Phoenix Suns fans are well aware that their favorite team’s future draft pick situation is bleak. However, the fallout from the Kawhi Leonard scandal has shifted the spotlight onto the Los Angeles Clippers, who now possess the worst draft pick situation in the league.
Suns no longer have the worst draft pick situation in the league
— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) September 2, 2026
Kawhi Leonard punishments will set Clippers back years
In a scandal originally unearthed by former ESPN reporter Pablo Torre, whose podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out” won a Pulitzer Prize in the process, it was alleged that the Clippers and eccentric billionaire owner Steve Ballmer circumvented the cap. Leonard was reportedly paid through endorsement deals with Aspiration, a California-based environmental company that filed for bankruptcy in March 2025.
The results of the league’s official investigation into the wrongdoing came to its (rather shocking) conclusion this week.
Among other punishments, the Clippers will lose five future first-round draft picks, Ballmer faces a year-long suspension in addition to a $30 million fine, and Leonard was given a relative slap on the wrist with no suspension but a $700,000 fine. In a statement released by the NBA, the league said its investigation that lasted nearly a year “found a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organization, a prior offender of the salary cap circumvention rules."
Now, a franchise that has toiled with irrelevance since relocating from Buffalo in the 1970s is facing a significant setback. Not only are the Clippers still a distant No. 2 in Los Angeles compared to the rival Lakers — who retooled this offseason with a number of new additions, including big man Walker Kessler — but they’re now poised to flounder near the bottom of the Pacific Division without draft capital to pull themselves out.
So, somehow, the Suns no longer have the worst draft pick situation in the league. That’s despite shipping away yet another unprotected first-round pick (in 2033) to the Charlotte Hornets in the widely panned Miles Bridges trade.
Unlike the Clippers, who now face the potential of a 13-year drought of first-round picks — the last pick they made with a first-rounder that originally belonged to them was Quentin Grimes in 2021 — the Suns do still have at least some degree of draft assets in the near future.
Suns in a better pick position than Clippers
While Phoenix does not have a pick in 2031 or 2033, their 2032 first-rounder is frozen from trades (for now). That being said, their more recent draft selections in 2027, 2028, and 2029 come with heavy qualifiers. All three of those picks are hedged with the phrase “least favorable,” since they’re all pick swaps, which will result in the Suns getting the least favorable draft position due to complex conveyance rules from prior trades. Included in that is the ill-fated Bradley Beal deal, a decision the Suns are still paying for despite waiving him.
To be clear, the Suns’ situation in terms of draft capital is still nothing to write home about. It has the potential to become a real problem for the organization as the Devin Booker era heads toward its eventual conclusion.
Nevertheless, the Suns somehow look better now that the Clippers are faced with one of the harshest punishments ever handed down by the league.
Now, it’s on the Suns to take advantage of the Clippers’ setback by competing with the Lakers for the Pacific Division crown. That’s especially true now that the Golden State Warriors’ winning timeline appears to be in the rearview mirror.
Like the Suns, the Clippers are now beholden to the fallout of their own bad decisions. Suns fans can at least take solace in the fact that their team's situation could certainly be worse.
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