Years have gone by, and LA Clippers fans still hear the moment officials ruled DeAndre Ayton’s ‘Valley Oop’ to be good. It was a clean basket, and a beautiful set-up from the Phoenix Suns, yet the Clippers still regretted not thinking of a possible in-bounds alley-oop, as Tyronn Lue was worried about the attempt of a quick jump-shot.
Suppose Clippers fans still recall the daunting days of the 2021 Western Conference Finals. In that case, they are, of course, still in shock that a second-round appearance was essentially granted to the Denver Nuggets by a tip-in dunk from Aaron Gordon in April.
Officials called it clean, and Clipper Nation has, and will always, beg to differ, yet this play that took place in real-time milliseconds changed LA’s offseason plan significantly. They had to add more rebounding and an athlete like Gordon, but were not interested in any of the high-flying free agents.
Therefore, executive Lawrence Frank had to see which springy, athletic-minded players were on the table for trade. The Houston Rockets had one in Cam Whitmore, a 21-year-old six-foot-seven wing, but their front office wanted him in a scenario that would benefit his future. So, Houston looked out for the youngster by leaving his inevitable breakout for the Washington Wizards to witness.
The Clippers ultimately increased their filter to a player of a higher age, and the trade-portal search engine returned John Collins from the Utah Jazz. Given that Collin Sexton had already been traded, Collins was in their plans for the next one out, and LA happened to call on a three-team trade with the Miami Heat.
However, if game three officials waived Gordon’s dunk off, the Clippers would have been in the second round, and may have kept Norman Powell through a multi-year extension.
The LA Clippers’ biggest offseason addition was a result of the most tragic play of the season
There is light at the end of every tunnel, and fans of the LA Clippers could not see it until Lawrence Frank traded for John Collins. He was a star for the Utah Jazz, but ended up in LA because of the clutchest play of the 2024-25 season: a last-second tip-dunk from Aaron Gordon.
Fans have this play to thank, and with Collins, the Clippers have an athletic power forward next to James Harden, who could also be paired with Derrick Jones Jr., giving LA the bounciest lineup they have ever seen.