The Los Angeles Clippers are on the clock. They have a potential franchise-altering decision to make on how creative they will get this summer with the rights to the No. 5 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

A lot will factor into their moves including what they will do with superstar Kawhi Leonard, but it seems a trade is evitable. Their options are either moving on from Leonard and trading him for draft capital or good players, which seems unlikely.

During an appearance on Third Apron Podcast with Yossi Gozlan, Law Murray — the Clippers beat writer for The Athletic — said its plausible they will double down on the Leonard era and draft a solid prospect or trade the No. 5 pick for "ready-now" assets.

"The best case is the Clippers just keeping Kawhi and making it work, because Kawhi is clearly the best of those players," Murray said. "And I don't think that draft capital is worth trading him for the dudes who would be coming back. Like the floor of those dudes are in the basement. That's a problem."

With the Clippers picking No. 5, they need to find a replacement for their former starting center Ivica Zubac, who they traded during the season to the Indiana Pacers.

In addition, they need to find a player who is young, athletic and a playmaker who can both score and facilitate the Clipper offense. They went out and got a player who does that in Darius Garland who was acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers for James Harden.

The Clippers have been linked to a number of guard prospects in this year's draft class.

USA TODAY Sports' Bryan Kalbrosky has the Clippers going with Kingston Flemings, the 19-year-old guard out of Houston, with the draft's fifth overall selection. Kalbrosky doesn't expect it to take long for Flemings' name to be called. The Houston guard stands at 6-foot-3 with a 6-foot-4 wingspan.

"The Clippers received this pick from the Indiana Pacers and when they are on the clock at No. 5 overall, look for them to potentially call on Houston freshman Kingston Flemings. The All-Big 12 guard has several games when he has recorded at least three steals, notching eight against Arizona State earlier this season," Kalbrosky wrote. "He scored 42 points against No. 11 Texas Tech on Jan. 24. Flemings helped lead Houston to the Sweet 16, and with highs as high as his were this season, it will not take long for him to hear his name called on draft night. Flemings measured with a 40.5-inch max vertical and elite speed across all his agility testing."

Here are sports experts' mock draft predictions for the Clippers: