The Los Angeles Clippers had a terrible start to their season, having a 6-21 record after losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder on December 18th. At that point, it seemed like the season was over, and a Clippers team that won 50 games a year prior was going to hand over a high lottery pick to the Thunder to build their dynasty further.

However, everything changed at that point, with the Clippers going 18-6 since then, as they are firmly in the play-in tournament seeding with a chance to climb even higher this season. With all of that, the Clippers still decided before the trade deadline passed to shake up their roster drastically.

In two shocking moves, the Clippers moved on from James Harden and Ivica Zubac, bringing back players Darius Garland, Bennedict Mathurin, and Isaiah Jackson, as well as a mix of first and second-round draft picks. Therefore, all that remains of this Clippers core from the past few years is Kawhi Leonard.

After the team's victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night, Leonard, who scored 31 points, was asked about his thoughts on the front office's decision-making.

"Just trying to get younger. We came in the year with the oldest team. It makes sense for them to try to get some assets and try to build for the future. It’s a big class coming in 2027, hopefully. They gotta do what’s best for them…," Leonard said.

Leonard was likely referring to the 2026 draft class, which is being regarded as one of the best this century, with three players making a case for the first overall pick. However, the Clippers will be hoping that the Indiana Pacers pick falls between 5-9, as that's the only way it conveys to them.

If so, the Clippers could target players like Caleb Wilson, Keaton Wagler, Nate Ament, or Koa Peat, some of the top projected prospects.

"I thought we were tracking well the last six weeks. Everybody has human nature. It’s a complete turnaround from what I thought we could potentially do. Not saying we were contenders, but we thought we could make some noise or mess someone’s season up. Now the tides changed. We’ll get back into it, hopefully after All-Star," he added.

In reality, the Clippers were going to struggle immensely over the next few years if they didn't make a trade. If the team wasn't able to win an NBA Championship, they'd have a roster full of expensive and aging players without any future whatsoever. Now, they can potentially add Garland and Mathurin to their future core.

The playoffs are very much in reach still for the Clippers, and with Garland likely to return sometime after the All-Star break, the team will get to have their new pieces integrated into the lineup as they start the final stretch of the regular season.