Whether the LA Clippers win the NBA championship this season or fall into the Play-In Tournament for a second consecutive season will probably not come down to their play at center. For the most part, it will be the play, and availability, or Paul George and Kawhi Leonard that dictate where this team ends up.
That doesn’t mean the center position isn’t important, and just like every other position in the starting lineup and throughout the roster, the Clippers should look to maximize their talent at center in any way possible. Their switch-heavy scheme has minimized their reliance on a pure center, but the size of many NBA stars has swung the pendulum back toward relevance.
The Clippers have a solid starting center in Ivica Zubac, a good rim protector and screen-setter, and an excellent rebounder. He’s certainly not a difference-maker, though, and the Clippers have been much better with Zubac off the court this season than on. Behind Zubac the team has a couple of fringe options in Moses Brown and Moussa Diabate.
The LA Clippers could use one of these trades to upgrade the center position.
The Clippers have been linked to a number of centers in trade rumors because of the opportunity to improve the position. That could come by replacing Zubac entirely, but also by adding a second solid option to rotate the two. Here are three centers that might be available on the trade market that the Clippers can consider trading for.
LA Clippers trade for a center: Jakob Poeltl, San Antonio Spurs
Jakob Poeltl is the exact sort of player that should be available on the trade market. He is a solid veteran hitting free agency on a tanking team. The San Antonio Spurs are going nowhere this year and should entertain trade offers for Poeltl. If they do, the Clippers could be one team to come calling.
We broke down one possible trade on the site where Zubac went to the Spurs for Poeltl, but let’s see what it looks like to expand the deal a bit and keep Zubac on the team, giving the Clippers a nasty one-two punch at the pivot.
The Clippers accomplish two primary things with this deal. First, they add an extremely solid center, an upgrade on Ivica Zubac who provides elite rim protection and rebounding. Poeltl is not much of a defender in space, but adding him to pair with Zubac in the regular season puts the Clippers in the upper echelon of defensive teams and should help propel them to a top-6 seed.
The other thing it accomplishes is that it sets up the Clippers to make another move at the trade deadline or during next offseason. LA has a Traded Player Exception that they received last February when they traded Serge Ibaka, and it is worth $9.72 million — just enough to add Poeltl’s $9.3 million.
By trading Marcus Morris into the Spurs’ cap space but taking Poeltl into the TPE they open up a new exception worth $16.3 million that will extend into next season. That gives them plenty of flexibility to add another player on a hefty contract, but without needing to send back Morris’ salary. It is, in essence, performing a three-team deal in two parts, and it would be a clever bit of business.
Would the Spurs say yes to this deal? Possibly not, but if something along these lines could be manufactured, it would put the Clippers in a strong place moving forward.
Grade: A
LA Clippers trade for a center: Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers
The other big-name center on the trade market is Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers. He has seemingly been on the market for years, but the Pacers keep finding reasons to keep him around. He’s having an excellent season for a Pacers team playing better than expected, but Indiana could elect to move the pending free agent to get back value for him.
This construction is similar to the deal with the Spurs, where the Clippers again keep Zubac around to form a nasty 1-2 punch at center. Turner’s ability to space the floor on offense (43 percent of his 3-pointers go in, and he shoots 3.9 per game) will allow the Clippers to continue playing 5-out, and his shot-blocking (2.2 per game this season, and he has twice led the league in blocks) gives them a nasty new look at the rim.
By trading Marcus Morris for Turner the Clippers take on about $1.6 million, a number Steve Ballmer should be open to swallow. The question is whether the Pacers want more value for Turner; do they view Morris as dead salary or as a veteran piece at a position (stretch-4) they don’t have filled right now, one they can flip later if they want to? If it’s the latter, the Clippers could be in business here.
Grade: B+
LA Clippers trade for a center: Isaiah Hartenstein, LA Clippers
Last season the LA Clippers took a flier on Isaiah Hartenstein, a 7-footer who showed some flashes in Cleveland in 2020-21 but saw the writing on the wall with Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, and Kevin Love soaking up minutes. He went to the Clippers for more playing time and had a breakout season, one that earned him $16 million in free agency this summer.
Unfortunately for Hartenstein, he is now on a New York Knicks team that has a more expensive starter at the 5 (Mitchell Robinson), a developmental big they really like (Jericho Sims) and a pair of power forwards that should probably get some run at center once in a while (Julius Randle and Obi Toppin). Add it all up, and it’s amazing that Hartenstein has averaged the 20.5 minutes per game that he has.
Hartenstein was excellent for the Clippers last season, with a +21 net rating (still a robust +14 this season) and excellent box-score metrics. He was used as a passing hub at times for the Clippers and excelled in that role. If the Knicks view him as expendable and the Clippers would bring him back for a modest asset they could upgrade the center rotation without giving up a first-round pick.
The Knicks here get a second-round pick with upside (any team with Kawhi Leonard is a candidate to have the bottom fall out) and an intriguing wing to try out. They don’t need Hartenstein and open up more minutes for their other bigs. It’s not an earth-shattering move, but it could be a win-win.
The Clippers don’t have to upgrade at center and given their limited assets one could argue they need to prioritize point guard and not worry about center given their small-ball options in the postseason. If they do try to raise their regular season floor by buffing up at the 5, these three trades could help them get there.
Grade: A-