The LA Clippers entered the 2025-26 season with an average roster age of 33.2 years: the oldest team in NBA history. Yup, the oldest team ever assembled in the 78-year history of the NBA, and somehow, someway, Lawrence Frank and the front office convinced themselves this was a winning strategy.
Breaking News: It was not a winning strategy.
The Clippers are 6-19, sitting 14th in the Western Conference, and have become the example every front office will use as a poorly constructed roster. Their grand experiment of assembling basketball's retirement home of the 2015 All-Star team has failed so spectacularly, it is worth wondering how anyone thought this would work.
The Clippers' offseason should have been a red flag
Let's review the LA Clippers' offseason acquisitions. They brought in Brook Lopez, a 37-year-old center who's now benched, signed Bradley Beal, who lasted six games before suffering a season-ending hip injury, and lastly reunited with Chris Paul for a quick "farewell tour."
They also traded Norman Powell, a 32-year-old who was on the verge of becoming an All-Star, to Miami for John Collins, a 28-year-old who's been a complete disaster. Powell is now cooking his opponents while Collins continues to underwhelm despite getting pushed into the starting lineup.
The only logical explanation for these moves is that Lawrence Frank confused the Clippers with a retirement community. Maybe he thought he was building a roster for a celebrity golf tournament, as there's no basketball rationale for assembling the oldest team in league history and expecting it to compete.
Here's the thing about signing a bunch of guys in their mid-to-late 30s: they get tired. The kind of tired where 82 games feels impossible to finish for an older group.
Every time the Clippers lose, Powell's ghost looms large over the proceedings. It is shocking that there was a moment where Lawrence Frank decided that their third-best player, who fit perfectly with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, was less valuable than a 28-year-old forward who's never found consistent success anywhere.
The kicker? The Jazz got nothing for Collins. They just wanted to dump his salary. The Clippers could have used Bogdan Bogdanović, who's been worse than Powell, to make the salaries work. Instead, they actively chose Collins over Powell, and now they get to watch Powell put up 30-point games.
If you replace Bogdanović with Powell on this current roster, the Clippers probably have a better year than they are now. Instead, they're 6-19 and discussing whether to trade James Harden because he's playing too well for the tank.
Depending on veterans was bound to lead towards a slippery slope
When you build the oldest roster in NBA history, health concerns are inevitable. It's evident, as athletes in their mid-30s break down. This is when recovery starts to take longer, and minor issues become major problems.
Bradley Beal's fractured hip ended his season after six games, Derrick Jones Jr. sprained his MCL, and Bogdan Bogdanović missed significant time with a hip contusion. These aren't a sudden turn of events; they're predictable consequences of asking aging bodies to perform at elite levels for 82 games.
As if the on-court dysfunction wasn't enough, the LA Clippers are still being investigated by the NBA for possible salary cap circumvention related to Kawhi Leonard's alleged no-show endorsement gig with Aspiration. Pablo Torre's reporting revealed details that prompted a league investigation, and now the Clippers get to operate with a potential disciplinary anvil hanging over their heads.
So not only did they assemble the oldest roster in NBA history, LA might also face a severe penalty.
The front office is not showing any signs of change
The most frustrating part of the LA Clippers' disaster is that Lawrence Frank and the front office refuse to acknowledge reality. They won't admit the season is lost, and have denied the obvious need to commit to their young players and move on from veteran assets while they still have value.
Instead, lineups without fluidity will be used, hoping that somehow, magically, an older group of players will discover a fountain of youth in the Intuit Dome. The organization is simply trying to play hide and seek with their problems, and over time, their future will be completely faded away.
Steve Ballmer spent extensive amounts of time and money on the roster, team facilities, and amenities, yet his return on investment has been at an historical low that is just unwatchable, uncompetitive, and unlikely to improve.
The Clippers ultimately failed at rolling the dice. Now, the franchise has no clear path forward because all of their draft picks and flexibility have vanished.