Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2026 1:02 am
If I'm the Clippers I hold a firesale and start over. They need a completely new start. Any player they have that can garner draft compensation should be moved to the highest bidder. They will have to field a G league team for a few years but they should empty the roster of all money and come up with a strategy on signing one or two high-end free agents each year. If done smartly they can bottom out this year and then improve every year thereafter. I think it could almost be fun to build something completely from scratch. What choice do they have?
I think that's a worthwhile plan to consider. They already got some draft picks in the Leonard trade so their cupboard isn't completely bare. Not having 1st round picks does give you a roster spot and an opportunity to add a young player that hasn't made it yet. They only have a year or 2 before they would have no big contracts on their books if they don't resigned any of their guys.
The roster does have some talent and Lue has seemingly been about to get quite a bit out of players he has been given. I'd guess the way Ballmer has acted the Clippers actual roster are gonna go for it (to be competitive) at least to start the season but if things go sideways your idea may absolutely come into play. Of course a couple of those guys worth trading will have to be healthy if they want to get anything for them. Is there a landing place for a guy like Garland. Picking signing Beal instead of bringing back a younger player in Mathurin looks worse now.
So the Clippers suck again. That's good as long as the Timberwolves are in the Western Conference.
Another billionaire is caught making his own rules. Meh. The $30M fine for Ballmer is equivalent (I think my math is correct) to $60 for a person worth $300,000.
Which brings me to my real point here... the billionaire owner gets a proverbial slap on the wrist. The $500M+ player gets an even lighter punishment. ($700k and the claims of ignorance from Kawhi are both laughable.)
The fans get to watch a crappy team for the next decade... do they get a discount on tickets for this season since it's not what they signed up to pay for... and the reason is 100% on ownership and the player?
AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2026 10:13 am
So the Clippers suck again. That's good as long as the Timberwolves are in the Western Conference.
Another billionaire is caught making his own rules. Meh. The $30M fine for Ballmer is equivalent (I think my math is correct) to $60 for a person worth $300,000.
Which brings me to my real point here... the billionaire owner gets a proverbial slap on the wrist. The $500M+ player gets an even lighter punishment. ($700k and the claims of ignorance from Kawhi are both laughable.)
The fans get to watch a crappy team for the next decade... do they get a discount on tickets for this season since it's not what they signed up to pay for... and the reason is 100% on ownership and the player?
The money was never going to be the punishment the draft picks are the big thing...and to some extent Ballmer not being able to be around for an entire year. Don't get me wrong I think the penalty isn't enough and Leonard gets off easier because the league made a bargain with the players association to close off the option of any type of arbitration.
You are right the fans will possibly get screwed but the product they paid for this year is exactly what it was expected to be as the roster is what it would be regardless of the punishment. The pain won't be felt till later when they can't add more talent or trade away draft picks for overpaid players...wait maybe that's a good thing? Lol
AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2026 10:13 am
So the Clippers suck again. That's good as long as the Timberwolves are in the Western Conference.
Another billionaire is caught making his own rules. Meh. The $30M fine for Ballmer is equivalent (I think my math is correct) to $60 for a person worth $300,000.
Which brings me to my real point here... the billionaire owner gets a proverbial slap on the wrist. The $500M+ player gets an even lighter punishment. ($700k and the claims of ignorance from Kawhi are both laughable.)
The fans get to watch a crappy team for the next decade... do they get a discount on tickets for this season since it's not what they signed up to pay for... and the reason is 100% on ownership and the player?
The money was never going to be the punishment the draft picks are the big thing...and to some extent Ballmer not being able to be around for an entire year. Don't get me wrong I think the penalty isn't enough and Leonard gets off easier because the league made a bargain with the players association to close off the option of any type of arbitration.
You are right the fans will possibly get screwed but the product they paid for this year is exactly what it was expected to be as the roster is what it would be regardless of the punishment. The pain won't be felt till later when they can't add more talent or trade away draft picks for overpaid players...wait maybe that's a good thing? Lol
Yeah, the fans are the big losers here. But while you guys are correct that the $30 million means nothing to Ballmer (he gets $300 million in Microsoft dividends every quarter, so he pays off the fine in about 10 days!(, but that's not the biggest penalty for him. He is a passionate fan, so not being able to attend games for a year is going to hurt. And then, with no draft picks and little chance to bring in top talent in free agency (nobody is going to want to play for a last place team), he's going to have to watch a crappy team for at least a decade. And the financial penalties go far beyond the $30 million. Attendance is going to suffer, so the loss of ticket and concession revenues will almost certainly put the Clips in a negative cash flow position...and that doesn't even take into account the massive revenues they lose by missing the playoffs for a decade. Since no player is going to want to go there, the Clips are going to have to massively overpay any free agent. And even more significant, the value of the franchise is likely decimated after this penalty. I don't feel sorry for him...he f'ed up big time in a very stupid fashion. But the penalties are going to take a big dent out of him. (no need to start up a go fund me account though).
AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2026 10:13 am
So the Clippers suck again. That's good as long as the Timberwolves are in the Western Conference.
Another billionaire is caught making his own rules. Meh. The $30M fine for Ballmer is equivalent (I think my math is correct) to $60 for a person worth $300,000.
Which brings me to my real point here... the billionaire owner gets a proverbial slap on the wrist. The $500M+ player gets an even lighter punishment. ($700k and the claims of ignorance from Kawhi are both laughable.)
The fans get to watch a crappy team for the next decade... do they get a discount on tickets for this season since it's not what they signed up to pay for... and the reason is 100% on ownership and the player?
The money was never going to be the punishment the draft picks are the big thing...and to some extent Ballmer not being able to be around for an entire year. Don't get me wrong I think the penalty isn't enough and Leonard gets off easier because the league made a bargain with the players association to close off the option of any type of arbitration.
You are right the fans will possibly get screwed but the product they paid for this year is exactly what it was expected to be as the roster is what it would be regardless of the punishment. The pain won't be felt till later when they can't add more talent or trade away draft picks for overpaid players...wait maybe that's a good thing? Lol
Yeah, the fans are the big losers here. But while you guys are correct that the $30 million means nothing to Ballmer (he gets $300 million in Microsoft dividends every quarter, so he pays off the fine in about 10 days!(, but that's not the biggest penalty for him. He is a passionate fan, so not being able to attend games for a year is going to hurt. And then, with no draft picks and little chance to bring in top talent in free agency (nobody is going to want to play for a last place team), he's going to have to watch a crappy team for at least a decade. And the financial penalties go far beyond the $30 million. Attendance is going to suffer, so the loss of ticket and concession revenues will almost certainly put the Clips in a negative cash flow position...and that doesn't even take into account the massive revenues they lose by missing the playoffs for a decade. Since no player is going to want to go there, the Clips are going to have to massively overpay any free agent. And even more significant, the value of the franchise is likely decimated after this penalty. I don't feel sorry for him...he f'ed up big time in a very stupid fashion. But the penalties are going to take a big dent out of him. (no need to start up a go fund me account though).
I agree. Someone like Ballmer buys an NBA team as a fan for the competitive thrill of owning, building and watching a fun, competitive, winning team. Ballmer is now stuck with a losing, uninteresting team that won’t be fun to watch and that he won’t be able to watch live for a year. And yes, he’ll also have serious negative cash flow resulting from this punishment. Is it enough? I don’t know, but it’s a lot and absolutely appropriate. I have absolutely no sympathy for Ballmer - not because he’s incredibly wealthy but because he has been so defiantly dishonest in his denials throughout the process.
