Iguodala conditional deals
The following two trades would take away a key bench player from the Clippers, and would only be viable if they were also able to sign Andre Iguodala if the Memphis Grizzlies buy him out.
4. Zeller escapes Charlotte
The Charlotte Hornets receive a lot of flak for their bad contracts and awful draft decisions. While they haven’t drafted a successful NBA player since Kemba Walker in 2011, not all of their contracts are as bad as they’re widely believed to be. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist probably shouldn’t be earning $13 million dollars annually, and Nicolas Batum definitely shouldn’t be making $25.5 million, but Cody Zeller is deserving of his $14.4 million deal.
Zeller doesn’t excel in any one area, but he can do a little bit of everything. He can score down low and grab a fair amount of rebounds each night. At the very least, he could serve as a very big body for the Clippers to sub-in. Also, the Hornets might be tempted to do this trade since Zeller has two years left on his deal, while Harkless only has one. The Hornets’ Board of Governors would likely prefer to get as much money off their books as they can, since they won’t be contending for playoff berth anytime soon.
Zeller is not the best fit for the Clippers’ job listing. Perhaps they would be better off striking a deal with the Sacramento Kings.
3. Dedmon joins a contender
Dewayne Dedmon is defensive monster. He can pull from three, block shots, and grab rebounds. He fits the Clippers system far better than Zeller. There is one caveat, though: The Kings just signed Dedmon to a contract this summer. Why would they trade him already?
Well, Sacramento got a bit too trigger happy when the June 30th free agency moratorium began. They handed out a number of generous contracts to Cory Joseph, Harrison Barnes, Trevor Ariza, and Dedmon. Perhaps the Kings would be willing to part with Dedmon once he is eligible to be traded in December. Acquiring Harkless would give them a 3-and-D wing and would give Richaun Holmes full reigns of the center position.