Clips N' Dip: A Clippers Podcast · Lucas Hann

Episode 456: Clippers Can Prove Something vs the Lakers + MORE Clippers Trade Rumors

January 22, 2026·1 hr·5 clips

The Clippers face the Lakers to prove their turnaround amid real trade rumors for Ivica Zubac.

Four and one was the baseline. The panel starts with the Clippers getting most of what they needed from the "let's go 5-0" stretch, a run they had already called winnable. Nobody is throwing confetti. The loss gets treated as annoying but understandable, with the back-to-back, travel, and a rough three-point night all in the mix. Lakers anxiety is sitting right there, because this matchup asks whether this Clippers group can answer quickly instead of drifting back into old habits. Then the trade-rumor machine takes over. Cam Reddish gets mentioned as a new Clipper in the G League because listeners have apparently asked enough times that the panel has to deal with it. Zoo is the real pressure point. The panel argues that his contract, age, and availability make the usual trade chatter thinner than fans want to admit. They sound tired of the whole loop. The pushback is not sentimental. It is trade math, plus a blunt reminder that replacing an available center is harder than naming one. John Collins gets tested fast. The idea of him starting at the five gets immediate skepticism because the panel has tape, history, and very little patience for magical reinvention. Brook Lopez gets a fairer read. His rim protection over the stretch earns credit, but that still does not make him the answer to every problem. The panic line is familiar: lose one game, and some fans start seeing the 6 and 21 version of the Clippers again, even though this group has already answered losses. Kawhi Leonard is the hinge. Against a Lakers team described as high offensively and low defensively over the last five games, the panel lands on a very Clippers kind of hope: have Kawhi, answer the loss, and prove the stretch meant something.

As heard by us

A brisk Clippers check-in that turns roster chatter into a live debate.

Clips and Dip zeroes in on the stretch of Clippers fandom that never really settles down: a four-and-one run, a Lakers game, and trade rumors all pull the conversation in different directions.

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