Clippers acquire Drew Eubanks, Patty Mills from Jazz for Mo Bamba, P.J. Tucker

Keith Smith
Keith Smith, Resident NBA ExpertFebruary 01, 2025
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The LA Clippers have been searching for a way to add some frontcourt depth. The Clippers have also been looking for a way to drop under the luxury tax. In one move, LA took care of both of those desires.

Here are the particulars:

LA Clippers acquire: Drew Eubanks, Patty Mills

Utah Jazz acquire: Mo Bamba, P.J. Tucker, future second-round pick

Let’s dive in!

LA Clippers

Incoming salary: $7.1 million in 2024-25

  • Drew Eubanks (C, two years, $9.8 million (2025-26 is non-guaranteed)), Patty Mills (PG, one year, $2.1 million)

Outgoing salary: $13.6 million in 2024-25

  • Mo Bamba (C, one year, $2.1 million), P.J. Tucker (PF, one-year, $11.5 million)

The Clippers have been trying to find a way to add to their frontcourt. They did that with Drew Eubanks. He’s a different player from Mo Bamba, but Eubanks is a better fit for what LA needs.

Eubanks plays solely around the rim on offense. He’s a play-finisher, in addition to being a solid screener. Eubanks should fit in well with James Harden in the pick-and-roll game when he’s in the game backing up Ivica Zubac.

On defense, Eubanks is more rugged than Bamba. He’s physical on the interior, a good rebounder and a solid rim protector. Eubanks also stays engaged all the way through the possession, while Bamba still has tendency to wander.

On the cap sheet, Eubanks’ deal is non-guaranteed at $4.75 million for 2025-26. If he’s not working out, the Clippers can move on with relative ease. That’s some nice flexibility.

The second upgrade for LA is getting out of the luxury tax. The Clippers will drop about $4.1 million under the tax and over $11 million under their first-apron hard cap. That gives the front office more than enough wiggle room to make an additional move. It also relieves any of the burdens that come with being a tax team, as far as salary-matching goes in trades.

Keep an eye on another frontcourt addition, possibly with Terance Mann (who has lost a lot of minutes as LA has gotten healthier on the wing) as the outgoing salary. Bones Hyland is very available in trades, as well. The Clippers are going to stay active in trade talks right up to the deadline.

Patty Mills’ fate in LA probably won’t be known until after the deadline. The Clippers would like to free up a roster spot to convert Jordan Miller from his two-way contract. In addition, LA wouldn’t mind having a spot to convert Kai Jones too. If the Clippers need a roster spot, Mills (and Hyland if he’s not traded) could be the roster casualty.

The Clippers only had a couple of second-round picks to trade, so this should bring them down to just one second rounder left. More importantly in the immediate, as they’ve now dipped under the tax and well under the apron, LA has no restrictions on the buyout market. The Clippers have $3.3 million left of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, which is a nice chunk to offer a player to sign on for the stretch run.

Finally, LA created a potentially handy $6.5 million traded player exception in this one. That’s big enough to be useful, either at the deadline or in the offseason.

Utah Jazz

Incoming salary: $13.6 million in 2024-25

  • Mo Bamba (C, one year, $2.1 million), P.J. Tucker (PF, one-year, $11.5 million)

Outgoing salary: $7.1 million in 2024-25

  • Drew Eubanks (C, two years, $9.8 million (2025-26 is non-guaranteed)), Patty Mills (PG, one year, $2.1 million)

The Jazz are miles under the luxury tax line, so this is about using that flexibility to add another asset, while taking a rest-of-season flyer on Mo Bamba. Essentially, Utah bought a future second-round pick for taking on the difference between Drew Eubanks’ and P.J. Tucker’s in salary.

On-court, Bamba should play for the Jazz. They’ve been cycling through frontcourt players all season long. Utah can take a look at Bamba and see what they have over the final 30-plus games. Eubanks was playing a lot, but he wasn’t likely a big part of the future in Utah. The Jazz were going to evaluate Eubanks and his $4.75 million non-guaranteed contract for 2025-26 against the need for a roster spot in the offseason.

P.J. Tucker likely won’t even be required to report to Utah. He’s a contract only for the Jazz. Look for Danny Ainge and Justin Zanik to keep Tucker on the roster through the deadline. If they can re-trade his contract in a deal, they will. If not, Tucker will be waived to open up a roster spot.

That open roster spot could be used to take a look at different players on 10 Day contracts. The Jazz may also look to convert Micah Potter to a standard deal. He’s played well in his opportunities this season and Utah might want to lock him up on a team-friendly deal. Elijah Harkless is another potential conversion candidate for the Jazz too.

This is Utah continuing their process of eating contracts in exchange for draft capital. They’ve facilitated several of these deals over the last couple of seasons, including eating Russell Westbrook’s contract on two different occasions. It’s solid work, given the team is so far under the tax line.

The Jazz probably aren’t done dealing. John Collins, Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton are all very available in the right moves. Utah won’t give any of them away, but if they find the right trades, any of those veterans could be a part of the continued roster shuffling.

 


#nba #nba trade deadline #utah jazz #la clippers
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