The OKC Thunder already saw their odds of landing a 2026 lottery pick increase exponentially with the James Harden-Darius Garland swap earlier this week.
Now, with the moves made during the twilight hours leading up to Thursday's 3 p.m. (ET) trade deadline, it seems said odds only skyrocketed even higher with the surprise decision by Los Angeles to offload Ivica Zubac.
As initially reported by Shams Charania, the Clippers opted to ship out their rising star center, along with Kobe Brown, to the Pacers in exchange for Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, two first-round picks, and one second-round pick.
Though initial reactions from fans and media pundits regarding the exchange are primarily focused on the impacts it could have on LA and Indiana moving forward, for Thunder Nation, it's hard not to fixate on the ripple effects it could have on the defending champions' already electrifying draft asset collection.
Thunder are bound to land Clippers pick after flurry of trades at deadline
As a result of the gift that keeps on giving Paul George-for-Shai Gilgeous-Alexander trade circa 2019, the Thunder own the unprotected rights to the Clippers' first-round pick in this upcoming draft.
Though the chances of said rights falling into the lottery were fading by the day over the past month and change of action, as LA had gone 17-6 over their last 23 outings and pressed up on the outside looking in on a playoff spot in the Western Conference as a result of this surge, by parting ways with two of their three most important players, it's only logical to assume a fall off could soon follow.
Let's not forget that a few short months ago, the Clippers looked destined for a bottom-tier finish to this year's campaign, as they were boasting a putrid 12-21 record through the first 33 games played and resided all the way down in the 11 seed in the standings.
By swapping the likes of Harden and Zubac, two key cogs in their recent surge, out for the injury-plagued Garland, a slew of role players, and future draft picks, it seems quite apparent that Lawrence Frank and his team aren't necessarily focused on gearing up for a deep playoff run during this second half of the season.
With all this in mind, coupled with the always questionable availability of star forward Kawhi Leonard, it's only safe to assume that this objectively downgraded Clippers core will start to regress during these final few months of the campaign, which, in turn, should only better the value of their 2026 draft pick that's owned by the Thunder.