The five first-round picks forfeited by the Los Angeles Clippers do not transfer to another team. Each selection is removed from its draft, reducing that year’s first round by one player.

The NBA ordered Los Angeles to forfeit one first-rounder in every draft from 2029 through 2033 after finding that the organization and Kawhi Leonard violated salary-cap circumvention rules. The punishment reaches well beyond a conventional fine: it deprives the Clippers of five opportunities to add young, cost-controlled players during what could be a critical rebuilding period.

Which Clippers picks were forfeited?

The league’s announcement identified the five draft years but did not fully explain the underlying pick obligations. Subsequent reporting clarifies the current breakdown:

Draft Forfeited selection Important detail
2029 Indiana Pacers’ first-round pick The Clippers acquired it in the Ivica Zubac trade. It disappears and does not return to Indiana.
2030 Clippers’ own first-round pick Los Angeles cannot use or trade the selection.
2031 Clippers’ own first-round pick A separate Toronto pick could still come to Los Angeles if the pending Leonard trade is completed.
2032 Clippers’ own first-round pick Los Angeles loses its natural selection regardless of where it falls in the order.
2033 Clippers’ own first-round pick Toronto’s separately reported 2033 first-rounder is not the same asset.

That distinction matters because “five forfeited picks” does not necessarily mean the Clippers will make no first-round selections during all five years. It means one asset controlled by Los Angeles has been erased in each specified draft.

Where do forfeited NBA draft picks go?

Nowhere. Article X of the NBA-NBPA collective bargaining agreement says that when a pick is forfeited, the number of players selected in that round is reduced accordingly. Its example explains that forfeiting the ninth pick in a 30-team league produces a 29-player first round.

Another club therefore does not receive the Clippers’ lost selection as compensation. The affected first round simply contains one fewer pick, and the rookie salary scale is adjusted for the forfeiture.

The eventual value lost will depend on where each selection falls. A forfeited late first would still cost Los Angeles a useful prospect or trade asset. A forfeited lottery pick would be far more damaging because a poor Clippers season would no longer produce the premium young player that normally helps a struggling team recover.

Why the 2029 pick is different

Los Angeles controlled two relevant first-round interests in 2029: the Indiana pick acquired for Zubac and its own selection, which is subject to a top-three-protected swap right held by the Philadelphia 76ers from the James Harden trade.

The NBA chose the unencumbered Indiana pick for forfeiture. According to PhillyVoice’s report citing a league spokesperson, Philadelphia’s swap right against the Clippers’ own 2029 pick remains intact.

That means the punishment does not unwind either earlier trade. Indiana does not regain the pick it sent away, and Philadelphia does not lose the right it previously acquired. The league instead removes the separate Indiana selection from the Clippers’ inventory.

What about the Raptors’ 2031 and 2033 picks?

The proposed Kawhi Leonard trade has been on hold pending the investigation. Under the reported agreement, Toronto would send the Clippers unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, along with other assets.

Those incoming Toronto selections are distinct from the Clippers’ own 2031 and 2033 first-rounders that the league forfeited. If the trade is completed on its reported terms, Los Angeles could still possess Toronto’s picks in those two drafts even though its natural selections have been removed.

Leonard’s contract was not voided, and the NBA did not suspend him. His announced punishment is a $700,000 payment to the league. That removes the most serious contract-related threat hanging over the proposed transaction, but the teams still must formally complete it before the Toronto picks become part of the Clippers’ finalized draft inventory.

Why the punishment constrains a rebuild

First-round picks serve three different purposes: teams can draft players with them, trade them for established help or use their existence to satisfy rules governing future-pick trades. Losing five selections attacks that flexibility from several directions.

Most importantly, the Clippers will not receive the usual reward if their own roster declines from 2030 through 2033. Free agency and trades remain available, as do any first-rounders acquired from other clubs, but those paths require cap space, appealing contracts or assets going the other way. A natural first-round pick arrives automatically after every season and usually carries four years of team control at the rookie scale.

The two reported Toronto picks would soften the damage if the Leonard trade closes, but they would not restore the Clippers’ normal draft pipeline. Their value will depend on Toronto’s performance, while Los Angeles would still have no claim to its own first-round position in four consecutive drafts.

The league also placed the Clippers under a five-year compliance and monitoring program. The team has rejected the investigation’s findings and promised a challenge, while the NBA’s official release says the penalties are final and binding under an agreement with the players’ association.

For roster purposes, the working reality is straightforward: the five named picks are gone unless a later legal or league action changes the order. The next concrete development is completion, revision or abandonment of the Toronto trade, because that will determine whether the Clippers retain two important incoming first-rounders while losing their own.