Resolution 1: Get. A. Center.
There may be some recency bias in this resolution.
The LA Clippers need to get a center in 2019. To start this season, the team traded for Marcin Gortat following the departure of DeAndre Jordan.
Gortat though, hasn’t been great. While he does provide better spacing for the starting lineup than Boban does, he isn’t a long term solution. I think that the team always understood that Gortat was just a stopgap center for this season as they try to move into the future.
Yes, the team does have Marjanovic, Montrezl Harrell and Johnathan Motley (on a two-way contract) but none of them should be starters. Marjanovic and Harrell are both best served as injections of energy off of the bench and Motley hasn’t been able to even see the court despite being called up to the team’s roster over the past couple of games.
Getting a center may not be easy, but should be looked at. Players are available next summer, such as Al Horford, but with the team focusing on superstars (more on that later), paying for one will be tough.
So, is a trade the right decision? Maybe.
As we all know, Avery Bradley is available to be traded after January 15th. While he won’t be enough to get a good center alone, we would have to assume a trade package would be built around him.
The Orlando Magic may be looking to trade Nikola Vucevic, who will be entering free agency next year as well. While he will be an unrestricted free agent, trading for him now would give the Clippers his bird rights, which would mean they could potentially re-sign him even if they are over the soft cap next summer.
While Vucevic isn’t a defensive center, he is a very capable scorer inside the paint and an excellent rebounder.
Maybe Vucevic isn’t yours or the Clippers cup of tea, but making a play for a starting caliber center should be explored at the very least, but the team will need to make some sort of move at the position if they intend to get a superstar and compete in 2019. This brings us to our next resolution…