NBA Trade Rumors: Clippers Could Have Formed Superteam If Not for Baron Trade

I could start by saying that hindsight is 20/20, but you know that already. Plus, the cliche police would probably have me arrested.

The guys in the Clippers front office have to be shaking their heads though when they look back to their 2011 trade deadline deal that sent their 2011 No. 1 pick and most importantly, Baron Davis' terrible contract to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon.

At the time, a lottery pick seemed like a reasonable price to pay to shed Davis' bloated deal and save $11 million over the next two years. And they even got a competent point guard in return.

Fast forward nine months. The trade looks so much different now.

For starters, the Clippers' first round selection turned out to be the No.1 overall pick in the draft.

Then, the new NBA collective bargaining agreement was negotiated to include an amnesty provision, allowing a team to waive one player and not have their contract count towards their salary cap or luxury tax number.

That one-two punch must have GM Neil Olshey reeling when he considers the potential roster moves he could have made had he waited just a few more months before pulling the trigger on banishing Davis.

Baron's contract could have simply been amnestied off the books, and while they would still have to pay his remaining salary, the Clips would have cleared major cap space without the cost of giving up the top pick in the 2011 draft.

L.A. could have used that pick to draft and stash another prized young prospect. That means they could have grabbed either Kyrie Irving or Derrick Williams at No. 1 to use as trade bait in the future.

That would have given them the assets required to land not just one, but two superduperstars this offseason.

The Clippers would have had the possibility of pulling off trades to acquire both Dwight Howard AND Chris Paul to add to Blake Griffin and form the NBA's next superteam. All the components required to land D12 and CP3 would have been in their possession.

Looking for quality young assets? Pick from Eric Gordon, DeAndre Jordan, Al-Farouq Aminu, Eric Bledsoe and Irving/Williams.

Need draft picks? The Clippers could not only give up their own, but also the rights to Minnesota's unprotected 2012 first rounder. That's likely a top five pick in a loaded draft. Whichever team receives that pick has to feel good about their chances to attain their next franchise player with it. 

Want cap relief? The Clips have you covered there too. Not only do they have expiring contracts to deal in Chris Kaman and Randy Foye, they have enough cap room themselves to take back any bad contracts the Hornets or Magic want to unload.

For instance, the Clippers could take on Hedo Turkoglu's contract, which would allow the Magic to use their amnesty on Gilbert Arenas and clear a boatload of cap space. The bottom line is that the Clippers could facilitate the Hornets and/or Magic in becoming major free-agent players next summer.

With that stockpile of assets on the table, the Clippers would have the pieces needed to revamp their forlorn franchise. I'm not saying they would have definitely pulled off the heist for both Howard and Paul, but just the possibility would give us all something exciting to speculate about.

HoopsHype would blow up with all the rumors surrounding a potential mega-deal. Bill Simmons, the self-proclaimed "Picasso of the Trade Machine," would have posted a 10,000 word column breaking down 17 different trade scenarios. It could have involved four or five teams, snowballed into other superstars being moved and morphed into the biggest, most earth-shattering transaction in NBA history. (Okay, I might be exaggerating a tiny bit, but hey, it's my fake dream scenario. You can get your own.)

Alas, the Baron Davis trade put a premature end to the pot of gold at the end of this rainbow. Davis made the Clippers rue the contact they gave him every day for the almost three years he spent with the team. Now, even though Davis is gone, he's still coming back to haunt them.