The Clippers have a near coin-flip shot at landing the fifth or sixth pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
The Los Angeles Clippers went 42-40 this season and were eliminated in the nine vs. ten play-in game against the Golden State Warriors.
Their own first-round pick already belongs to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the final piece of that 2019 Paul George swap that has haunted the franchise for half a decade now.
But a deadline deal with the Indiana Pacers opened a window that did not exist a few months ago.
The Pacers sent the Clippers a 2026 first-round pick that is protected 1-4 and 10-30, so Los Angeles only gets it if the pick falls somewhere between five and nine.
Indiana finished 19-63 with the second-worst record in the league, meaning their pick cannot drop past six.
The math is straightforward.
There is a 52.1 percent chance the pick stays in the top four and remains with the Pacers, and a 47.9 percent chance it falls to five or six and goes to Los Angeles.
If the ping-pong balls cooperate on lottery night, here are three names the Clippers should have circled.
Kingston Flemings, PG, Houston
Flemings is a 6-foot-4 point guard who averaged 16.1 points, 5.2 assists and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 47.6 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from three as a Houston freshman.
He might be the fastest player in the entire draft class, and his 2.9 assist-to-turnover ratio across 37 starts shows a guy who plays with real control for a 19-year-old.
With Darius Garland already running the point, Flemings could come in as a secondary creator who brings defensive pressure and gets out in transition, two things the Clippers were missing all year.
Most mocks have him going fifth, and it is easy to see why.
Keaton Wagler, G, Illinois
Nobody saw Wagler coming.
He showed up at Illinois ranked 261st nationally as a recruit and left as a consensus lottery pick after averaging 17.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists while shooting 44.5 percent from the field and 39.7 percent from deep.
He also helped lead the Illini to the Final Four.
At 6-foot-6, Wagler can guard multiple spots and shoot over smaller defenders, which is exactly what a backcourt with Leonard and Garland needs.
He turned it up in March too, averaging 18.0 points and 6.8 rebounds across five NCAA tournament games.
Caleb Wilson, F, North Carolina
Wilson is a consensus top-four pick on almost every board, but if the lottery pushes him to five the Clippers should not hesitate.
The 6-foot-10 forward averaged 19.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists while shooting 58 percent for UNC before a hand injury shut him down early.
He is one of those rare freshman forwards who can defend multiple positions, block shots and still create offense for himself in the half court.
The Clippers' offseason hangs on what happens Sunday afternoon, and landing any one of these three would go a long way toward giving Los Angeles a real direction this summer.