The rumor mill is in full effect for the LA Clippers, as it always is around the trade deadline. With two established superstars in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, nobody really knows how aggressive the Clippers are going to be at the deadline.
Are they looking to just make a small move around the margins? Are they looking for a big like Myles Turner? Nobody can really say, but the latest rumor suggests the LA Clippers might be willing to swing for the fences.
In a Marc Stein article, we learned that the LA Clippers are exploring avenues to trade for Lonzo Ball from New Orleans. And while the path isn’t an easy one, it does signify that the Clips might be interested in making a bigger trade than we thought. In any trade, including one for Lonzo, the Clips need to be asking themselves one question.
How does Lonzo Ball fit with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George?
On the surface, this feels like a pretty good fit. Lonzo is a very good defender who can hit a three pointer and distribute the ball. All things the LA Clippers need, and I don’t feel bad about putting the ball in Lonzo’s hands instead of giving it immediately to Kawhi Leonard or Paul George.
Lonzo shoots 42% on spot up threes this year, and 40% on open threes in general. If Kawhi Leonard or Paul George set him up, we could be fairly comfortable with Lonzo hitting a three in the flow of the offense.
When it comes to pace, there’s two ways of thinking about it. Lonzo wouldn’t help us push the pace at all; he ranks 11th out of the 15th players on the New Orleans Pelicans in pace, with a 98.94 rating (a rough estimate of possessions per 48 minutes). That’s a low number, equivalent to a bottom 10 team in pace.
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So if you’re hoping for somebody to come in and help Kawhi Leonard and Paul George push the ball faster than we are, Lonzo isn’t your guy. However, if you’re looking at how the LA Clippers currently play, Lonzo fits that playstyle.
Kawhi Leonard has a pace rating of 98.13, and Paul George has a pace of 98.51. Those are close enough to Lonzo’s numbers to be functionally equivalent. If the LA Clippers traded for Ball, we wouldn’t have somebody coming in trying to push Kawhi and PG faster than they’ve shown themselves to be comfortable playing.
Not everything is peachy, though. Lonzo hasn’t shown himself to be great attacking the rim, and while he’s a solid playmaker, he’s no Chris Paul or Ricky Rubio. We wouldn’t be getting one of the elite ball handlers in the NBA, but it’s hard to expect that from the trade market given the assets the LA Clippers have.
A good comp for Lonzo might be a younger Pat Bev who’s more comfortable as a distributor but not as high level a shooter. We’ve seen how Bev fits alongside Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, so it’s not tough to imagine Ball slotting right into that role.
While he’s not the absolute perfect fit alongside Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, he would be a great addition to play next to those guys. Perfection probably isn’t attainable on the market, so Lonzo’s likely one of the better fits we could find, should the LA Clippers find a way to make it work.