LA Clippers Rumors: Team could trade Ivica Zubac for Aron Baynes

With rumors circulating all around the NBA, one insider thinks the LA Clippers could trade Ivica Zubac to Phoenix for Aron Baynes.

This isn’t the trade rumor we expected, but it’s the one we got. According to The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie, the LA Clippers could possibly trade for Aron Baynes of the Phoenix Suns.

The report is part of Bleacher Report’s most recent trade rumor roundup. There are a couple of eyebrow-raising things about this report, however.

For starters, the source who talks about the trade is an unnamed Eastern Conference executive. The executive notates that while a trade of Ivica Zubac for Aron Baynes does work straight up, they believe Phoenix would want more and would need to get a third team involved.

Perhaps this executive is hoping that his team could be that third team and improve their team’s roster. There’s no telling who the anonymous exec is, but it is interesting that an Eastern Conference team would so willingly weigh in on a potential trade between two Western Conference teams.

The executive also notes that Ivica Zubac can’t play alongside Montrezl Harrell, which is perplexing.

"“Harrell isn’t a starter. His numbers against frontline centers aren’t good,” one Eastern Conference executive said. “He and Zubac can’t play together.”"

The two have barely shared the court together this season, which is what makes this comment so confusing. In fact, they have played a total of just four minutes together. As a one-two punch, Zubac and Harrell work. Both have been excellent and the preseason worries about the Clippers’ center depth have been almost forgotten.

Baynes is 33-years-old and in his 8th season in the league. Compared to 22-year-old Ivica Zubac, this would have to be a “win now” move. Comparing the two players, Baynes has scored more per game than Zubac, but it’s not by a staggering amount and would obviously decrease if he were to share the floor with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.

Baynes has been solid this season, starting in 18 of the Phoenix Suns’ games while Deandre Ayton served his suspension. He would offer more shooting then Zubac, having hit on 37.5% of his 4.0 attempts from deep per game. Still, Zubac has been everything Clippers’ fans could have wanted and more. In fact, many of us have been calling for him to get more minutes.

Do you like the idea of moving Baynes for Zubac? Let us know on Twitter and check back here for all your trade rumors and news!