their past nine games, which dropped them to fourth in the Western Conference with a 24-14 overall mark.

It sounds like the Los Angeles front office won't overreact to the recent lackluster form, though.

Along with not trying to make a splash with a high-profile addition, the team is also expected to keep sixth man Lou Williams, whose play during the first half of the regular season has once again established his "pivotal place in their program," per Amick.

They then have the ability to use either Nicolas Batum or Reggie Jackson in the final starting spot depending on the matchup, with plenty of potential production off the bench from Williams, Marcus Morris Sr., Ivica Zubac and Luke Kennard.

Based on talent, it's certainly a championship-level roster as the Clippers attempt to rebound from their disappointing second-round playoff exit against the Denver Nuggets last season. They held a 3-1 series lead before losing three straight games.

So, regardless of how the seeding ultimately plays out, the Clips aren't going to have any easy matchups in the postseason.

In turn, trying to get back into form quickly coming out of the All-Star break to try climbing a few spots to earn a potential extra home round in the playoffs could prove important. That's especially true if fans are starting to become a bigger factor in arenas come May or June.

The Clippers return to action Thursday night against the Golden State Warriors.

A large salary could prevent the Toronto Raptors from moving Kyle Lowry ahead of the March 25 deadline. 

According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, the Los Angeles Clippers "have pondered the Lowry possibility but appears to have been dissuaded by the contract obstacle."

Lowry is making $30.5 million this season in the final year of his three-year, $90 million extension signed in 2017.

Amick also listed the Philadelphia 76ers as a potential landing spot for Lowry, but they might have to give up too much to even make the math work in a trade. This includes a theoretical package featuring Danny Green, Mike Scott and Seth Curry.

The Clippers would likely have to include contributing players with high-priced contracts such as Serge Ibaka, Lou Williams and Marcus Morris.

These types of deals would take too much away from a contending team to justify a trade.

Lowry would help on the court as he continues to produce at a high level. The six-time All-Star is averaging 18.0 points, 7.0 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game, while his 40.3 three-point percentage is the second-best mark of his career.

With his perimeter defense and ability to run an offense, he would provide a boost to virtually any team in the NBA. The 34-year-old's playoff experience, including the 2019 run to an NBA title, would also be a valuable addition to a contender.

The challenge for Toronto will be finding a trade that will benefit both teams.