5 Fresh Trade Scenarios as LA Clippers Reshape Their Rotation
The Los Angeles Clippers have already made their first trade of the offseason, swapping Matt Barnes and Spencer Hawes for Lance Stephenson last week. But they'll surely be looking to expand upon that.
Even after acquiring Stephenson, the Clips still have just six competent rotation players for the upcoming season. Of course, they'll be gunning for some big-name free agents with the little wiggle room they do have, likely none bigger than Paul Pierce.
L.A. doesn't have many assets, but it can find a way to make a trade, whether that means dealing Jamal Crawford or C.J. Wilcox or maybe getting unconventional and unloading a guy or two who is higher on the totem pole.
Purchasing at Least One Second-Rounder
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Let's start with the boring stuff, which is also, by no coincidence, the most realistic.
The Clippers are the only team without a draft pick heading into Thursday night's festivities, but it doesn't have to be that way. Teams sell picks all the time for multitudes of reasons, and franchises that are willing to spend end up reaping the benefits of that frugality.
That is, after all, how the crosstown rival Los Angeles Lakers ended up with Jordan Clarkson last year, buying the rights to the 46th overall pick from the Washington Wizards for $1.8 million. Think they regretted that one bit after Clarkson made First-Team All-Rookie?
Of course, not everyone you draft in the second round will end up making an All-Rookie team. (How's that for a bold statement?) But for the Clippers, finding as many second-round guys as possible could end up working out well for them.
Essentially, L.A. might be best off playing the draft the same way the Brooklyn Nets did a year ago, chasing second-rounders for cash and then hoping just one of those guys fits.
It's not about batting average. Just total hits.
The Nets got particularly lucky finding Markel Brown, who was a starter by the end of the year, and Cory Jefferson, who could end up being a rotation player for them next season, in the mid-to-late second.
Teams can spend up to $3.3 million in the calendar year during transactions. The Clips have only spent $300,000 of that total so far (they did that in the deal that sent Jared Cunningham to the Philadelphia 76ers).
Now, with a generous owner for the first time ever, the Clippers are buyers. We'll see how they decide to spread out their money come Thursday.
The Denver Nuggets Trade
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Clippers receive: Wilson Chandler
Nuggets receive: Jamal Crawford, C.J. Wilcox
Two questions for you:
1. How many times have you seen this trade rehashed?
2. How many times has this trade actually happened?
The fact that the answer to the first question is somewhere between 27 and 4,345,097,278 and the answer to the second one is zero should tell you something about the likelihood of this going down in the future.
But maybe there's new life in the Wilson Chandler-to-the-Clippers hopes. (Notice how I'm using "hopes" and not "rumors" here.)
Denver's DNA is different now than it was during the season when the Nuggets held on to their key pieces. Pete D'Alessandro left the Sacramento Kings to come back to the front office where he was once assistant general manager. Now, he has even more say in what will go down. Mike Malone has also taken over as coach.
If the Nugs are looking for short-term fixes to help them push for an unlikely No. 8 seed before scrapping the roster and loading up on cap room, acquiring Crawford and the one year remaining on his deal makes sense.
If they're fans of Wilcox, who barely played as a rookie this past season, maybe that pushes this deal over the edge, and the Clippers can finally get the above-average starting small forward they've been searching for seemingly forever.
The Washington Wizards Trade
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Clippers receive: Kris Humphries, Garrett Temple
Wizards receive: Jamal Crawford
It may not have worked out great the last time the Clippers acquired someone who had the judgment to marry a Kardashian, but maybe the second time around could be better.
This one seems mutually beneficial...to a degree.
The Clips bring in a third big man who can play both the 4 and the 5. He doesn't bring the shooting that (the idea of) Spencer Hawes did, but he's a solid defender and strong rebounder. He doesn't need the ball on offense, and he actually owns an accurate jumper as long as he stays around the mid-range area.
Plus, the two years and $9 million remaining on Humphries' contract has extra value since the final season is fully non-guaranteed.
Not bad for a third big, huh?
On the other side, Washington would be acquiring a scoring guard off the bench, which it needs. Ramon Sessions isn't the answer, even if his play did pick up after coming over from the Kings during the second half of the season. But Crawford may not be enough to net both Humphries and Temple, who would have to be included so the money in the deal could match.
The Indiana Pacers Trade
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Clippers receive: Ian Mahinmi, No. 43 pick in the 2015 NBA draft
Pacers receive: Jamal Crawford
In case you didn't notice, the Crawford deals are getting slightly worse and worse, namely because it's hard to judge his value.
Are teams looking for a ball-dominant guard coming off of one of the worst years of his career, certainly his worst one with the Clippers? Crawford's value now almost feels like it's at the place where it was three years ago when he first signed in L.A.
That was the summer of 2012, when he was coming off of a disappointing sole season with the Portland Trail Blazers and ended up signing a mid-level contract. At the time, many called it an overpay.
Clearly, he's lived up to the money the Clippers gave him, but now, with a similarly inefficient year behind him and this time at age 35, there are certainly a bunch of teams who will be disinterested.
So, the Clips may have to turn those that are starved for offense.
Enter the Pacers.
Indiana has a legitimate shot to make the playoffs next year with a healthy Paul George. An offense that finished 24th in points per possession last year could certainly use some scoring off the bench. And the Pacers may be willing to part with Mahinmi, who has only one year at $4 million left on his deal, considering the workload they gave to Lavoy Allen this past season.
The Clippers, meanwhile, would be acquiring a valued draft pick along with one of the best defensive backup centers in the league, someone who is a legitimate rim protector behind (hopefully) DeAndre Jordan.
Well, unless they let D.J. walk in free agency. Speaking of which...
The Sacramento Kings Trade Certain to Break the Internet
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Kings receive: DeAndre Jordan, C.J. Wilcox
Clippers receive: DeMarcus Cousins
Please, please, please make this happen. Just do it for the children.
I don't even care about the basketball results. I just want to watch it unfold: the fuming about how the Kings messed up the Cousins situation, the Clippers locker room that would house the personalities of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Stephenson and Cousins.
We're allowed to pontificate about a Jordan-for-Cousins sign-and-trade because, frankly, we have no idea what the Kings want. No one knows what Sacramento is thinking.
I don't know who they want. You don't know who they want. I don't know if they know who they want. You don't know if I know if they know who they want.
Kings coach George Karl is allegedly pushing for former Karl players Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried, but ownership isn't backing such a trade, per ESPN's Chris Broussard. Wouldn't you rather receive a 26-year-old All-NBA Team member for your superstar center than an overpaid, non-defensive, non-offensive forward and a fringe top-eight point guard?
Obviously, that's a low bar to set. And it'd be appalling if Sacramento actually went through with the bare bones of Lawson and Faried for Cousins. But the Kings are the new NBA wild cards (or maybe the constant ones).
Owner Vivek Ranadive likes athletes. He likes "positionless basketball." Maybe Jordan's defensive presence is enough to make them push the deal through...
But on second thought, never.
Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
Follow Fred Katz on Twitter at @FredKatz.
Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are current as of June 23 and are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
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