With less than a week until the regular season begins, the LA Clippers should explore trading Milos Teodosic to the Spurs to cut down on roster size.
The LA Clippers are in a bit of a tough spot. With just days remaining until the rosters must be finalized, the team still has 20 players under contract.
That number took a dip on Tuesday evening, when the Clippers officially waived forward Desi Rodriguez ahead of that night’s matchup with the Denver Nuggets. It seemed safe to assume that LA was finally starting to take a look at their remaining players and decide who must stay, and who must go.
However, that number spiked back up to 20 when the Clippers reportedly brought in free agent wing Jamel Artis on a non-guaranteed deal. He’ll almost certainly be moved to LA’s G-League affiliate, the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, ahead of next season’s home opener. But still, the move was a little puzzling.
For the time being, LA is right back where it started — with a surplus of men, and a shortage of time to move them.
It’s been reported that the Clippers are looking to trade some of their remaining players as opposed to waiving them, in order to eat as little salary as possible. One candidate that makes sense here is Milos Teodosic.
The 31-year-old point guard had a solid rookie season with the Clippers in 2018, posting averages of 9.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists across 45 games. Despite his nagging foot injuries, it’s fair to say that his value in the NBA has never been higher. Even though he was a highly-coveted international prospect for years, he’s finally been able to prove that he can stick around on an NBA roster.
However, at some point, LA has to begin considering the best-case scenario for Teodosic and the remaining Clippers point guards. Head Coach Doc Rivers has inferred that he wants Patrick Beverley and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to receive most of the minutes at point this season, and based on what Tyrone Wallace was able to accomplish last season, he may win out the remaining minutes.
Doc Rivers said the six separators on the roster thus far: Tobias Harris, Danilo Gallinari, Avery Bradley, Pat Beverley, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lou Williams. He said all six are guaranteed rotation minutes heading into regular season.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) October 10, 2018
Teodosic is set to make $6.3 million this season, which is a lot to pay for a player that has no definite spot in the rotation. Rather than cut him, the LA Clippers should be looking for potential trade partners — and the San Antonio Spurs are among the teams that make the most sense.
Earlier this week, San Antonio’s projected starting point guard Dejounte Murray suffered a season-ending ACL injury, leaving the Spurs with a big hole up top. Assuming Gregg Popovich will want to remain competitive, the organization will be desperate to find another floor general.
Teodosic makes sense for the Spurs for a few reasons. For one thing, Popovich’s affinity for International players has been well documented. San Antonio has played a more traditional style of basketball for some time, which is something that International-born players tend to excel at. Coach Pop also tends to favor older veterans over younger players, and although this will only be Teodosic’s second NBA season, he was formerly the EuroLeague MVP (2010) and is a Euroleague Champion (2016). Experience is not something he lacks.
In exchange for Teodosic, the Clippers should only be seeking a return of second round picks and/or cash considerations. Any additional roster players will negate the point of the trade.
LA could also look to the Phoenix Suns as a potential suitor. Teodosic played under Suns coach Igor Kokoskov for the Serbian national team, and the team is in equal need of a solid point guard, despite selecting Elie Okobo in the first round of this year’s NBA Draft.
The Clippers need to start making moves soon — dealing Teodosic would be a great place to start. After tonight’s preseason finale against Maccabi Haifa, expect LA to shift all of its focus on the roster.