With the way Doc Rivers has practically removed Josh Smith and Lance Stephenson from the Los Angeles Clippers’ rotation, it looks increasingly more likely a trade could be coming. So, if they’re going to make something happen, here are five players they should target to fix the second unit once and for all.
Now that C.J. Wilcox is reportedly available for trade, and Josh Smith and Lance Stephenson are practically removed from the rotation, it seems more and more likely that the Los Angeles Clippers could be considering a multi-player trade before the February 18 deadline. Of course, Jamal Crawford has his scoring value and is also mentioned in trade rumors, but besides Crawford, the Clippers are going to need to group some players together in order to make a worthwhile trade.
Stephenson and Smith simply don’t have enough value by themselves to bring in much in return, so the chance of Doc Rivers combining them or using Wilcox as an extra piece looks most likely.
These two summer acquisitions are down to minimal minutes when they actually do play, while Smith is even worse off between the two as he’s received a DNP in six of the last eight games. What makes matters even worse for their case to stay in L.A. is that the Clippers are winning just fine without using them much, as they continue riding their seven-game win streak.
So, let’s explore some possible trade targets.
As you’ll see in these trade ideas, the limited value of the pieces the Clippers have to offer makes targeting much talent difficult to achieve. With that in mind, a couple of these trades will be difficult to pull off, but there’s no harm in surveying any possibilities or players that will help the team.
If Steve Ballmer and Doc want to take the Clippers to another level, rather than a contender who are simply going to sit below the Western Conference’s big three of the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors, a trade to tweak the bench could work. And that’s what this piece will look at — some hypothetical trades that could help improve the second unit once and for all. Both in terms of adding an upgrade and removing a player who isn’t helping much anyway.
Because let’s face it, despite their recent improvement and high potential, it’s going to be incredibly difficult for the Clippers to try to get past teams like the Warriors and Spurs in the playoffs.
Quick note: It’s not necessarily urgent that the Clippers make a trade right now. Without Blake Griffin, the bench has been surprisingly effective, especially on offense. However, the hot shooting from the second unit can’t last forever, Crawford can’t always be counted on and Smith and Stephenson have almost been removed from the rotation. These trades could finally help improve the Clippers’ bench for good.
Next: A surprise target
Robert Covington
You may see this and wonder why on earth would the Clippers target someone who plays for the Philadelphia 76ers. They are the very definition of tanking and ugly, mistake-ridden basketball. Besides star rookie Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel, and the recently acquired Ish Smith, they’re practically devoid of talent. Except for one long, 6’9″ forward, Robert Covington.
Of course, he isn’t an amazing player, but the Clippers don’t need him to be. They just need someone to come in at the end of the rotation and make a difference in a controlled role, instead of spending all their time on the bench like Smith and Stephenson.
As an athletic 3-and-D player, Covington is exactly the kind of low value player that the Clippers can target. He has a 7’2″ wingspan and moves quick on his feet, which he’s used perfectly this season to average 1.7 steals per game (2.4 per 36 minutes). When he gets good minutes, he breaks up passing lanes to great effect, and during one three-game span in November he tallied a ridiculous total of 21 steals.
Even as a possible stretch-four, Covington would be more effective from three than Smith. He’s making 1.8 threes per game this season and made 2.4 last season, and with the Clippers’ far superior talent and playmakers, those totals (and his career three-point percentage of 35.7) should only increase in L.A.
A perk of targeting someone like Covington is that the 76ers are useless and basically everyone is available. Who knows what’s going on with their tanking situation, so if someone like Smith could be offered, they should be far more likely to accept than a team who think they actually have a chance of winning.
And ultimately, Covington is just a role player without a high trade value, seeing as most of their players are disposable while they rebuild (aka “tank”). The 76ers know that, so the likes of Wilcox and Dawson could easily be used by the Clippers in this possible scenario.
Next: A defensive upgrade
P.J. Tucker
If the Clippers can replace someone on their bench with a tenacious defender like P.J. Tucker, they can easily be better for it. The team already has offense all over the place, and still ranks 4th in offensive efficiency despite their uncharacteristic drop off in three-point shooting this season. Bearing this in mind, targeting a player like Tucker makes sense if he’s acquired for some combination of the tradable Clippers players we’ve discussed.
