The 2025-26 Clippers could become the oldest team in NBA history
Oldest teams since the merger:
2025-26 Clippers: 33.2 (weighted for playing time)
2000-01 Jazz: 32.0
1997-98 Rockets: 32.0
1997-98 Bulls: 31.7
1999-00 Jazz: 31.5
What they're saying: "The Hakeem Rockets, the Jordan Bulls, the Stockton and Malone Jazz … these were the most ancient NBA teams ever … and they look like children compared to this Clippers team," said Haberstroh.
Roster breakdown: Paul is expected to be part of a core Clippers rotation that also includes James Harden (who will be 37 by the start of next season), Brook Lopez (37), Nicolas Batum (36), Kawhi Leonard (34), Bogdan Bogdanović (33), Bradley Beal (32) and Kris Dunn (31).
Zigging when others are zagging: The Clippers plan to trot out a historically old squad during a time when the NBA is getting younger and more athletic. Look no further than the 2025 NBA Finals, which featured the lowest average age on record (25.5 years old) and crowned the youngest champion (24.7) in a half-century. It's a bold strategy, to say the least. Here's Tom:
"It's such a different roster than where the league seems to be headed. … If you look at age trends over the last decade or so, older teams are winning more in the regular season, but the further you go into the postseason, it gets younger and younger than in previous generations. So I feel like this Clippers team is built for the No. 1 or No. 2 seed … but not necessarily for winning the title."
Watch: Full episode (YouTube)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jonathan Kuminga declines two-year extension from Warriors: Report
Jonathan Kuminga reportedly declined another offer from the Golden State Warriors as he seeks a longer extension with the franchise. On Wednesday, ESPN reported that the Dubs have attempted to secure a deal with Kuminga, who turned down the offer due to the terms. According to Shams Charania and Anthony Slater, the Warriors are offering Kuminga a two-year deal worth $45 million. However, a team option for the second year of the contract, as well as the team's refusal to maintain a built-in no-trade clause, has become the point of contention for the 22-year-old rising star. Golden State signed Kuminga to a four-year rookie contract after drafting him with the seventh pick in 2021. He has since been a consistent role player for Steve Kerr's side and contributed to their 2022 title win. Kuminga's agent, Aaron Turner, met with the team during the Summer League in Las Vegas and presented some ideas for a deal, including a three-year, $82 million deal. If it materializes, the deal would keep Golden State below the second apron and allow them to use the taxpayer midlevel exception, per ESPN. Over the past month, Kuminga and Turner have explored the market for sign-and-trade options, which led to promising conversations with the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. The conversations reportedly led to proposals of four-year deals worth around $90 million, with a player option for the final season.
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Grizzlies, Magic to play regular-season games in Berlin, London during 2025-26 season
The NBA will head to Europe for six regular-season games over the next three seasons, the league announced on Wednesday. Beginning in January, the Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic will make a two-game road trip to Berlin, Germany (Jan. 15) and London, England (Jan. 18) to play each other. Future games will be played in Manchester, England and Paris, France during the 2026-27 regular-season, and then in Berlin and Paris in the 2027-28 season. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] The Berlin games will be the first during the regular-season as Germany has previously hosted 14 preseason contests. It will also serve as the homecoming for Franz and Moritz Wagner of the Magic. While London has seen nine preseason and 10 regular-season games played in the city, Manchester has only hosted a 2013 preseason game. Paris has hosted five regular-season games with the most recent being the two-game set between the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers this past January. Those games featured the return of France's own Victor Wembanyama. When Memphis and Orlando arrive it will be the fourth and fifth time the Magic will have played in Europe and fifth and sixth time for the Grizzlies. The NBA is expected to announce the full 2025-26 schedule in August. Who will play in the 2026-27 and 2027-28 Europe games will be revealed at a later time by the league.
New York Times
7 minutes ago
- New York Times
NBA to play 6 games in Europe over next 3 years, starting in Berlin and London next season
It's the Wagner brothers' turn for a homecoming, courtesy of NBA schedule makers, while the Memphis Grizzlies will take a brief break from tradition to participate. The league announced that the Orlando Magic will play the Grizzlies in two games overseas next season, including one in Berlin, where brothers Franz and Moritz Wagner grew up and played professionally before coming to America. Additionally, Magic forward Travis da Silva is from Munich, and Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo previously coached Telekom Baskets Bonn in Germany. Europe, get ready! ✈️🌍 The NBA will host SIX regular-season games in Europe over the next three years, with games to come in Berlin and London (2026), Manchester and Paris (2027) and Berlin and Paris (2028). 🗞️ — NBA (@NBA) July 30, 2025 The two teams will play at Berlin's Under Arena on Jan. 15 and then at London's famous O2 Arena on Jan. 18, which means the Grizzlies won't be able to host a game on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 19 for just the third time since the team moved to Memphis in 2001. King was assassinated in Memphis in 1968, and each year the Grizzlies host an annual celebration in the civil rights icon's honor, which usually includes a basketball game. The Grizzlies didn't play on MLK Day last in 2017, but their news release Wednesday made clear they intend to host a game on the holiday in 2027. Advertisement 'We appreciate the opportunity to represent the NBA and to represent the city of Memphis and state of Tennessee on an international stage in Berlin and London,' Grizzlies president Jason Wexler said in the release. 'In order to undertake this rare opportunity to bring Memphis to an international audience, it will require the team to be away from home for MLK Day. However, we remain committed to supporting the Memphis community over the MLK Day holiday while the team is traveling, and we look forward to the Grizzlies once again anchoring the NBA's MLK Day schedule in 2027.' The NBA also said it would hold regular-season games in Manchester, England and Paris in 2027, and in Berlin and Paris in 2028. While the dates and teams for those future trips were not yet announced, last year the San Antonio Spurs and French sensation Victor Wembanyama played the Indiana Pacers twice in Paris, where Wemby is from, and it was a huge hit. This will be the first NBA regular-season game in Germany and the 10th in London. Franz Wagner competed at every level for Alba Berlin, a Euroleague club, including the pro team, up until he left for the University of Michigan in 2019 for two seasons. Mo's career followed a similar path, and both also star for the German national team. 'To have the Orlando Magic and the NBA play a regular-season game in our hometown of Berlin means everything to us,' the Wagner brothers said in a joint statement included in the NBA release. 'Growing up here, we dreamed of moments like this. It's a huge honor to represent Berlin and Germany and show how much the city and country love basketball. We hope we can inspire kids the way we were inspired watching games from afar.' One spicy tidbit — earlier this summer, the Grizzlies traded Desmond Bane to the Magic. As Memphis is in the West and the Magic are in the East, they only play twice. So there will be no Bane homecoming in Memphis this season. Advertisement The NBA's overseas schedule also represents commissioner Adam Silver's desire to start a European league with teams potentially in all four of the markets with games in the next few years, and continue to strengthen ties with Middle Eastern money interests — some of whom own other sports teams in Europe. Manchester City's multibillion-dollar soccer franchise is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, through the Abu Dhabi United Group out of the United Arab Emirates. The chairman of Manchester City is another Emirate, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, whose brother, Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, runs the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism. The Al Mubarak family has expressed interest in NBA ownership, though sovereign wealth funds currently cannot own more than 20 percent of any NBA franchise. Allowing the Man City group to serve as de facto hosts for a game next season is a step toward Silver's goals.
