What the Maurice Harkless trade means for the LA Clippers

The LA Clippers inserted themselves into the Jimmy Butler trade, and got Maurice Harkless and a future first — while still maintaining space for Kawhi.

The LA Clippers made a surprising move on Monday, inserting themselves into the Jimmy Butler trade and helping to facilitate a four-team deal with the Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers. The trade, as first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, will bring forward Maurice Harkless and a future first-round pick via Miami to the Clippers.

It’s unknown at the moment what the Clippers included in their deal in order to complete the trade, but the important thing is that according to numerous reporters, LA will still have enough cap space available to sign a max-level free agent — a.k.a., Kawhi Leonard.

Harkless, aged 26, is a 6’9″ forward that’s known for gritty defense, which makes him a clear fit with the Clippers roster. He’d be expected to come off the bench if the Clippers do end up landing Leonard, but as a starter in 53 of the 60 games he played in last season for the Trail Blazers, it’s clear he could step in to the starting rotation if the Clippers need to do a little bit of load management.

In those 60 games with Portland, Harkless posted averages of 7.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists in less than 24 minutes per game. He seemingly confirmed the trade after sending the following tweet moments after it was initially announced:

The Clippers would not have needed to get involved with the deal, but the trade was hung up Sunday night when the Dallas Mavericks backed out after thinking they would be receiving Goran Dragic from Miami. In need of another team with cap space to compete the deal, the Clippers jumped in and were able to add a quality forward to their roster without interfering with their odds of signing Leonard.

LA may need to waive one of Sindarius Thornwell or Tyrone Wallace in order to clear the room to offer Leonard the full max, per a report from The Athletic‘s Jovan Buha. Buha also noted that Harkless is an expiring contract, which will help the Clippers keep additional money off the sheets going into next summer.

In addition to Harkless, The Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Keith Pompey reported that the 76ers will send the rights of Mathias Lessort to the Clippers to complete the deal.

Even if the Clippers don’t get Leonard at this point, it’s clear that they’re still building a tough team that could make some noise in the Western Conference.

There’s still little information on the Leonard front, but as the LA Clippers continue to acquire assets, the Los Angeles Lakers have made few moves while missing out on role players that could potentially fill out their bench.