Clippers trade rumors: L.A. still pursuing Rudy Gay

It looks like the Los Angeles Clippers could make another move before the NBA trade deadline, as they are reportedly still interested in Rudy Gay.

Josh Smith is back with the Houston Rockets, but that might not be the only move the Los Angeles Clippers will make before the NBA trade deadline on February 18. They still have Lance Stephenson, who, despite a recent 16-point showing against the Lakers, is still very much at the bottom of Doc Rivers’ rotation. If they’re looking to move someone, it’s surely going to be him.

While his trade value based on his play and production is still low due to his extremely limited role this season, he still has value thanks to his contract. He has a heft salary of $9 million, but with a team option for 2016-17, he can be waived in order to free up cap space for this summer. And when considering the raising cap and so many high-profile free agents such as Kevin Durant hitting the market, it’s clear that finance alone gives him respectable value.

Now, ESPN’s Chris Broussard (take that as you will) has said in a video report that the Clippers are still interested in Rudy Gay:

"The Clippers are looking for a three man. They have interest in Rudy but they really don’t have enough to get him, so I don’t think you end up seeing him with the Clippers."

This obviously isn’t the first we’ve heard of this, though. On January 14, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee reported that Gay has been linked to several teams, with one being the Clippers:

"Gay has been linked to several teams in rumors during the season, the latest being the Kings reaching out to New Orleans for forward Ryan Anderson, according to Sheridan Hoops.Gay also has been linked to Chicago and the Los Angeles Clippers."

As both these reports have spanned over a few weeks, it looks like the Clippers must have both high interest in Gay and a belief that they may be able to pull off a trade for him. As someone who’s still averaging 18.4 points on 47.5 percent shooting, not to mention a career-high seven rebounds per game that can really help the Clippers, he has the kind of size, athleticism and shot creation that could fix their long-term small forward problems.

Equally, Gay is valuable to the Kings even if they are looking to move on from him and his $13.3 million salary for 2016-17. They won’t let him go easily and they’ll want a fair return.

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The problem (just as Broussard pointed out) is how can the Clippers tempt the Kings?

They just don’t have many trade assets and it’s hard to see Doc wanting to move Jamal Crawford unless a package deal is absolutely necessary, and besides Stephenson there aren’t any role players who are clearly expendable. So, in this situation, it looks like a Stephenson-Gay swap is Doc’s best bet.

Although, if the Clippers have been trying for a couple of weeks to make something work with the Kings, they may not have enough to offer. Perhaps by including a future draft pick they can try to add some value to their part of the bargain besides the $9 million boost to their cap that waiving Stephenson will provide.

Next: Breaking down the rumored Blake Griffin-Kevin Durant swap

When anything else on this matter is revealed, we’ll be sure to keep you updated.

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