Since the NBA officially announced the Clippers’ punishments for circumventing the league’s salary cap rules for star forward Kawhi Leonard, a question came to the forefront of conversations around the league: Who’s going to be running the Clippers’ basketball operations?
It couldn’t be franchise owner/chairman Steve Ballmer, who was suspended from league and team activities for one year for his role in the scandal.
It also couldn’t be president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, the man who’s run the franchise’s basketball operations for nearly a decade and has been suspended for six months.
This week provided clarity.
The Clippers and Raptors finally pulled the trigger on the long-awaited trade that’ll send Leonard back to Toronto after leaving the Raptors for the Clippers in free agency nearly seven years ago.
Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round draft picks (2031 and 2033), one first-round draft pick swap (2027) and two second-round picks are coming back to the Clippers for Leonard.
The details of the trade were agreed to in late June, but put on hold on July 9 amidst the NBA’s investigation of the Clippers-Leonard scandal, with the Raptors stating it was going to wait until the league’s investigation was complete since they would’ve assumed the risk for any potential outcome of the investigation impacting Leonard.
But the Clippers still needed leadership to complete the deal and make the calls to get it across the finish line.
That new leadership has emerged in the form of general manager Trent Redden, a longtime Clippers executive who’s moving to the forefront of the Clippers’ front office.
The Clippers have yet to name Redden, or anyone else, their interim leader of basketball operations in light of their punishments.
But Redden, who led the Clippers’ communication with the Raptors, as first reported by NBA reporter Jake Fischer, appears to be poised to step into that role for the foreseeable future.
Redden’s route to this opportunity started long before the Clippers’ punishments moved him to the forefront of the franchise’s basketball operations.
A Sacramento native who graduated from Sheldon High School, Redden played for the SMU Mustangs men’s college basketball team during the 2003-04 season and graduated from SMU magna cum laude in 2006.
He started his career as an NBA front office executive with the Cavaliers as an intern before becoming a basketball operations manager and scout for the franchise in 2007.
Redden worked his way up through the organizational hierarchy, being promoted to the director of college player personnel, assistant general manager and eventually being the vice president of basketball operations.
He joined the Clippers as an assistant general manager ahead of the 2018–2019 season before being promoted to general manager in 2023, overseeing scouting, strategy, team operations and building operations.
Mark Hughes, the Clippers senior vice president/assistant general manager, was promoted to his current position at the same time as Redden.
Hughes also moves up the organzational hierarchy in light of the Clippers’ punishments.
“For the past six years, Trent and Mark have been trusted evaluators, dependable leaders, and for me, close confidantes,” Frank said in a statement in June 2023. “A lot of executives have backgrounds in strategy or evaluation. Trent brings expertise and agility in both. Since he joined us, Trent has scoured the globe in search of amateur and pro talent while serving as an integral advisor on every major decision and acquisition we’ve made. He is a respected leader with strong relationships throughout the league, and we’re excited to see him in his new role.”
And after three years in his current role, and nearly two decades as an NBA executive, it’s Redden’s time to take on even bigger responsibilities.
