NBA News and Fantasy Basketball Fallout: Clippers Punished, Kuminga Lands with Minnesota, and More

There's been a few noteworthy NBA news items over the past week, so let's discuss that all here.

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Clippers Punished for Salary Cap Circumvention

The NBA stripped five first-round picks from the Los Angeles Clippers after investigating the team for salary cap circumvention involving Kawhi Leonard. 

Clippers' owner Steve Ballmer was issued a $30 million fine and suspended from all league and team activities for a year. Leonard will have to pay $700K in restitution for improper benefits from the Clippers, but didn't have his contract voided and he avoided a suspension.

So really, the biggest deal here is that the Clippers are losing five years worth of first-round picks. LA is a playoff contender with its current roster, but without a first-round pick until 2034, it will be hard for the team to get over the hump and join the Western Conference contenders.

The Clippers will either have to get super aggressive with trades or free agency pickups to join the upper echelon of West teams now. Hitting on their leftover picks will also be paramount.

I wonder how the Clippers navigate the next five years knowing they don't have any first-round picks coming. There are ways to remain competitive, and there's no real reason to sell either, so it will be fascinating to see what all comes of things.

Leonard is now on the Toronto Raptors again, so he's free of the organization and doesn't have to deal with a possible rebuild or just so-so seasons. 

Kuminga Lands with Timberwolves

Jonathan Kuminga found a new home after signing a two-year deal worth $13 million with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The deal includes a player option.

The 23-year-old has played for the Warriors and Hawks over his five-year NBA career so far. Over 294 games, he's averaged 12.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.4 blocks per contest.

He joins a really good Minnesota roster, which also has LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Ayo Dosunmu, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert. With just those six, Minnesota should be a playoff team. They don't have a ton of depth, but the addition of Kuminga helps, and puts the Timberwolves into the upper echelon of Western Conference teams. I don't think they have enough to take down a team like the Thunder or Spurs, but some in-season moves could help in that cause.

As for Kuminga, he should be a good fantasy asset for the T-Wolves, regardless if he's starting or just coming off the bench. He'll log enough minutes to be at least a deep-league fantasy asset, and likely a decent standard leaguer too.

To help get Kuminga on the roster, the T-Wolves traded Josh Green and cash to the Utah Jazz for Cody Williams and John Konchar. Minnesota is keeping Williams for now, but waived-and-stretched Konchar.

Williams is 21 years old and played 117 games over his first two NBA seasons with the Jazz. He's averaged 7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.4 blocks per game.

Williams could be a bench asset for Minnesota. At his position, the Wolves also have Jaylen Clark and Terrence Shannon Jr. as options. Isaiah Evans, Bones Hyland, Enrique Freeman and Joan Beringer are some other depth options for Minnesota.

Green could carve out a bench role with Utah, but the Jazz are a surprisingly deep team, so I don't see Green becoming more than a deep-league asset ever.

Utah has Keyonte George, Darryn Peterson, Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkic as projected starters, with Isaiah Collier, Ace Bailey, Brice Sensabaugh, Kyle Filipowski and Jaxson Hayes among the top reserves. I think the Jazz could surprise in 2026-27 as a result of their deep roster.

Simmons Signs with Kings

Ben Simmons is back in the NBA after signing a one-year deal with the Sacramento Kings on Friday. It's reportedly worth $3.5 million.

Simmons could carve out a role for the rebuilding Kings, and maybe be dealt to a contender at the trade deadline if he finds some success. Over 383 games across seven years in the league, Simmons is averaging 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.7 blocks per game.

Rookie Darius Acuff Jr. is the projected starter at point guard, with Malik Monk as a top backup option. Simmons could get some time there, or at guard/forward spots.

Zach LaVine, De'Andre Hunter, Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis are the other projected starters, with Nique Clifford, Precious Achiuwa, Maxime Raynaud and others as bench options.

Simmons is a big name, so he'll probably be owned in too many leagues to start the 2026-27 season. He could eventually be worth standard league utilization, but I see him as a deep-leaguer for now.

Heat Add Richards

The Miami Heat added a big man a couple days ago, signing Nick Richards to a one-year pact.

Richards is 28 years old and has played in 305 games over his six-year NBA career so far. He's averaged 7.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.2 steals and 0.8 blocks per game.

Bam Adebayo is the team's top center, with Giannis Antetokounmpo another option, but he'll play power forward most often. Bobby Portis is another center option, as is Nikola Jovic. Richards could still play a handful of minutes a game, but I don't see him playing enough regularly to be worth more than a deep-league asset.

Injuries could change that, but Richards is more there to soak up a handful of minutes a game, not be a big-time asset.