NBA trade deadline: Clippers acquire Plumlee, Gordon, Hyland

Guards Reggie Jackson and Luke Kennard were among the first Clippers to exit the team’s locker room on Wednesday night.

A day later, both were headed out of Los Angeles before the NBA’s trade deadline in deals that saw the Clippers overtake their banker.

The Clippers are sending Jackson, their backup point guard and a second-round pick in 2028, to Charlotte for Mason Plumlee, who will fill their gaping need for a backup center. Kennard, a backup shooting guard recently dropped from the rotation, is going to Memphis in exchange for three future second-round picks.

Backup point guard John Wall is en route to Houston, in exchange for which the Clippers will receive Eric Gordon, the shooting guard who began his career with the Clippers.

Houston’s Eric Gordon controls the ball against Minnesota. Gordon was reunited with the Clippers on Thursday.

(David J Phillip / Associated Press)

In a further move, the Clippers added second-year Denver winger Bones Hyland in exchange for two future second-round picks.

All transactions have been confirmed by persons with knowledge of the industry but are not authorized to speak publicly as the transactions are not official.

The actions met priorities the team had long sought to address: stopping Ivica Zubac, the starting center, with a capable understudy and breaking the deadlock within his guard rotation. Wall, who was bought out in Houston in the summer and signed with the Clippers in high hopes of rekindling his All-Star form alongside Kawhi Leonard and his close friend Paul George, displayed elements otherwise lacking in the roster — his breakaway speed in transition , and Vision. Wall also possessed one of the worst plus-minus ratings on the team. His turnovers and shot selection never made him a reserve.

Jackson transitioned from a longtime starting point guard completely from the rotation in January. Although he had played his way back into second-unit ballhandler minutes because of Wall’s abdominal injury in mid-January – and was in many ways the beating heart of the Clippers roster – his expiring contract was used to acquire Plumlee.

Kennard made 44.8% of his three-pointers in three seasons with the Clippers, but the frequency with which he sometimes declined shots angered coaches who begged him to shoot. He was dropped from the rotation this month after returning from a calf injury.