Get ready for Street Lights vs. Spotlights, Part II.

It has been nearly six years since the LA Clippers’ rebranding campaign included that clever catchphrase, with the former variety representing their gritty group and the latter a not-so-veiled shot at the glitz-and-glam Los Angeles Lakers team led by the great LeBron James. That Steve Ballmer-approved marketing flex came in the wake of the Clippers adding Kawhi Leonard (who the Lakers thought was headed their way) and Paul George (who had once been determined to play for the Lakers) just months before. And even if it didn’t age well — the Lakers are the only Los Angeles team to win a title during that span, after all — it was both admirable and entertaining to see the local underdog compete so unabashedly with its NBA big brother.

Now, it’s happening again.

If you watched the way the Lakers and Clippers front offices functioned during the first phase of free agency, you might have noticed a theme: Neither team wanted to make any moves that cut into its financial flexibility for the future, with the Lakers prioritizing their goal of having (mostly) clean books starting next offseason and the Clippers laser-focused on the summer of 2027.

Why the short-term outlook, you might ask? Because both franchises are swinging big for the long haul. And surely hoping the other misses badly along the way.

The most obvious target here is Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks star whose plans remain unknown and who could be a free agent in the summer of 2027 if he doesn’t sign an extension before then. The same goes for Denver’s Nikola Jokić, who gave all of his suitors some hope on Tuesday when he informed Nuggets officials that he wouldn’t be signing his extension this offseason and could also be a free agent two summers from now. The star-studded list of players who could be free agents in 2027, and could be attainable via trade before then, goes on from there.

When you have all-time greats on your roster who are on the back end of their storied careers — James in the Lakers’ case and Leonard/James Harden for the Clippers — you simply must be ready to welcome a younger one should he decide to come your way. That’s the shared goal, anyway, one that is increasingly logical because of the league’s current collective bargaining agreement and the second-apron (luxury-tax) chaos that has been caused by it. If a title-contending team underperforms — or gets wrecked by injury like the Boston Celtics did with Jayson Tatum’s Achilles tendon tear in May — then the threat of a necessary teardown looms large.

Just ask Josh Kroenke.

While there are no current signs that Jokić wants out, the Nuggets’ governor and team president made unwelcome headlines recently when he offered unsolicited comments about the nightmare prospect of having to consider trading the Serbian superstar. In fairness to Kroenke, he was simply highlighting the dangers that come with this CBA. But he should have known better than to speak that sort of thing into existence, and the harsh truth is that it was red meat for the rival teams that would love nothing more than to see Jokić raise his hand, eventually, and ask out of town. These are the kinds of calculated risks that the Lakers and Clippers appear hell-bent on taking.

But the fascinating part, and the thing that has been on full display in these past nine days, is that both teams have been pulling the curtain back on these plans even more with every move — and non-move — they make.

Let’s start with the Lakers, who were sold for a whopping $10 billion valuation to Dodgers owner/Lakers minority owner Mark Walters recently but will still be run by longtime owner Jeanie Buss for quite some time to come. Per a team source, Buss’ agreement with Walter and the NBA stipulates that she’ll remain the team’s governor for at least the next five seasons.

Of all the Lakers’ choices made recently, their handling of James’ contract situation was as telling as any. They showed no willingness to discuss a contract beyond this coming season with 40-year-old James and thus made it clear that the shift toward Luka Dončić as their franchise centerpiece — and the youth movement that comes with it — is the top priority. (James picked up his player option worth $52.6 million.) When James’ contract decision was publicly revealed, it spoke such a volume about the state of his current relationship with the Lakers that his longtime agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, shared a public message about the concerns James has about this approach.

The bread crumbs hardly stopped there.

The Lakers only offered a two-year deal to beloved forward Dorian Finney-Smith in free agency, then saw him leave for Houston on a four-year deal (although only two of the years are reportedly guaranteed). They signed players in Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia and Jaxson Hayes whose deals either expire before the summer of 2027 or are team-controlled at that point.

What they didn’t do — not yet, anyway — is trade away the 2031 first-round pick that had been part of the rescinded Mark Williams trade with the Charlotte Hornets in February. That choice, conceivably, could allow them to do a deal that includes up to three first-round picks next summer. You get the idea. And considering the serendipitous way they landed Luka, who could blame them for wanting to be in prime position to do that sort of blockbuster deal yet again?

The Clippers, meanwhile, started this sort of strategy more than a year ago. They signed the then-32-year-old Leonard to a three-year, $153 million extension in January 2024 when he was eligible for a four-year, $223 million deal, then hoped that the 34-year-old George would be willing to do a similar deal from there. He was not. George, displeased that the Clippers would only offer a three-year deal, bounced for Philadelphia on a four-year max.

Fast forward to this summer, and the Clippers re-signed 35-year-old James Harden on a two-year, $81.5 million deal and gave two-year deals to Brook Lopez and Nicolas Batum. It’s worth noting, by the way, that Batum, Lopez and Bogdan Bogdanović all have team options for the 2026-27 season. Harden, similarly, has only a partial guarantee for his second season (which is a player option). The Clippers, like the Lakers, could pivot to prioritizing next summer, too.

More tellingly, the Clippers sent Norman Powell to Miami, by way of a three-team trade with Utah, after he had the best season of his 10-year career. The problem for the Clippers, of course, is that Powell was extension-eligible (with one year left on his deal), and they simply couldn’t reward him for his wonderful play with a long-term deal while keeping their strategy intact. They landed John Collins, who is on an expiring deal, in return.

And therein lies the trickiest part of this plan.

Legends of the game like James, Leonard and Harden surely want to know that their respective team is all-in, especially when Father Time is banging so loudly at their door. And this approach, however understandable, is an admission by both teams that they’re looking ahead to a time when the aforementioned greats are (more than likely) no longer around. All of which makes this next season so interesting for both of the L.A. teams.

Both squads have reason to believe that they can push for a top playoff spot in the Western Conference, all while keeping their proverbial powder dry with the hopes that there’s another elite era to come. It’s a personnel purgatory, if you will, one that comes with all sorts of possible conflicts and complications.

None of which will matter if the ends justify the means.

(Photo of James Harden and LeBron James: David Crane / MediaNews Group / Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)