Jeff Green is not the solution for the Clippers
By Jeff Nisius
The value of the Clippers’ first-round draft pick
The moment I heard this deal announced I was notably upset and extremely frustrated. Rivers the general manager has squandered youth and draft picks consistently since being acquired in a trade — one that coincidentally cost the team a first-round pick.
To understand the predicament the Clippers are in regarding the team’s draft pick situation, you first must understand the value of these picks.
The salary cap is set to drastically rise this summer. Some reports suggest the final number might come in as high as $92 million, a rise of 31 percent from this season’s $70 million. For comparison, the cap increased by only 11 percent this year ($63.2 million last season).
Maximum salaries are closely tied to the salary cap, with their value being a certain percentage of the figure. However, first round draft picks are based on a predetermined scale.
This season, Karl-Anthony Towns was selected first overall and is being paid $5.7 million. Unless the rookie scale is amended in the next CBA negotiations (the NBPA can opt out next season) and changed to a certain percentage of the cap, first-round contracts are increasingly valuable.
Even if the scale is negotiated to a certain percentage of the cap figure, building through the draft is the best way to continuously improve a team, not to mention the most realistic way to land a star player. The Clippers have been one of the worst offenders of this ideology and have actually gotten worse since Rivers took over:
2013
Traded Reggie Bullock (25th pick) last season to acquire Austin Rivers.
Owed the Detroit Pistons their second-round pick from a trade from acquiring Alex Acker.
2014
Drafted C.J. Wilcox.
Owed the New Orleans Pelicans their second-round pick from acquiring Bobby Brown.
2015
Owed the 28th pick to the Celtics from acquiring Doc Rivers.
Owed the Denver Nuggets their second-round pick from acquiring Cheikh Samb.
2016
Own their first-round pick.
Own their second-round pick, but can swap with the Brooklyn Nets if the Clippers finish outside the top five best records.
2017
Owe the Toronto Raptors (via Milwaukee Bucks) their first-round pick from acquiring Carlos Delfino and Miroslav Raduljica.
Owe the Celtics their second-round pick as part of Austin Rivers acquisition.
2018
Own their first-round pick.
Owe the Philadelphia 76ers their second-round pick from acquiring a conditional second-round pick.
2019
Owe the Memphis Grizzlies their first-round pick from acquiring Jeff Green.
Own their own 2019 second-round pick.
There should be some outrage that Rivers sent yet another first-round pick out in a trade. Luckily, the pick is protected in 2019 and 2020 and then converts to a 2022 second-round pick. However, the Clippers are eventually going to need to hit on a draft pick or be resigned to scraping the bottom of the veteran free-agent barrel each summer.
Rivers and Steve Ballmer need to foster some kind of player development system, because there simply isn’t one in place right now. This includes the lack of a D-League affiliate, which I wrote about previously. Rivers is burning through future draft picks, and for all we know Rivers might not even be around when the last two he traded are conveyed.
Last but not least, Green’s impending free agency.
Next: Jeff Green's impending free agent status