Despite losing in five games to the Phoenix Suns this postseason, the LA Clippers have been one of the more successful organizations in the NBA over the past decade. They have the fifth most wins of any franchise since 2010, and their ten postseason appearances over that same time span rank third in the league.
They’ve cultivated an abundance of star talent in recent years, with players such as Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George having made multiple All-Star appearances as members of the team.
However, they’ve also missed out on their fair share of elite talent throughout the franchise’s history. Or, in other words, let the elite talent slip through their fingers. Of course, no organization is going to make the perfect decision 100% of the time, but these losses sting.
8 Players the LA Clippers gave up on way too soon:
8: Reggie Bullock
The longtime vet started his career in Los Angeles as the 25th pick of the 2013 NBA Draft. However, he was never able to crack the rotation of the 57-win Clippers, averaging just 2.7 points in 9.2 minutes per game across 42 contests.
Bullock was then traded midway through his sophomore campaign at 23 years old, a member of the three-team deal that brought Austin Rivers to the west coast. He spent his next couple of years bouncing back and forth between the NBA and the G League, eventually finding a role as a 3&D player for the Detroit Pistons.
Since then, he’s been able to carve out a role for himself as an off-ball shooter who can also take on some of the tougher defensive assignments the league has to offer. Bullock has stepped up as a rotation player on postseason teams for the Pistons, New York Knicks, and Dallas Mavericks while owning a career 38.4% three-point percentage.
Austin Rivers carved out a solid career for himself and spent his best years with the Clippers, but his shooting and defense never reached the level that Bullock’s did.
While this wasn’t a franchise-altering mistake, it would have been nice to maintain a homegrown role player that theoretically fits perfectly next to their star talent.
7: Brent Barry
Son of NBA legend Rick Barry, Brent Barry was never an All-Star talent but completed a 14-year career in the league. He was originally selected 15th in the 1995 draft by the Denver Nuggets before instantly being traded to the Clippers.
Barry looked like a steal right away as he averaged 10.1 points in his inaugural season while hitting 123 three-pointers, a rookie record at the time. He also ended up winning the 1996 dunk contest as a member of the Clippers.
He only lasted two and a half seasons with Los Angeles before he was dealt midseason for a package of Isaac Austin, Charles Smith, and a future first-round pick that became Brian Skinner. Austin and Smith were both off the team before the turn of the century, while Skinner averaged just 4.7 points per game for his career.
Brent Barry found a stable role after leaving the Clippers
Barry would go on to have a solid career as a role player, leading the league with a 47.6% three-point percentage in 2001 as well as starting eight playoff games during the San Antonio Spurs’ 2005 championship run.
By the end of his career, he finished with two rings, 88 postseason games played, and still owns the 30th-best playoff three-point percentage of all time (41.6%).
The only bright side is that Brian Skinner was eventually part of the trade package for Elton Brand, who made two All-Star appearances for the Clippers in the 2000s.
6: Andre Miller
After improving their record to 39-43 during the 2001-02 season, the ninth-seeded Clippers sought to make a move that would catapult them into the playoff picture. They decided to trade for 25-year-old point guard Andre Miller, who had just come off a season where he led the league with 10.9 assists per game.
The expectation was that adding an elite passer to the established young core would result in a postseason trip, but the move ultimately ended up being a failure.
Andre Miller couldn’t meet expectations with the Clippers
Miller averaged just 6.7 assists the following season despite playing 36.4 minutes per game. He averaged only 13.6 points and shot a mere 40.6% from the field, the lowest mark of his career. The Clippers went 27-55 that following year, taking a step backward.
Miller left in free agency the next summer, signing with the Denver Nuggets. While he never broke out as a star, he remained a solid starting point guard for a number of seasons before transitioning to a bench role.
When all was said and done, Miller played 17 seasons in the NBA and currently ranks 12th all-time in assists.
While it’s hard to fault the Clippers’ front office at the time for not wanting to re-sign a player who had massively underperformed expectations, it still stings to see him average 14.5 points and 7.2 assists on just over 47% shooting throughout the next four years of his career.
5: Zach Randolph
Randolph enjoyed a solid career prior to being traded to the Clippers on November 21, 2008. The 27-year-old averaged 19.7 points and 9.7 rebounds on 46% shooting in the four years prior to the deal, although his teams never had much success.
While the Randolph trade didn’t end up making a huge difference for the season as Los Angeles finished with a 19-63 record, the lumbering power forward looked like an excellent addition. In 34 starts after the deal, he averaged 21.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game on 49.5% shooting.
The Clippers ended up winning the draft lottery in the following spring with Oklahoma star Blake Griffin looking like the consensus top player. This presented a challenge, as Griffin and Randolph played the same position.
Randolph excelled elsewhere after leaving the Clippers
It seemed like a no-brainer to prioritize the much younger Griffin over Randolph, but the avenue in which Randolph left is still tough to revisit. He was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies a few weeks after the draft for Quentin Richardson, who never ended up playing another game for the Clippers.
Randolph then went on to become one of the faces of the “grit and grind” era of Grizzlies basketball, picking up two All-Star appearances and making it all the way to the Western Conference Finals. He also ignited a rivalry with his replacement.
