4:38 pm: Broome has been waived, the Clippers announced.
4:20 pm: The Clippers are waiving former Auburn star Johni Broome, according to reports from Jake Fischer of The Stein Line and Bleacher Report and Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter links).
Los Angeles is facing a roster crunch this fall and the first victim of that situation will be Broome, who was selected 35th overall in last year’s draft. The Clippers will still owe Broome his full $2.15MM salary for this season, assuming a rival team doesn’t claim him off waivers.
As we noted when we checked in on the Clippers’ offseason a few days ago, the team has 16 players on guaranteed contracts but has a good chunk of breathing room below both the luxury tax line (about $15.1MM) and its first-apron hard cap ($23.7MM). Cutting the 6’10” big man won’t change that math, since his guaranteed contract was already calculated in.
Broome always seemed like the most obvious candidate of the 16 players to be waived, since he’s owed the least amount of guaranteed money and was acquired over the summer mainly because the Sixers attached a future second-round pick to move his contract. Broome’s deal technically runs through 2028/29, but only the $2.15MM for ’26/27 was guaranteed.
The 24-year-old center/forward only made 11 NBA appearances as a rookie with Philadelphia last season, averaging 0.9 points and 1.5 rebounds in 9.0 minutes per game. Broome also appeared in 26 G League games (32.2 MPG) with the 76ers’ affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, averaging 21.8 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 3.2 APG, 1.5 BPG and 1.1 SPG on .464/.287/.656 shooting splits.
Broome suffered a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee in late February while playing for the Blue Coats, prematurely ending his NBAGL season after he underwent a partial meniscectomy a few days later. He returned to action in the NBA playoffs, playing some garbage-time minutes in a pair of blowout losses to the Knicks in the second round.
More to come…