Clippers' John Collins trade has a major impact on 2027 free agency class

Alex Walsh

Clippers' John Collins trade has a major impact on 2027 free agency class image

The Jazz have continued what has been an active offseason for them, after trading away John Collins to the Clippers.

In this three-team trade, Norman Powell was sent to the Heat after a career year.

It was an interesting move for some of the teams involved, but there may be further implications behind this trade for the Clippers that we didn't see initially.

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What are the implications of this trade?

NBA insider Michael Scotto reported, "The Los Angeles Clippers were reluctant to give Norman Powell a long-term extension as he enters the final year of his deal ($20.48 million)."

Collins is also entering the final year of his contract and is set to become an UFA next summer.

Scotto also reported, "The Clippers are prioritizing significant cap space in 2027."

This might be the most important aspect of this trade.

The Clippers have hit the jackpot in the offseason before (2019), trading for Paul George and signing Kawhi Leonard.

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It didn't end up panning out the way they hoped for, but they could look to make a similar play in 2027 by being a team for multiple stars to sign with.

It's unclear how many of the players set to be free agents in 2027 will be available by then, but the Clippers have a few players of their own who could be free agents by then if they aren't extended, which is why having cap space is important.

Two of those players are James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, but there's no guarantee they'll come back since they'll be approaching their late 30s and on the back ends of their careers.

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Alex Walsh

Alex is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. A current Sports Media major at Hofstra University in New York, he is a huge Celtics and NBA fan who gets way too many notifications from NBA insiders on X. He became interested in PDC Darts at the beginning of 2024 and has been obsessed ever since.