No, Tucker isn’t going to offer much offensively. He’s averaging a mere 6.6 points in his 27.8 minutes per game and averages just 0.8 made threes at a 36.3 percent rate, but that’s not why he’d be needed.
Defensively, he’s both versatile and tough, a combination that normally makes a player effective at that end of the floor. Besides being able to bother multiple positions on the perimeter, he also rebounds at a strong rate with seven boards per 36 minutes.
For the Suns, they’re without doubt in a lost season right now. While Tucker obviously plays an important role and has started all but two of their 38 games this season, the have second-year forward T.J. Warren who has far more upside. He’s upped his performance and efficiency across the board this season, and could be on his way to a starting role in the future. Rookie Devin Booker has also been playing well at times this season, and can take more perimeter minutes as he develops, too. Plus, someone else is likely going to be thrown into the mix as well when Markieff Morris is surely traded.
Going forward, as they have no hope this season after losing Eric Bledsoe to a torn meniscus, they could look to start Warren and rebuild with other possible moves to shake up the team all together. At 13-25, something has to change. Again, it’s a matter of the Clippers creating a deal with their low-value pieces, but Tucker isn’t too valuable financially with a salary of just $5.5 million.
Seeing as Doc isn’t playing Stephenson and Smith anyway, why not try to acquire a new defender to utilize if you’re keeping the rest of your shooters in tact? If he takes a few minutes away from guys like Crawford and Paul Pierce, the Clippers will really benefit on defense.
A little extra toughness from a player who will show up and do his job and no more could be highly beneficial for the Clippers — just look at how well Luc Mbah a Moute has done in a similar defense-first situation this season.
Next: A power forward who can actually shoot
Mirza Teletovic
This trade would allow the Clippers to replace Smith as a backup big and small-ball center and give them a totally different kind of option off the bench. Instead, they can have a power forward with a simple, yet vital role for any NBA team: a three-point, catch and shoot big.
That’s exactly what Mirza Teletovic is for the Suns, and as he’s started zero games for them this season and averages a modest 17.9 minutes a night, he’s probably not going to be totally off-limits for trade suggestions. If the Clippers can think of some kind of package deal to help ease Phoenix’s struggles (particularly their defensive problems with either Stephenson or Smith), maybe they can look into Teletovic.
This season, he’s averring 9.4 points and 2.1 made threes per game. If you convert his 41.9 percent three-point shooting and his production to 36 minutes of playing time, he averages a highly respectable 19 points and 4.1 made threes in that time span.
To replace Smith who never gets off the bench now, to take a few minutes away from Paul Pierce, and to end the terrible small-ball lineups, Teletovic could be a perfect, low maintenance addition.
If combined with either Griffin or DeAndre Jordan, it would obviously work well, as the former’s post play and the latter’s rebounding will benefit from Teletovic spacing the floor. As for his fit with the bench, his weaker defense will be helped by Cole Aldrich’s energy and presence in the paint, while he can still serve as an additional option for ball handlers like Austin Rivers and Crawford when they can’t find their own shot or attack the paint successfully.
Teletovic won’t need to be a player in a big role. He can simply step in as a complimentary piece to space the floor and take some pressure off the second unit guards trying to do all the scoring by themselves.
Another 40 percent three-point shooter always helps, and for that to come in the form of someone who can play at the four makes this target even more eye-catching for the Clippers.
Next: A point guard upgrade
Mo Williams
One type of player that could help the Clippers immensely would be a more “true” point guard, for lack of a better brief descriptor. Pablo Prigioni has been doing a solid job with the second unit lately, but he certainly can’t offer anything in the way of scoring and he’s already 38 years old. Austin Rivers, meanwhile, has been shooting well in recent games (which can’t last forever) and has stepped up his game defensively this season, but he still can’t run the offense that effectively by any means.
This is where someone like Mo Williams is worth the Clippers’ attention.
Unlike Rivers, Williams can run the offense to a far better level. He’s a more patient and accurate passer, and will be far better executing pick-and-rolls with the Clippers’ big men. As for his own scoring, he’s also a fairly talented and efficient option. Besides his 34.2 percent three-point shooting and 16.6 points per 36 minutes, he’s a great mid-range shooter. In fact, he’s shooting better than ever this season with a 44.4 percent mark from 10-16 feet and a career-high 57.3 percent from 16+ feet.
