The Kawhi Leonard trade reset the franchise, and the Clippers' most valuable pieces now look very different than they did a year ago.
The Los Angeles Clippers are a different franchise than they were a year ago, and the value on the roster now sits in some new places.
Forward Kawhi Leonard is in Toronto, the front office is operating under league penalties, and the future is carried by a mix of prime-age scorers, young players and recovered draft capital.
Ranking those assets is the clearest way to see where this team actually stands, because the order tells the story of what the franchise just went through and what it has left.
The list starts with the player the front office would least like to lose.
Ingram and Garland Lead the List
Forward Brandon Ingram is the most valuable piece the Clippers own.
He is 29, he made his second All-Star team in 2025-26, and the completed Leonard trade brought him in as the centerpiece of the return, with a $40 million salary this season and a player option for next year.
A scorer of his caliber in his prime is either the face of the next good Clippers team or the piece that fetches the biggest trade return down the line, and both outcomes hold real value for a franchise in transition.
Guard Darius Garland sits close behind.
Los Angeles sent James Harden to Cleveland to get him back in February, and the 26-year-old gives the Clippers a lead ballhandler young enough to outlast everyone else from the old core.
The full depth chart around those two suddenly skews younger than any Clippers rotation in recent memory, which was the whole point of the summer.
The Toronto picks come next, and there is a fair argument for putting them first.
The Leonard deal delivered first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, second-rounders in 2030 and 2033 and a 2027 pick swap.
For a franchise that forfeited five future first-round picks as part of the league's cap circumvention penalties, those selections are the only real long-term insurance in the building, and their value grows with every year this roster ages.
The Young Players Round It Out
Guard Keaton Wagler is the best of the young group.
The Clippers took the Illinois product with the No. 5 pick in June, and a 19-year-old lottery talent on a rookie contract is exactly the asset a penalized franchise needs most.
Behind him sits Kobe Sanders and guard Gradey Dick, who arrived in the Leonard deal at 22 and is likely to play the season out on an expiring rookie deal, along with 24-year-old forward Johni Broome, who could grow into a regular frontcourt role if the development goes right.
The remaining veterans bring up the rear of the list, and history says this franchise will not hesitate to move name-brand players when the timeline demands it.
Guard Bradley Beal, center Brook Lopez and guard Max Strus still help a team trying to win now, but none of them moves the needle for the future.
Ingram and Garland give the Clippers a present, Wagler and the Toronto picks give them a future, and the front office's job this season is figuring out which of those directions deserves the bigger bet.
