The LA Clippers have been talked about all season in relation to deals involving point guards. With the NBA trade deadline inching closer and closer by the day, those rumors are starting to pop up even more often.
Today, two players were mentioned as potential targets for the team.
The LA Clippers have reportedly expressed interest in George Hill.
This rumor comes via Shams Charania of The Athletic (subscription required). There’s not a lot of weight to this rumor but it backs up everything we have heard about the Clippers thus far. Rumors have the team looking to improve on the margins and Hill is someone that could do that for the team.
Hill is more of a traditional point guard and someone that could play spot minutes for this team in the postseason. At $9.5 million, his contract is very movable for the Thunder and likely part of the reason he has so many suitors.
Shams doesn’t make it clear what the Thunder’s asking price is for the veteran point guard who is currently averaging 11.8 points on 50.8% shooting, 3.1 assists, and 2.1 rebounds in 26.4 minutes per game.
The Clippers would have a couple of different avenues to get him but the Thunder would obviously want a young asset or even more of our picks, both of which are doable.
NBA executives see Evan Fournier as a potential target for the LA Clippers.
This one is less of a rumor and more so speculation from rival NBA executives about the future of players currently on the Orlando Magic. Many believe the Magic will be a very active team around the trade deadline, moving several pieces from their roster.
One of those pieces is point guard Evan Fournier.
Fournier is in his seventh season with the Magic and is having his best year in terms of both scoring and assists. He’s putting up 18.5 points per game while shooting a solid 45% from the field (37.1% from deep). He’s also averaging a career-high 3.8 assists. Fournier has only appeared in 21 games for the Magic but at just 28 years old, he still has a lot of game left in the tank.
The problem with dealing for Fournier is his expiring $17 million salary. The Clippers would have to give up a package involving multiple players with Patrick Beverley likely being the key salary piece that has to be included. Giving up multiple pieces for Fournier would still keep the team near the hard cap, making signing buyout players to fill the empty roster spots difficult.
Out of the two options, Fournier is the most enticing but likely the less realistic. Based on these two rumors, it does seem like the Clippers believe they need an additional point guard to add to their rotation. We’ll find out if that comes to fruition in the coming days.