With that asset, Williams can create his own shot at times when the offense doesn’t go according to plan better than Prigioni and Rivers.
While Williams is a valuable player and the Cavs obviously have major championship aspirations right now, he isn’t as important to them as he was early this season. Since Kyrie Irving has returned from Injury, Williams has obviously lost his starting role. Furthermore, Matthew Dellavedova playing fairly well this season is earning him solid minutes instead.
Yet again, this means Williams isn’t as significant. In fact, he’s averaged just 12.6 minutes in his last six appearances and has three DNPs in the Cavs’ last five games.
Would the Cavs want to try Stephenson’s willing passing and defense, while others like LeBron James, Irving, Kevin Love and J.R. Smith get the shots? Or maybe they would consider Crawford to add some scoring to their bench, which ranks 27th in points per game.
It’s a tricky deal to make happen, but Williams is at the very least a highly worthy target. Another interesting element of this possible trade is that he’s played for the Clippers in the past, during 2011 until he was traded in 2012.
Next up, a trade that would be seriously good for the Clippers’ bench, but harder to pull off. It’s always fun getting creative and thinking of hypotheticals, though, so let’s continue.
Next: A new defensive big man
Taj Gibson
Chicago Bulls big man Taj Gibson has been involved in trade rumors for quite some time now. The reason he’s placed towards the end of this piece, though, is due to the fact that the Clippers may not have the quality available to bring him to L.A. The Bulls have had their struggles early on this season, which have primarily come on offense under new head coach Fred Hoiberg, and they still rank 24th in offensive efficiency despite their recent improvement.
Another issue, which is where Gibson enters these discussions, is that their frontcourt is completely jammed. With Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah, Nikola Mirotic (who has now moved to small forward), promising rookie Bobby Portis, and Gibson, there’s an awful lot to manage and make work.
As murmurs have been around for a while saying that the Bulls are looking to move Gibson or Noah elsewhere, the Clippers have a little hope to pull this off if Chicago are desperate enough to make something happen before the February deadline if no one else makes a better offer.
Again in December, Adrian Wojnarowski discussed Gibson in an episode of his podcast, The Vertical, and said that the Bulls are still open to trading Gibson in exchange for a wing player:
"Executives around the league, and people have told me, that the Bulls are very determined to add a talented wing player… and I’ve been told that the Bulls are open to…whether it’s Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson…maybe not both of them, but either of them if there’s a deal out there that they can bring in the best possible wing player available, they’re open to it… They need more shooting.”"
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No, Stephenson obviously isn’t the best wing player available and he’s proven that he’s hard to fit into a rotation effectively. Not to mention, he’s far from being a killer marksman. That being said, his passing could help others, while he’s still sound defensively.
Perhaps the Clippers can land Gibson by simply giving the Bulls more in return, by packaging Stephenson with Smith or someone else. Their frontcourt is crowded, but if they want to maintain a big lineup and use Smith at small forward, or perhaps take a scorer like Crawford instead to help their 24th ranked offense, maybe there’s a slight chance this could happen. Even with Gibson’s $8.5 million contract, the Clippers can clear that space by ditching either Crawford’s ($5.67 million) or Stephenson’s ($9 million) salary.
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Unfortunately for the Clippers, though, a small chance is probably as good as it gets for them. Even with Gibson being available, they don’t have much to offer for someone of his calibre and it’s hard to think of a deal that would give the Bulls exactly what they’re after.
If there’s anyway Doc can make this happen (yes, it’s unlikely), he can redeem himself for clearly failing with the Stephenson and Smith experiment. Gibson would be a perfect player to allow the Clippers’ second unit frontcourt to go big, and he has so much to offer defensively and on the boards. He’d stop the bench being as much of a liability as it is at times, and he even has a solid mid-range game, too.
For the sake of total realism, though, a player like Teletovic at power forward will be easier to pursue.
Next: The reasons why Josh Smith should be traded
If you have any players you’d like to see the Clippers pursue if Doc Rivers plans to make a trade, let us know what you think. We’ll have more trade talk and potential targets coming soon.