Former Clippers star warns of team's uphill battle after brutal Kawhi Leonard salary cap punishment

The NBA ruled that the team circumvented salary cap rules with Kawhi Leonard, resulting in the forfeiture of five first-round picks from 2029 through 2033, and owner Steve Ballmer has been suspended from team activities for a year.This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners.If you sign up or place a wager, FOX News may be compensated.

This content was created by a team that works independently from the FOX newsroom.More often than not, especially considering the NBA Draft is only two rounds, those franchise-altering players are found in those first 30 picks.And for the Clippers, who missed the playoffs and traded away their best player in Leonard, it will be even tougher without potential lottery picks.CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGELos Angeles Clippers point guard Baron Davis plays against the Dallas Mavericks on Jan.

25, 2011, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.Dallas defeated Los Angeles 112-105.

(Albert Pena/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Now, the team must think longer and harder when attempting to find a hidden "gem," said former Clipper Baron Davis."I think for the Clippers, the next five years are going to be super important around how they stay competitive, how they develop the young guys that they can get.And then it's really going to be a big burden placed on free agency and then also scouting, right? Where can you find a gem that you can't find in the draft? Where can you take a chance on someone who may not have performed as a high pick three years later and bring them in and develop them?" Davis told Fox News in a recent interview."So, it does put you somewhere behind the eight ball when it comes to getting better through the draft, finding that [Victor Wembanyama], AJ Dybantsa, [Kevin Durant], right? LeBron [James], like getting those picks.

And so, what the Clippers must do is figure out which direction - and I think over the next two years, we'll start seeing which direction they want...