Hardwood Knocks

Dan is joined by Clippers reporter Justin Russo (@flybyknite) for a deep dive into—you guessed it!—the 2025-26 Los Angeles Clippers. Please note we recorded BEFORE the Kawhi Leonard salary-cap circumvention allegations. SUBSCRIBE TO JUSTIN'S 'RUSSO WRITES' SUBSTACK HERE. TIMESTAMPS⬇️0:00 - INTRO2:18 - Takeaways from last season3:43 - Planning for the future 10:27 - Did the offseason hurt their defensive identity?15:31 - Evolution of Ivica Zubac20:29 - The fit of Bradley Beal28:14 - Optimizing Kawhi Leonard36:17 - Chris Paul's role38:50 James Harden adjustments43:39 - The frontline rotation45:13 - Impact of Bogdan Bogdanovic injury 48:16 - Will the Clippers play enough in transition? / Overall play style 54:51 - Potential pain points56:42 - Roles for Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr.1:02:49 - Early impressions of Yanic Konan Niederhauser1:07:46 - Kobe Brown, Cam Christie, cutting payroll1:12:51 - Biggest weakness, strengths, under-the-radar storylines1:22:59 - Top-10 rotation 1:25:24 - Go-to crunch-time unit1:27