LA Clippers: What the First Day of Trades Means for the Team

We’re a little more than 24 hours into trade season. What do the transactions that were made league-wide mean for the LA Clippers?

If you were hoping for a big move from the LA Clippers when trade season opened, you were pretty disappointed in the first day. There were no moves made involving the good guys, but there are still takeaways from the transactions we did – and didn’t – see.

The biggest takeaway is that the LA Clippers are likely not looking to make a big roster change going into next season. Chris Paul and Jrue Holiday were both on the market and moved within the first day, and the Clippers didn’t get involved in those talks.

Of course, given the price fetched by both of those guys, the Clippers never really had the opportunity to get seriously involved. But, especially in the case of Chris Paul to the Suns, there may have been opportunity for the Clips to come in as a third or fourth team, and that didn’t happen.

Going forward, I would take this to mean that the Russell Westbrook to the Clippers rumor is just that – a rumor. If the Clips weren’t willing to shell out the assets and money required to make a big move earlier, why would they do so for Russ? He fits the least of the big three point guards on the market (Jrue, CP3, Russ) and also is due the most money.

There’s still a big question mark in the playmaking category. While the biggest names are off the market now, there are still guys available who could help the team at the point guard position.

Like any good front office, I’m sure the Clippers are willing to take calls and explore big moves. But after yesterday, I don’t expect any huge change to happen.

I’m also curious about whether the Clippers have more designs on the sign-and-trade market rather than straight up trades. We knew going into the offseason that the Clippers were going to be aggressive in exploring sign-and-trades. The silence so far in the trade market might mean that any moves the Clippers have lined up involve one of their free agents.

This front office has been very good at moving in silence, so I’m not ruling anything out just yet. But my assumption, following the calm trade period, is that the Clippers feel like the new coaching staff is the big change the team needed, and that there are just minor moves around the edges to be made roster-wise.

What do you think? Do you see a big move coming, or do you think it will be smaller moves to help the team? Let us know on Twitter and Facebook, and follow along here as the offseason continues!