The rumor mill is swirling again for the LA Clippers. The subject this time? An alleged potential trade with the Toronto Raptors for point guard Kyle Lowry. The rumor claims that the Raptors are realizing it’s time to move on from Lowry, and it names the LA Clippers as being a potential destination.
This rumor has some elements of Clipper Nation hyped for the addition of a playmaker, and one who has made it to a championship. But there are a few things that stand in the way of this deal.
For several reasons, it is unlikely that the LA Clippers will make a Kyle Lowry deal
Don’t get me wrong, a guy like Lowry has the chance to push the starting group to be even better than they are now. But the trade is a hard one to get done. Let’s take a look at a few reasons we probably won’t see Kyle Lowry on the LA Clippers.
LA Clippers Reasons to Avoid a Lowry Trade: The Money
For the LA Clippers, the money is the biggest sticking point to a Kyle Lowry trade. Lowry’s got a cap hit of $30.5 Million this year, so the Clippers would have to send out roughly $30 Million in salaries to match.
See the issue here?
The LA Clippers technically can reach that number while keeping their superstars, but it would be extremely difficult. We’d be looking at a package that looks like this:
Does that get the deal done? Who knows, maybe not. But that’s where we’d have to start, just to make the money work. There are a couple of permutations that get the Clippers to $30 Million, but none really hurt less than that. Do you feel good giving up Marcus Morris instead of Bev, or Terance Mann instead of Fi?
Probably not. I don’t, but that’s what would have to happen to get a Kyle Lowry trade done. Any deal that gets the money in the right neighborhood takes away far too many players. If the above trade were to happen, the Raptors would have to cut several players to make room, and the LA Clippers would be down 3 players and hard capped.
If for no other reason, the money makes this trade nigh impossible, but it’s definitely not the only reason.