Tears and tough decisions: Clippers’ trade of Harden and Zubac took emotional toll

By Canadian Press on February 9, 2026.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — To go from being the oldest team in the NBA to a younger version, the Los Angeles Clippers traded away two-fifths of their starting lineup in 11-time All-Star James Harden and Ivica Zubac.

The duo was the most reliable and available on the team during their tenures.

Unloading them wasn’t in the plans. At least not until the team received what Lawrence Frank called “a Godfather-type offer” — one too good to refuse — from the Indiana Pacers for Zubac. And the Cleveland Cavaliers called asking for Harden.

“Not only did we want to win today,” Frank, the team’s president of basketball operations, said, “we also need to build a quote unquote better tomorrow.”

It came with an emotional cost, though.

Zubac grew up with the Clippers after coming over from the Los Angeles Lakers. He set career highs last season and became one of the league’s top defensive big men as the longest-tenured active player on the team.

The night before trading Zubac, Frank told him a team “was getting very, very aggressive” in pursuing him. At the same time, Frank “was kind of hoping they wouldn’t” meet the Clippers’ threshold for doing the deal.

In the end, the Pacers did. Zubac called to ask if he could still come into the Clippers practice facility. His final visit turned into a six-to-eight hour lovefest, with teammates, coaches, staff and business operations employees saying goodbye.

“There were a lot of tears,” Frank said Monday. “It’s hard because we all know what Zu means to us.”

Making it more personal was that Zubac’s wife had just given birth to their first child.

“None of us felt right. He’s a special guy,” Frank said, citing Zubac’s ability to speak the truth to his teammates during tough times and take responsibility when others were pointing fingers.

Harden and the Clippers had talked about what the next couple of years looked like for the team. At 36, Harden had logged big minutes while carrying the team during stretches when Kawhi Leonard was injured.

“James understands the business better than any player I’ve ever known. He exceeded all our expectations,” Frank said, explaining that cutting him loose was “an opportunity where we can win now and still get younger.”

The Clippers have risen to ninth in the West after a 6-21 start to the season. They’ve won 19 of their past 25 heading into Tuesday night’s game at Houston.

“Kawhi was hurt and disappointed those guys aren’t here, but he’s also a great partner,” Frank said. “He understands in order to be sustainable, you have to make some really, really hard decisions.”

In exchange for Harden, the Clippers got two-time All-Star Darius Garland from the Cavs. He’s been out since Jan. 16 because of a sprained right big toe. That injury has healed, Frank said, but Garland is still recovering from residual soreness after left toe surgery, so there’s no timetable for his debut.

“We’re very confident that by taking the time now, it’s going to give him a long runway,” Frank said. “We want to see him playing at a high level for a long time.”

Garland is 10 years younger than Harden, and along with unloading 40-year-old Chris Paul, the Clippers no longer have eight players over the age of 30.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Beth Harris, The Associated Press