As a winning boat should only be steered straight, not left and right, the LA Clippers will most likely keep their feet still at the trade deadline, at least for the most part. They have won 12 of their last 14 games, and after forcing the fanbase to wait weeks, LA has entered play-in territory. Thus, it is senseless to add, subtract, divide, and multiply from a prosperous formula.
Had the Clippers been stuck under ten wins by the New Year, sure, trade buzz would have reasonably emerged for just about everyone on the roster. The medical staff would be busy working day and night, filling out and checking physicals for all the players coming and going.
Yet, following the consistent success the Clippers had through Christmas, and to this day, the most minor of moves may be the only ones made, and each will have a purpose behind it, unless Lawrence Frank wins big and has a generational talent on the level of Luka Doncic on the cusp of a trade.
Lawrence Frank has a series of easy decisions to make at the trade deadline
As Tyronn Lue mentioned after the win against the Washington Wizards, where two-way surprises Jordan Miller and Kobe Sanders combined for 22 points in 60 minutes, Lawrence Frank has to work with the limit of games they can play.
Tyronn Lue, on Kobe Sanders and Jordan Miller’s two-way games limit approaching: “I don’t know the rules, Justin. We need them. … Lawrence [Frank] can navigate it. I’m not. When they’re out there, they’re gonna play. ... We’ll see what happens, but we need them.” pic.twitter.com/dY2m53WXr0
— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) January 15, 2026
Therefore, Frank will obviously focus on converting Sanders and Miller's contracts into the real deal. They not only deserve it, but as Lue said, both players are a necessity to the Clippers’ roster.
To go through with contract adjustments, Frank will have to move the present yet absent roster spots first. This applies only to Chris Paul and Bradley Beal, as each has different reasons for being at home.
But, wait, there is more; Bogdan Bogdanovic, who has not played since the day after Christmas and did not travel with the team on their trips to Toronto, Washington, and Chicago, unites with Kobe Brown, who has been atrocious this season, and was the only score-less bench player in the Clippers’ overtime win over the Raptors, carried by several young talents.
That said, Frank has four roster spots to potentially ship for the standard contracts of Miller and Sanders. These two moves are major priorities, as the Clippers cannot lose them under the two-way limit, and anything else done would likely be to tweak the bench.