What do LaMarcus Aldridge, Andre Drummond, and Gorgui Dieng all have in common? Each is a big that was bought out by their team and subsequently signed with someone that is not the LA Clippers.
That’s not great.
The LA Clippers are slowly missing out on the buyout market.
When the team traded away young big man Mfiondu Kabengele, we figured that one of two things was going to happen. Either the team was going to make a trade where they brought in two players while sending out just one or that they would be active on the buyout market.
After the team only made one trade – acquiring Rajon Rondo for Lou Williams – we expected them to pursue the buyout market. There were rumors that Andre Drummond and LaMarcus Aldridge would interview with the team but both ended up signing elsewhere. The same happened with Gorgui Dieng.
That could be a problem.
Currently, the Clippers only have two true bigs in Serge Ibaka and Ivica Zubac. The former has been out the past couple of weeks due to injury, leaving the team with only Zu to carry the load. As we saw in Saturday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers, that could be problematic.
The Clippers did pull off a victory but Zubac getting into foul trouble left the team playing a lot of small ball. Had the 76ers had a healthy Joel Embiid, this would have caused extreme problems for the Clips’ lack of size.
With teams like the Lakers, Nuggets, and Jazz having troublesome bigs, the Clips need that extra insurance in place in case of foul trouble or injury. But as these guys are coming off the market though, the Clips might not be able to find a quality one.
Hassan Whiteside could still potentially be bought out by the Sacramento Kings but he’s the only relevant name really remaining. Sure, there are probably a few others the Clips could sign but none we would be confident in if the team does have to break the glass in case of emergency.
Hopefully, the LA Clippers are able to find another big because as it stands now, they don’t have enough. Who would you like to see? Let us know on Twitter and continue to follow along here for all your Clippers’ news!