As the NBA offseason begins, we look at three trades the LA Clippers could make that could put them in a better spot next season.
Fake trade season is my absolute favorite. I spend way more time than is healthy just playing around on ESPN’s Trade Machine, imagining fun moves that could make my favorite team better.
Today I’m looking at three deals that I think are (at least) semi-realistic that could make the LA Clippers a better team, or could make the future brighter without sacrificing current success, or both.
Two important notes here. First, I wanted to avoid trading away our superstars. You hear the Twitter whispers that maybe moving PG is the right thing to do, but I don’t buy them and I don’t agree. So in these fake trades, Kawhi and PG are off limits.
Second, I assume that in some or all of these trades, second round picks would have to be moved. I wanted to avoid trades that would need a first or multiple firsts, because the Clippers don’t have them and I think their main focus is getting better rather than building assets. So when you see these trades, understand that I think these are realistic to within a second round pick going one way or another. I’ll mention when I think a second would have to be involved.
With that in mind, let’s start with the first idea, in which the LA Clippers make a move for a playmaker.
Why the LA Clippers do this:
By doing this trade, the Clippers get the playmaker that they so desperately needed last season. They also get a pass-first point guard in Ricky Rubio who is far better than anybody they could hope to get on the free agency market.
And, while doing so, they won’t totally sacrifice their defense at the PG position. I’m not going to win any reporting awards for saying that Ricky Rubio isn’t the defender that Patrick Beverley is. But Rubio knows where to be and what to do, and can be a positive defensive contribution.
Having Rubio would open up the offense. The 30 year old makes the right decision far more often than he makes the wrong one; he boasted a 3.25 assist/turnover ratio last year. His passing would lead to far less hero ball from our superstars and could be used to get our role players more involved.
As a scorer, we wouldn’t be losing much when going from Bev to Rubio. Ricky shot the three at a 36% clip last season and put up 15 points per 36 minutes. Of all the trades mentioned in this piece, this one feels the most like a no-brainer for the Clippers.
Would the Suns say yes?
Offensive wunderkind Devin Booker has become adept at running an offense in recent years, and moving Rubio would allow Booker to play the point on offense and grant him total control over that side of the ball.
On defense, Patrick Beverley could take the toughest guard assignment and let Booker conserve his energy for scoring and playmaking. Bev would also bring a veteran presence to a young Phoenix team and could help them take another step forward.
McGruder isn’t really moving the needle here. His contract just makes the money work, and he’s fairly easy to move on from should the Suns not want to keep him long term.
Giving their best player control of the offense while adding an All-Defense level talent seems like a win for the Suns. This could be one of those trades that both teams win. I’m not even sure you need to include any picks; I think both teams might be happy here.
A disclaimer here: I do not know what Montrezl Harrell‘s value on the market is going to be, and I don’t think anybody really does. With this trade, I’m assuming he signs for something in the area of $14 Million, which feels about right.
Why the LA Clippers do this:
If Trezz is signing for upwards of $14-15 Million, that seems a little higher than the Clippers front office would want to go. With this trade, they’d be getting something back for their departing free agent.
I’ve long been a fan of Frank Ntilikina, and I think that he could be a very solid rotation player if he got out of New York. He’s not the playmaker that Rubio is, but he can pass well, and we might see those assist numbers (5 per 36 minutes) blossom when playing with more dudes who can hit shots.
At 6’5 with something around a 7 foot wingspan, Frank has the physical build to guard multiple positions, and he’s fulfilled that potential so far as a young player. He could be another guy to throw at some of the great defensive wings that infest the Western Conference.
He’s also a developable asset for the Clippers – last season was his age 21 season.
Meanwhile, in Gibson we would be hoping for a reduced version of what Montrezl Harrell gave us the past couple seasons. He’d be a bench big who can score a few buckets and grab rebounds and snarl – last season he put up 13/9 per 36 minutes, and we would expect that he plays significantly fewer minutes than Trezz did last season.
His defense, while not worldbreaking, is solid, and we could expect less of a defensive dropoff when he comes onto the floor.
Would the Knicks say yes?
The longstanding rumors say that the Knicks are pretty done with Frank Ntilikina, and the numbers may agree; the French guard was 9th on the team in minutes per game.
So they may see it as something similar to the Clippers getting something in return for Trezz. They’d be getting rid of a player they don’t want and getting something in return.
And, with far less pressure in terms of making a deep playoff run, Trezz’s shortcomings wouldn’t be nearly as impactful. Since he’s a clear backup big, there would be no competition for the starting spot with Mitchell Robinson, who should be viewed as the center of the future there.
If (when) the Knicks strike out on the major free agents this offseason like Anthony Davis and Brandon Ingram, they could view the reigning Sixth Man of the Year a fine consolation prize and a way to keep building excitement among the New York faithful.
With this one, I think it’s possible that the Clippers could ask for a second round pick back, but that might be pushing it too much.
Oh boy. I can hear some of you yelling at me already.
Why the LA Clippers do this:
The numbers speak for themselves with Rudy Gobert. He’s a defense unto himself, even with guys like Donovan Mitchell on his team. He grabs rebounds at an elite rate and, while he’s not a huge offensive threat, he scores at an insane efficiency. He’s the guy that we hope Ivica Zubac develops into.
If we made this trade, we have a legitimately Big 3 with Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Rudy Gobert. We’d be adding a 28 year old who is one of the best screeners in the NBA, can be a lob threat in the pick and roll and cleans up misses on the offensive glass better than almost anybody in the league (3rd in the NBA in offensive rebounds).
We’d have a stifling defense. Adding Rudy Gobert behind Kawhi and Bev and PG almost isn’t fair.
And sure, I hear you saying that Zubac shows a lot of the same skills and is younger. And hey, I love Zu. I have the highest of hopes for him.
But the jump from producing in 18 minutes per game to producing in 36 minutes per game isn’t always as linear as we want to make it seem, especially on the defensive end, and especially for a young big.
It would hurt to get rid of Lou, and we’d miss his scoring off the bench, especially when our stars are load managing in the regular season. But this could provide an opportunity for some of our young guys, like Terance Mann, to step into a bigger role and start to develop.
Gobert fits the timeline of Kawhi and PG, and would help us as we push to win now.
Would the Jazz say yes?
This is the real kicker here. All context aside, they would absolutely not do this trade.
But, we keep hearing these whispers, especially post-hiatus, that Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert aren’t going to co-exist in the long run. And sure, it could all be rumors and smoke. But as we’ve seen with superstar relations, where there’s smoke there’s often fire.
If the Jazz are forced to move on from one of Mitchell and Gobert, the smart move would be Gobert. And this could be a solid haul for Utah.
They could look at all the same numbers that we are and say “in four years, Zubac could be producing at a similar level to Gobert.” If they think they can develop Zu into a similar player, then they may see this trade as settling relations while keeping continuity.
And Lou could play the Jordan Clarkson role better than Jordan Clarkson. Coming off the bench and scoring buckets is basically the dictionary definition of Lou Williams. So the Jazz could look at this as keeping a very similar team while getting rid of Gobert. I also think this is one where at least one second round pick goes from LA to Utah.
Of course, Lou could put the kibosh on this immediately. In the past he’s said that the LA Clippers are the last team he’ll play for, and if those are still his feelings, then Utah has no reason to make this trade.
If that’s the case, the Clippers could make a similar offer but replacing Lou and McGruder (who’s only in this to match salaries) with Pat Beverley.
Pulling off any of these trades would, I think, make the Clippers a better team moving forward. Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know on Twitter and follow Clipperholics for up to date Clippers news and opinion!