Clippers Trade Talk: 5 trade targets to finally fix L.A.’s bench

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