Why the LA Clippers Should NOT Make a Trade at the Deadline

The LA Clippers entered the all star break with a few bad losses that left a bad taste in fans’ mouths. The clutch loss to the Washington Wizards, especially, has lingered in our minds and made the idea of a trade very attractive to some.

That said, we shouldn’t get too hasty and make a trade just for the sake of making a change. The last couple games weren’t great, but don’t let them make you think the LA Clippers aren’t contenders without making a move.

The LA Clippers don’t need to make a trade at the deadline.

The primary reason is that the LA Clippers don’t have the assets to make a deal that makes them noticeably better. There are a few players you could make a case for the Clips moving, but none of them really make sense.

The one you’ll hear the most is Luke Kennard, but moving him isn’t realistic for multiple reasons. First, the LA Clippers just gave him his extension, which clearly signals their belief in him. If the front office thinks they have a gem there and won’t want to move him.

Not to mention, the extension doesn’t kick in until next year, so for salary matching purposes this year, Kennard only counts for $5.2 Million. If you want to move Luke, you’ve got to find somebody making 5 million or less who you think can seriously help the team, and whose team will be willing to trade.

Lou Williams makes $8 Million so his salary would be nice in a trade, but he’s one of our best playmakers and bench offensive players, and he’s made it clear that he’ll retire if he gets traded. Are we really getting somebody better than Lou Will for that money?

After those two, you’ll hear some noise about Patrick Beverley or Ivica Zubac, but those two are far too important to the team to seriously consider moving. Bev is the motor of the team, and Zu is one of the best backup bigs in the league. Unless some seriously unbalanced trade gets offered, those two shouldn’t be touchable.

Getting past the “whom should we trade?” question, the LA Clippers should avoid making a deal because they’re finally getting chemistry working, and I don’t want to see them break that. Part of the reason last year happened the way it did was because the Clips were dealing with the aftershocks of totally rearranging the team.

Now that the chemistry is settling down and everybody knows the role they play on the team, we want to disrupt that by moving a piece? That feels like a huge risk, given that we’re probably not making a significant improvement.

Between the limited potential for upgrade and the potential risk for upsetting the locker room and introducing chemistry issues, a trade just isn’t worth it, and the LA Clippers should avoid making a deal.