Clippers Right to Keep Terance Mann in James Harden Trade Talks Amid NBA Rumors

The Los Angeles Clippers have found themselves in the headlines for recent reports that the team was engaged, at some point, in trade discussions with the Philadelphia 76ers for former league MVP, James Harden.

Sam Amick of The Athletic reported the discussions included small forward Terance Mann, but the Clippers were adamant that he would not be moved.

He wrote, "Despite the Sixers indicating that they would accept an offer of a Clippers' unprotected first-round pick, first-round pick swap, players to match the salaries and Mann, two people involved in the negotiations say Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank reiterated the team's stance that Mann would not be part of their offer."

Add to that ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski report that there was a sizeable gap between the two teams and that there had not been movement in months, and you have a Los Angeles team hellbent on holding onto Mann.

They did the right thing.

Mann is a versatile player who head coach Ty Lue was confident enough in to name him to the Clippers starting lineup Friday.

Lue cited the team's ability to put Mann against league greats like Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, and Lauri Markkanen, all different players with different styles of play. He can guard point guards, take on big men, and is equal parts athletic and physical.

His stat line may not jump off the page, with just 8.8 points a game, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists, but he is a 51.9 percent shooter from the floor and does the small things that help his team win.

It is part of the reason the Sixers were so adamant about acquiring him in return for a guy in Harden who has been a league MVP and is still an offensive juggernaut when he needs to be.

The Clippers, like the 76ers, have their own championship aspirations. In a loaded Western Conference, where defending champions the Denver Nuggets appear to be ready to run it back and the Phoenix Suns have improved their lineup, they need all of the players they can get to put a competitive team on the floor.

Harden would give them another scorer, but he is not a reliable defender, and with the star power in that conference, hell, in the same city as the Lakers loaded up during the offseason, that is what the Clippers need.

Mann provides that. He opens things up for his teammates, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, to do their thing and be the franchise stars that they are. He is unselfish, probably his greatest attribute, in a league where that trait is not necessarily prevalent.

Holding onto him, not messing with the team's chemistry, and benefiting from the several ways that he can be utilized against opposing offenses, is the best call the Clippers could have made and one of their best this offseason.