LA Clippers: Team should buy as many first-round picks as possible
The LA Clippers should buy as many first-round picks as possible.
While the 2019-20 season is just getting restarted, it’s not too early to think about the 2020 NBA Draft. The LA Clippers don’t have any first-round picks this time around, after trading them off in order to acquire Paul George.
That might not matter.
According to a recent article by ESPN (and honestly, sheer logic), a lot of teams are going to be in a tough position financially next season due to COVID-19. One owner even said they are fearing losing up to $50 million next season.
A way to help stop the bleeding might be to sell first-round picks.
"“I suspect first-round picks will be for sale in this draft,” one team executive said. “We haven’t really seen that in a decade.” The last first-round pick to be sold was in 2013 by the Denver Nuggets (the Utah Jazz selected Rudy Gobert at 27th)."
You read that right. The LA Clippers can recoup some draft picks if they are able to purchase some first-round picks. Obviously this isn’t a perfect solution and the team will only have a single first-rounder every other year over the next few seasons but any additional young assets they can gain, the better.
It’s unclear at this point who will have picks for sale. Any lottery picks probably won’t be, so it would be up to late teen to end of the first-round picks that would possibly be for sale. Still, as you can see in the Rudy Gobert example above, there is talent available throughout the first round.
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Steve Ballmer is one of the few owners that have a ton of money and won’t suffer in the slightest if the league does, in fact, lose money next season. His $70 billion pockets combined with Los Angeles being a premiere city in the league put the Clippers in the perfect position to purchase picks and get themselves more young talent/assets.