Blake Griffin and Zach Randolph get in a scuffle on the floor that results in a double foul and a T for Z-Bo pic.twitter.com/XU48GMc0mJ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 4, 2013
While the Clippers’ frontcourt of Griffin and DeAndre Jordan was certainly elite, it’s interesting to wonder what an early small-ball lineup with Randolph involved would have looked like.
4: Lamar Odom
Taking it back to 1999, Odom was drafted fourth overall by the Clippers and instantly looked like a pro. In the first game of his career, he put up 30 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks on 56% shooting.
He made All-Rookie first team as a 20-year-old, then averaged 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game as a sophomore. His passing ability as a 6’10” forward was spectacular, becoming one of the deadliest transition players in the league.
Odom spent four seasons in the blue and red before hitting restricted free agency. The Miami Heat offered a contract to fellow teammate Elton Brand, which the front office matched. Miami then turned around and offered a deal to Odom, but the Clippers’ front office decided not to match it this time.
Odom would go on an extended run of postseason success
In Miami, Odom teamed up with rising star Dwyane Wade for a season in which they made it to the second round of the playoffs before losing in six games to the Indiana Pacers. Odom was then part of the trade package that brought Shaquille O’Neal to the Heat, meaning that he was heading to the Lakers.
He accumulated a few respectable seasons with the Lakers before being moved to the bench after the addition of Pau Gasol, which is where he found his true role. Odom won 6th Man of the Year in 2011 and had a major part in two consecutive championship runs.
While he never ended up making an All-Star team, it still stings to have watched him walk away in free agency back in 2003.
3: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Gilgeous-Alexander was selected by the Clippers with the 11th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. He gradually proved to be a key contributor on a team that surprisingly won 48 games and nearly upset the Durant-Curry-Thompson-Green Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.
The 20-year-old guard averaged 14.7 points and 4.9 assists per game on incredibly efficient 52-43-76 shooting splits over the final 15 games of the regular season. He also scored over 20 points twice in LA’s six postseason games.
However, Kawhi Leonard expressed a desire to come to the Clippers but only if they’d trade for Paul George as his star teammate. It seemed like a no-brainer at the time to include Gilgeous-Alexander in the deal in order to bring two superstar-level talents.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has blossomed in Oklahoma City
Now 24 years old, Gilgeous-Alexander just finished a breakout season where he averaged 31.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 5.5 assists while shooting over 50% from the field. He became a first-time All-Star and is now the face of a Thunder franchise that just completed its best season in three years.
SGA GIVES OKC THE LEAD‼️ pic.twitter.com/Smsmm4d4Zf
— ESPN (@espn) April 13, 2023
The Clippers have also been successful after the trade, but they haven’t achieved the postseason glory that many suspected they would after acquiring Leonard and George. Injuries and blown series leads have been the story of the playoffs in this current Clippers era, with both superstars appearing together in just 24 of 37 total postseason games.
2: Bob McAdoo
Back when they were known as the Buffalo Braves, Bob McAdoo was selected with the second overall pick in the 1972 NBA Draft. He looked like a future star right away, winning Rookie of the Year and subsequently leading the Braves to a playoff appearance in his second full season.
His third year was his best yet, averaging 34.5 points and 14.1 rebounds per game while shooting over 51% from the field. It was enough to earn MVP honors, the only player to win the award in franchise history.
McAdoo’s time with the Braves ended on bad terms
With his contract about to conclude at the end of the 1976-77 season, talks began on both sides about a second deal with the team. However, negotiations broke down to the point where the relationship didn’t seem fixable.
McAdoo was then traded midseason to the New York Knicks for a package centered around veteran big John Gianelli and cash. Gianelli ended up playing just 57 games with the team before joining the Milwaukee Bucks.
As for McAdoo, he made two more All-Star appearances in New York while he remained in the league up until 1986. He won two championships coming off the bench for the Los Angeles Lakers and was named to the NBA’s list of the 75 greatest players of all time.
1: Adrian Dantley
Dantley’s story is similar to McAdoo’s although his time spent in Buffalo was much shorter. He was selected with the 6th overall pick by the Braves back in 1976, winning Rookie of the Year as he averaged 20.3 points on 52% shooting as a 21-year-old.
He was shockingly traded before the start of his sophomore season for Pacers forward Billy Knight. The trade made some sense at the time, as Knight was coming off a season in which he averaged 26.6 points for Indiana after spending a few years in the ABA.
The Dantley/Knight trade ends up backfiring
Knight was a one-time All-Star with Buffalo but ended up getting traded before the start of the following season. Meanwhile, Dantley made six All-Star appearances and led the league in scoring twice during the following decade.
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008 and currently ranks 31st on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, as well as the 21st-highest career scoring average all time.
One can’t help but wonder about the potential success if Buffalo had held onto 21-year-old Dantley and 25-year-old McAdoo. Perhaps they could have contended for a championship before the dominance of the Celtics and Lakers in the 1980s.
The Clippers have had a wide array of stars wear their jersey throughout NBA history, but they’ve also had a few extremely talented players leave the organization and achieve major success elsewhere.