The LA Clippers have a chance to reset their future this summer by trading Kawhi Leonard for future assets and picking fifth in the 2026 NBA Draft. However, Grant Afseth of the Dallas Hoops Journal recently reported that the Clippers may be interested in trading the No. 5 to the Milwaukee Bucks for Jaylen Brown if Giannis Antetokounmpo gets moved to the Boston Celtics.
Now, obviously, there haven’t been any reports about that idea outside of Afseth, but even the idea should be enough to scare Clippers fans. Brown is an elite player. An All-NBA guy. But the Clippers should take this chance to reset their future in the post-Leonard world.
Trading for a win-now piece should not be on LA’s mind.
Clippers should not trade No. 5 pick for Jaylen Brown
Again, Brown is a great player. If the Clippers found a way to bring him on board, somehow pairing him with Leonard and Darius Garland, then they would be a solid playoff team in the Western Conference.
But could that squad compete with the Oklahoma City Thunder? Could it take down Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs? What about Luka Doncic or Nikola Jokic?
That version of the Clippers would probably cap out as a solid playoff team with a chance to make the Conference Finals. And for LA, that shouldn’t be good enough to trade the No. 5 pick (or keep Leonard).
The fifth pick in the draft is the Clippers’ chance at a future. A chance for them to either take an elite prospect or trade the pick and add a haul of future assets.
Get a guy like Keaton Wagler, Darius Acuff Jr., Mikel Brown, or Kingston Flemings. Or find a team willing to give up a few future firsts, move back in the first round, and go from there.
They can build around Garland a bit moving forward. Try to develop Bennedict Mathurin into a quality player. Trade Leonard for more future assets.
Trading the fifth pick for Brown would only delay the inevitable. LA would be delaying its rebuild by five years and delaying its potential future by eight years.
There is no world in which the Clippers should trade the fifth pick for a win-now piece unless it’s a top-five player on the planet. And even then, it’s questionable.
LA should be focused on the future. The present is all but over. The Leonard-led Clippers didn’t win a title, and they aren’t going to.
It’s time to look forward. Trading for Brown doesn’t accomplish that.
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