Clippers release veteran for massive tax savings

In February, the Clippers sent shooting guard Luke Kennard to Memphis and John Wall to Houston in exchange for Gordon, the Rockets' 34-year-old shooting guard who they'd traded away 11 years earlier. Memphis also sent the Clippers three second-round picks, and the Rockets got a pick swap, which let them draft Cam Whitmore at No. 20. (The Clippers got 23-year-old swingman Kobe Brown with the Bucks' No. 30 pick.)

Gordon averaged 11 points in 22 games for the Clippers last season, shooting 42.3 percent from distance. Meanwhile, Kennard played 24 games from the Grizzlies and averaged 11.3 points, making 54 percent of his threes.

Perhaps the Clippers' motivation was always to cut salary for the 2023-24 season. They no longer have to pay Gordon or Kennard, who will earn $15.4 million from the Grizzlies next year - not a bad deal for a 27-year-old who's shot 43.7 percent from distance in his career. But the tax savings of cutting Gordon are immense.

That's significant savings, but the Clippers have no real mechanism to replace Gordon, who started every Clippers playoff game. They're still $18 million over the luxury tax threshold, meaning they're limited to veteran minimum exceptions. Russell Westbrook, who led the team in playoff minutes, can only get 120% of the veteran minimum from the Clippers, around $3.8 million.

It's possible that the Clippers could get under the tax threshold by getting a team to take Norman Powell into cap space, but Powell was second in playoff minutes. They'd clear money but create another roster hole. They could also try to get a team to trade for forwards Marcus Morris or Robert Covington, but that would likely require them to attach a draft pick, bleeding them of more future talent.

The team does have backup center Mason Plumlee's Bird rights, but paying him would severely eat into the tax savings of dumping Gordon. But they may have no choice, if the alternative is veteran minimum big men.

Clearly, the move was at least partly motivated by the new CBA, which strongly discourages teams spending big. But teams may not have thought this through. Luxury tax payments are spread among the non-taxpaying teams. Now, since super-rich owner Steve Ballmer saved nine figures in taxes, the remaining teams won't get to split that extra $110 million.

Eric Gordon lost his job. The Clippers lost a valued veteran. Small-market teams lost at least $4 million in tax distributions. The new CBA is off to a great start.