{"id":1041369,"date":"2026-09-03T19:25:37","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T19:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1041369\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T19:25:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T19:25:37","slug":"why-nbas-harsh-punishment-for-clippers-is-great-news-for-celtics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1041369\/","title":{"rendered":"Why NBA\u2019s harsh punishment for Clippers is great news for Celtics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBoston Celtics\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe Clippers’ descent as a potential cellar-dweller in the West will be a welcome sight for the Celtics.<\/p>\n

\"Boston
\n\tThe drama surrounding Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers might be good news for the Celtics. (AP Photo\/Mark J. Terrill)\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Conor Ryan<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 3, 2026 | 3:11 PM\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

2 minutes to read<\/p>\n

Celtics fans are still hurting months after Boston traded away star wing Jaylen Brown to the 76ers.<\/a><\/p>\n

Beyond the pain of seeing a franchise pillar like Brown dealt to another Atlantic Division rival in Philadelphia, the return Boston secured for a legitimate MVP candidate left a lot to be desired.<\/p>\n

Boston received 36-year-old Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks in exchange for Brown, with George\u2019s age, contract, and durability raising serious questions about how much he can boost a retooling Boston roster.<\/p>\n

But as the Celtics try to augment their roster around Jayson Tatum, Boston could be primed to snag a blue-chip asset in 2028 \u2014 due in large part to the mess that the Los Angeles Clippers find themselves in.\u200b<\/p>\n

The two first-round picks that Boston received from Philly are a 2028 first-round pick\/pick swap from the Clippers, as well as a 2031 unprotected first-round selection from the Sixers.<\/p>\n

That 2031 first-rounder could be valuable down the road for a win-now Philly squad, although Brad Stevens and Boston will need to play the waiting game for some time before unearthing the value of that pick.<\/p>\n

But that 2028 Clippers pick could either manifest into a prime draft pick \u2014 or a valuable trade chip \u2014 in short order.<\/p>\n

A Clippers team that \u2014 just a few years ago \u2014 was seemingly set to contend for years was hammered by the NBA on Wednesday for violating salary cap circumvention rules.<\/a><\/p>\n

As part of the severe punishment doled out by the league, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer was suspended for one year, president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was suspended six months, and team president of business operations Gillian Zucker was suspended for one year.<\/p>\n

Along with taking a $30 million fine by the NBA, the Clippers are also forfeiting five first-round picks from 2029-33 \u2014 sending the franchise into a potential decade-long no-man\u2019s land.<\/p>\n

That turmoil might be a welcome sight for the Clippers, especially if they immediately start to bottom out in the next year or two.<\/p>\n

Per the terms of the deal, the Clippers\u2019 2028 first-round pick can be swapped with Boston\u2019s first-round selection if it lands in the lottery (1-16).<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s hard to imagine the Clippers holding court as a legitimate contender, especially with Leonard reportedly set to be traded to the Raptors at some point this offseason.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

A new core led by players like Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, and Darius Garland doesn\u2019t exactly inspire much confidence \u2014 and Los Angeles now doesn\u2019t have a whole cupboard of future first-round picks at the ready to deal in search of win-now help.<\/p>\n

Add in the bleak future of the franchise, and it seems unlikely that the Clippers \u2014 even with a shiny venue at the Intuit Dome and its West Coast locale \u2014 won\u2019t be a preferred offseason destination over the next few years.<\/p>\n

New anti-taking rules and the Clippers\u2019 potential appetite to at least operate as a play-in team during this rough patch could hinder Boston\u2019s hopes of that 2028 pick being a legitimate top-10 pick.<\/p>\n

But the turbulence currently shaking the Clippers organization is a scenario that a Celtics team looking to unearth value from that Brown trade should welcome \u2014 especially if it nets either a legitimate prospect or a hefty return as part of a win-now trade.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Profile\t<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the Today newsletter<\/p>\n

Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boston Celtics The Clippers’ descent as a potential cellar-dweller in the West will be a welcome sight for…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1041370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[1260,62,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-1041369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117208753251069714","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1041369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1041370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1041369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1041369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1041369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}