Ranking 6 Clippers free agents by likelihood to return next season

The Clippers have several upcoming free agents this summer. This is how they stack up in terms of probability to return to LA.

James Harden, LA Clippers
James Harden, LA Clippers | Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
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6. Xavier Moon

Signing with the Clippers last November on a one-year, $559,782 contract, Xavier Moon's addition represented the realization of his dream. After a college career at Northwest Florida State and Morehead State, Xavier spent the next six seasons playing basketball internationally and at the G League level, hoping to eventually make a breakthrough to the NBA.

So when he signed with the Clippers, it was of course a monumental moment for him that made all his hard work worth it, and that is worth celebrating on his part. But with the NBA being a business, the Clippers are not in the business of making dreams come true. They are in the business of building a winning basketball team whether everyone ends up happy or not.

Realistically, there is almost zero basketball reason the Clippers would want to bring Moon back for next season. The only favorable factor would be that he could be signed for very cheap, but he would be taking up a roster spot of someone that could frankly actually be helping the team out.

This is not meant to smear Xavier's name at all. But the truth is that he only played in 14 games this past season and averaged 2.4 points a night on a team-worst 32% shooting. The reality is that the Clippers will be able to find a more suitable role player for their roster without paying much more than what they signed Moon for.

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