One Clippers player will reportedly not be offered an extension
By Will Eudy
The LA Clippers will tip off the 2024-25 season on Wednesday when they host the Phoenix Suns in what will be the first-ever regular season game at Intuit Dome. The contest will signal the beginning of a brand-new era of Clippers basketball, once which has already brought widespread optimism among the fanbase.
Much of that optimism has come in the form of a new roster to help usher in this new era. Yes, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard were a fantastic duo, but it is not a controversial statement to say that they had run their course in terms of what they could accomplish together. Not wanting to break the bank and handicap the team to keep George around, the Clippers instead invested in savvy role players that can assist Kawhi and James Harden in getting this team back to the playoffs.
Now, this team's roster is being trimmed down ahead of Monday afternoon's deadline to have regular season rosters finalized. Tosan Evbuomwan, Elijah Harkless, Braxton Key and Alondes Williams were all cut loose while Kai Jones was officially added to a two-way roster spot. Fans now have a solid idea of what LA's roster will look like for the first part of the upcoming season.
With the start-of-season moves all but complete, we can begin looking to the future. Thankfull, the Clippers have already secured extensions for several of their most important players like Leonard, Harden and Ivica Zubac. But according to NBA Insider Jake Fischer, we should not expect a new contract for one Clippers reserve: Bones Hyland.
Fischer: "Don't expect" an extension for Bones Hyland
In a post on Threads, Instagram's text-based social media platform, Fischer shared several details of players who are up for contract extensions with their respective teams, and gave fans an idea of what to look for in the coming days. Jake told Clippers fans outright, "don’t expect an extension for Bones Hyland in Los Angeles."
Unfortunately, this is far from surprising news. Bones has struggled to find his spot on this team ever since James Harden's arrival in last year's blockbuster trade. Hyland had actually carved out a solid niche for himself through the first four games of LA's season in 2023-24, averaging 16 points in 24.5 minutes for the Clippers before the former scoring champion found his way to Southern California.
But from that point on, he mostly played sparingly and averaged just 3.7 points in 3.7 minutes per game in the playoffs. The Clippers apparently do not see a future for him in Los Angeles, and fans should expect him to be moved or waived outright in the near future according to Fischer's report.