Blake Griffin is back in the Clippers conversation as the NBA’s punishment lands with five first-round picks gone and a $30 million fine for Steve Ballmer. The ruling leaves the Los Angeles Clippers without draft help from 2029 through 2033, a stretch that can reshape how a team rebuilds.
The NBA ruled that the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented salary cap rules with Kawhi Leonard. Ballmer was also suspended from team activities for a year, turning this from a roster issue into an ownership penalty.
Baron Davis on five years
Baron Davis put the timeline into blunt terms: “I think for the Clippers, the next five years are going to be super important around how they stay competitive, how they develop the young guys that they can get.” His view tracks with the practical damage here, because the NBA Draft is only two rounds and franchise-altering players are often found in the first 30 picks.
He added: “So, it does put you somewhere behind the eight ball when it comes to getting better through the draft, finding that [Victor Wembanyama], AJ Dybantsa, [Kevin Durant], right; LeBron [James], like getting those picks.” For a team already missing the playoffs and having traded away its best player in Leonard, that removes one of the cleanest paths back into contention.
Free agency over draft capital
That leaves the Clippers with a harder roster-building choice. Davis said the club will have to rely on free agency and scouting to find players it cannot find in the draft, which is a different kind of pressure than simply waiting on pick value to rise.
He framed the next step this way: “What the Clippers must do is figure out which direction - and I think over the next two years, we'll start seeing which direction they want to go, as far as do they want to get young and take chances, or are they good enough now to really just rely on free agency to put them back into playoff contention?”
Los Angeles without picks
The punishment strips Los Angeles of five first-round swings from 2029 through 2033, and that is the part that will linger longest. If the Clippers want to stay competitive, they will have to make those years count through scouting, cap management and whatever help free agency delivers, because the draft road just got much narrower.
