RealGM Basketball Wiretap

21 March 2023

• Norm Powell To Be 'Out For A Little Bit Longer' With Shoulder Injury

  Norm Powell has yet to practice due to a left shoulder subluxation injury and will continue to remain out, according to Ty Lue.

  "He's going to be out for a little bit longer," said Lue on Friday.

  Powell, who has been out since March 2, will miss his sixth straight game against the Magic on Saturday.

  Lue said that goal was to get Powell back before the end of the season so the guard could establish a rhythm.

  "We just want to make sure he gets enough games in so it won't happen like it did last year when he had to come back for those last two play-in games -- he had no rhythm... and so it really was unfair to him," added Lue.

• Norm Powell To Be Re-Evaluated In One Week Due To Shoulder Injury

  Norm Powell will undergo treatment for his injured left shoulder and will be re-evaluated in one week.

  Powell suffered a left shoulder subluxation on Thursday night against the Warriors.

  The Clippers added that they will have a better timeline for Powell's return after the week of treatment.

  Powell is averaging 16.6 points per game this season.

• Ty Lue Says Clippers Need 'To Be Tougher'

  The LA Clippers have lost four straight games and have fallen in the standings. After getting blown out in the second half by the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night, the Clippers find themselves in seventh place in the Western Conference. That currently sees LA in the Play-In Tournament.

  After blowing a 12-point third quarter lead to remain winless since the All-Star break, Clippers coach Ty Lue challenged his team to be confident moving forward.

  "For us, we just got to stay the course, got to be mentally tough, mentally strong, can't give in, and just got to be tougher," Lue said. "That's the bottom line. When stuff doesn't go your way, it shows you what you're made of. I'm confident that we have a good team and they have to be the same way. They've got to feel the same confidence.

  "I don't care about missed shots, it's going to happen. You're going to turn the ball over some, but you can't give in and my thing is just having that toughness and that mindset that, OK, things are not going well, then let's do something about it."

  LA star Paul George agreed with his coach and said the Clippers need to play with more urgency.

  " These are games that we can [not] allow ourselves to slip, and these [are] the games you shoot yourself in the foot when it comes to the end of the season, and we look at where we're at and we're not happy with where we're at. So we gotta have some desperation going into these games," George said.

• Clippers Sign Xavier Moon To Two-Way Contract, Waive Keaton Wallace

  The Los Angeles Clippers continued their shuffling of the bottom of their roster with a pair of transactions on Wednesday. LA waived Keaton Wallace from his two-way deal. In his place, the Clippers signed Xavier Moon to a two-way contract.

  Moon played in 10 NBA games with the LA Clippers last season. This year, he's appeared in 39 games with the Ontario Clippers of the G League.

  Moon has averaged 19.5 points, 4.9 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game in the G League. He's shot 52.8% from the field, including 37% on 3.9 three-point attempts per game.

• RealGM Radio: Mo Dakhil On The Season So Far (Mar 2023)

  Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) and Mo Dakhil of The Athletic NBA Show (@MoDakhil_NBA) talk about the NBA season so far.

  They discuss the Clippers' recent struggles, the importance of the regular season, which young teams are taking a significant step forward and much more.

  Subscribe to RealGM Radio on Apple Podcasts or via the RSS feed.

• Paul George 'Drove Decision' For Clippers To Sign Russell Westbrook, Front Office 'Talked Themselves Into It'

  The Los Angeles Clippers signed Russell Westbrook following his buyout, which was a decision made more by their stars in Paul George and Kawhi Leonard than their front office.

  "The Clippers are pretty much admitting Paul George drove this decision," said Brian Windhorst on his podcast. "And from what I understand, they were internally against it at the start. Paul pushed for it publicly and privately. Kawhi supported it. And they looked more into it and they were like 'Well, you know, there are some things he can potentially help us with. One of the things that's a factor for us is we tend to kind of get a little loafy.

  "They talked themselves into it is the long story short."

  When the Los Angeles Lakers traded for Westbrook in 2021, it is believed that LeBron James and Anthony Davis similarly pushed for it. The enthusiasm from James and Davis is what led to the Lakers choosing Westbrook over trading for Buddy Hield or a sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan.

  The difference between the Lakers and the Clippers, however, is the former gave up three key rotation players and took on two years of max salary for Westbrook.

• Clippers Sign Keaton Wallace To Two-Way Deal

  The Los Angeles Clippers have agreed to sign Keaton Wallace to a Two-Way contract.

  Wallace is averaging 14.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 31.8 minutes over 18 games with the Ontario Clippers of the G League.

• Russell Westbrook Expected To Start With Clippers

  Russell Westbrook is expected to eventually takeover as the starting point of the Los Angeles Clippers, sources told Law Murray of The Athletic.

  Westbrook is set to sign with the Clippers for the rest of the season after negotiating a buyout with the Jazz.

  Murray adds that Terance Mann, who had been starting at point guard, would likely move to the bench.

• Russell Westbrook To Sign With Clippers After Buyout From Jazz

  Russell Westbrook will sign with the LA Clippers for the remainder of the season. Westbrook negotiated a buyout with the Utah Jazz, after a deadline deal from the Los Angeles Lakers.

  The Clippers were looking for point guard depth, after trading both Reggie Jackson and John Wall in deadline day moves. LA added Bones Hyland at the trade deadline, but wanted another veteran option on the roster.

  Westbrook averaged 15.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists in 28.7 minutes per game off the Lakers bench. Clippers All-Star Paul George campaigned for his team to add Westbrook on the buyout market. George and Westbrook were teammates on the Oklahoma City Thunder for two seasons from 2017 to 2019.

• Clippers Waive Moses Brown From Two-Way Contract After Reaching Active Game Cap

  The Los Angeles Clippers will waive Moses Brown from his Two-Way contract, sources tell Law Murray of The Athletic.

  The move opens up a Two-Way slot for the Clippers in addition to their open standard contract slot.

  Brown appeared in 34 games for the Clippers, averaging 4.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 8.5 minutes. Brown reached his 50th game active cap with the Clippers on Thursday.