The Clippers carry a $193.7 million payroll, $6.7 million under the luxury tax line, with Darius Garland's $42.2 million the largest number on the books. Away from the cap sheet, minutes and shooting splits from the preseason hint at how Tyronn Lue is filling the gaps left by Brandon Ingram, Max Strus and Jordan Miller.
The payroll sits close to, not over, the tax line.
At $193.7 million across 19 contracts, the Clippers are over the $165.0 million cap but $6.7 million under the $200.4 million tax line. Garland's $42.2 million and Ingram's $40.0 million anchor the sheet, with Strus, Rui Hachimura and Derrick Jones Jr. filling out the next tier. That gap leaves John Gibson's front office room to maneuver without tripping the tax, a cushion worth watching as the season develops.
Brook Lopez is being used more, not less, at 38.
Lopez's minutes are up eight a night over his last three games, a jump that lines up with the absences of Ingram, Strus and Miller. Whether Lue keeps leaning on his oldest big once the regular season starts, rather than scaling back, is one of the clearer early tells to watch.
Kobe Sanders is shooting at an efficiency few projected.
Sanders has posted a 73.8 percent true shooting mark over his last ten games, a small sample but notable for a second-year guard working back from a hip injury. If he's ready for the opener against the Kings on October 21, that efficiency becomes a more meaningful factor for the rotation.
Two future first-round picks are already gone.
The NBA's ruling on the Kawhi Leonard dealings cost the Clippers their 2029 and 2030 first-round picks outright, with swaps attached to 2027, 2028 and 2030 second-rounders and the 2029 second owed to San Antonio. That leaves Trent Redden's front office drafting mostly through swaps for the rest of the decade, a constraint that outlasts any single roster move this fall.
Are the Clippers over the salary cap?
Yes. Their $193.7 million payroll is over the $165.0 million cap but $6.7 million under the $200.4 million luxury tax line.
How many future first-round picks have the Clippers lost?
Two outright: their 2029 and 2030 first-round picks were forfeited as part of the NBA's ruling on the Kawhi Leonard dealings, with several other years tied to swaps instead.
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