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The 2007–08 season started off on a negative note, with Elton Brand on the disabled list because of a ruptured left Achilles tendon, and Shaun Livingston still out with the injury he sustained from the previous year. Brand missed most of the 2007–08 year, and the Clippers struggled to stay competitive in the Western Conference. Chris Kaman was one of the lone bright spots for the Clippers, and took advantage of a depleted roster by averaging 15.7 points and 12.7 rebounds per game throughout the season, but was limited to playing 56 games due to various injuries. The Clippers ended the season with a record of 23–59, 12th in the Western Conference and last in the Pacific Division.

The Clippers saw the departure of several players for the 2008–09 season, including Elton Brand and Corey Maggette, and acquisitions of ten players either by draft, free agency or trades. On July 1, 2008, Baron Davis, a Los Angeles native and formerly of the Golden State Warriors, verbally agreed to and signed (on July 10) a five-year contract with the Clippers, worth an estimated $65 million.^[5]

After a disappointing 2007–08 season, the Clippers obtained the 7th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, and selected Eric Gordon out of Indiana University.^[6] The team also selected DeAndre Jordan from Texas A&M University in the second round (35th overall pick). Another second-round pick, Mike Taylor from the NBA D-League's Idaho Stampede and Iowa State University (55th overall pick), was acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for a future second-round pick. Gordon officially signed with the team on July 7, while Jordan and Taylor both signed on July 15.

Also on July 15, the Clippers acquired forward–center Marcus Camby from the Denver Nuggets in return for a $10 million trade exception and the choice to exchange second round picks with the Clippers in 2010.^[7] On July 23, the Clippers also acquired guard Jason Hart from the Utah Jazz in exchange for guard Brevin Knight.^[8] On July 28, the Clippers signed guard Ricky Davis to a one-year deal, with a player option for a second year.^[9] The Clippers continued their active offseason with signing reserve forward–center (and one-time Clipper) Brian Skinner on July 31, and traded for reserve forward Steve Novak on August 6 for future second-round pick considerations, in a deal similar to the Camby trade.

On August 7, the team signed guard Jason Williams from the Miami Heat to a one-year deal.^[10] Recently, the Los Angeles Clippers re-signed forward Paul Davis. The Clippers signed three Davis' (Baron, Ricky, and Paul) in their "rebuilding offseason" in which they obtained key players such as Baron Davis, Marcus Camby, Ricky Davis, and Jason Williams. However, just prior to the start of training camp, Williams announced his retirement on September 26.

On October 7, according to reports from various sources including the Los Angeles Times,^[11][12] Orange County Register,^[13] and the team's own web site (Clippers.com), Elgin Baylor ended his 22-year reign as vice president and general manager of basketball operations. It was one of the longest such tenures in professional sports history. The Clippers have indicated that Baylor had retired from his post,^[14] and as a result, head coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr. will also assume the role as general manager, while director of player personnel Neil Oshley is promoted to assistant general manager.

In many of those same reports, including a related article in the October 8 edition of the Times,^[15] it was also indicated that Baylor had either been fired, resigned, or retired, depending on the source. According to similar reports, Baylor had been offered a different position in the organization, with the same salary, but with little to none decision-making power; Baylor refused. In fact, when pressed about his stauts with the franchise, Baylor had been advised by his attorneys not to say anything, indicating that the team and Baylor are in negotiations to work out a settlement agreement based on his departure. According to the above-mentioned article, Baylor had been working without a formal contract since the early 1990s.

On November 21, 2008, the Clippers and New York Knicks completed a trade, in which Los Angeles sent forward Tim Thomas and guard Cuttino Mobley to New York, in exchange for forward Zach Randolph and reserve guard Mardy Collins.^[16] With the trade of Mobley, only one member of their 2005–06 playoff team remains on the roster—starting center Chris Kaman. On December 11, Mobley announced his retirement due to the heart condition known as Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy discovering during his physical; although he was never to play a game for the Knicks, they completed the trade anyway for salary cap reasons.

On January 6, 2009, the Los Angeles Clippers waived Fred Jones & Paul Davis to open a roster spot for Center from Senegal Cheikh Samb^[17] (the Clippers have since re-signed Jones). The Clippers ended the 2008-09 season with another disappointing finish - 14th in the Western Conference - with a record of 19-63.^[18]

[edit] 2009–present: Rebuilding with Blake Griffin

The Clippers selected Blake Griffin as the first overall selection of the 2009 NBA Draft.

On May 19, 2009 the Los Angeles Clippers were awarded the first overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. The Clippers had a 17.7% chance of being awarded the first pick. With the 1st selection in the draft, they selected forward Blake Griffin from Oklahoma. To open up a spot in the starting lineup for Griffin, Los Angeles traded Zach Randolph to Memphis for Quentin Richardson on July 1. Richardson was then traded on July 20 to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Sebastian Telfair, Craig Smith, and Mark Madsen.^[19]

Although Griffin immediately impressed in training camp and the preseason, his rookie season was short-lived. On October 23, he broke his kneecap during the Clippers' final exhibition game against New Orleans, most likely after a dunk that left him wincing in pain. Initially, the Clippers' stated that Griffin only had a sore left knee which would make him questionable for the season opener the following Tuesday night before revealing the break. The injury ultimately sidelined Griffin for the entire season.^[20]

On February 4, 2010, head coach Mike Dunleavy resigned his position as head coach, and Kim Hughes was named interim coach.^[21] Dunleavy retained his front-office title and duties for just over a month, but on March 10, 2010 he was fired as General Manager of the Clippers, being replaced by Neil Olshey. Dunleavy received the news of his dismissal from the internet, as well as friends and reporters calling his cell phone.^[22] The Los Angeles Times reported on April 20, 2010 that Dunleavy has filed for arbitration and that the Clippers have cut off his salary, even though his guaranteed contract does not end until after the 2010-2011 season.^[23] Although the Clippers did see some minor improvement, finishing with ten more wins at 29-53, Hughes was fired as head coach at the end of the season.

On July 6, 2010, former coach of the Chicago Bulls, Vinny Del Negro was hired as the Clippers' next head coach.^[24] On August 16, the team introduced new uniform designs at a photo shoot, at the team's practice facility. Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan modeled the new uniforms, which were re-designed for the first time since the 2000–01 season.^[25] The Clippers' primary and secondary logos, which are modifications of the previous ones, were introduced to the public weeks earlier, on the night of the 2010 NBA Draft.

With new star Eric Gordon, and Chris Kaman, an improved DeAndre Jordan, a re-energized Baron Davis, and the debut of #1 pick Blake Griffin, the Clippers had high hopes going into the season. However, they got off to a weak start, losing ten of their first eleven games with their stars Baron Davis and Chris Kaman out with injuries. However, the Clippers showed strength when 3 of their first 4 wins came from the top teams in the Western Conference (the Oklahoma City Thunder, the New Orleans Hornets, and the San Antonio Spurs) and also, defeated the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Boston Celtics. Nonetheless, Griffin got off to a strong start, drawing increased media attention in Clippers games and boosting ratings of local broadcasts of Clippers games.^[26] Griffin was chosen as a Western Conference Reserve in the 2011 NBA All-Star Game, a rare honor for a rookie; he was the first chosen by the coaches for the game since Tim Duncan in 1997. Griffin also won the NBA Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. As the trade deadline approached, the Clippers sent Baron Davis along with their 2011 first round draft pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon. The first round pick they gave to Cleveland turned out to be the first overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. With that they selected Kyrie Irving.