The Clippers waived Yuki Kawamura on Monday night, Oct. 12, 2026, cutting him loose after he appeared in both preseason games and trimming the roster to 20 players. The move opened one spot on the Clippers' preseason list and ended his immediate chance to stick with the team.
For Kawamura, 25, the timing was the point. He was effective off the bench in Saturday's loss to Toronto, scoring 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting with four assists in 14 minutes, then was waived two days later anyway. That makes the decision a clean roster move, not a judgment built only on one game.
It also explains why his name is drawing attention now. Kawamura has already logged 40 NBA regular season appearances since debuting for Memphis in October 2024, including 18 last season for Chicago, and he has spent most of the past two seasons on two-way contracts with the Grizzlies and then the Bulls. Across his NBA career, he has averaged 2.5 points and 1.7 assists in 7.6 minutes per game, with a shooting line of.341/.300/.857.
That résumé cuts both ways. He is no stranger to production, with 18.7 points and 11.0 assists in 11 G League outings for the Windy City Bulls last season, and he was the B.League's Most Valuable Player in 2022/23 before leading the league in assists in 2023/24. He also teamed up with Rui Hachimura with the Clippers this fall and played alongside him for the Japanese national team in World Cup qualifiers during the summer.
The friction is hard to miss: the Clippers saw enough from him to use him in both preseason games, yet still decided his spot was the one to clear. That leaves the next step in his hands. Because he was on an Exhibit 10 contract, Kawamura can collect a $91K bonus if he chooses the G League route and spends at least 60 days with the San Diego Clippers. If he takes that path, the waiver becomes a reset; if he does not, it is a sharp end to a short stay on the Clippers' preseason roster.
