The Los Angeles Clippers are doing their best to steal the NBA spotlight from their conference rivals San Antonio Spurs. The media has been buzzing with the multitude of potential deals involving the Clippers. It seems that each new day brings a new potential deal and while they are entertaining to speculate about, that is all they are is speculations.
The most popular rumour floating around has the Clippers striking a deal with the Boston Celtics that would net the Clips Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and coach Doc Rivers and in return the Clippers would surrender DeAndre Jordan and Eric Bledsoe. This trade is flawed in many areas, the least of which is that Boston would basically be pressing the reset button on the franchise and would be relegating themselves to the depths of the NBA lottery for the foreseeable future.
Let’s assume for a minute that Danny Ainge is willing to blow up the team and alienate the entire city and fanbase for a few years. A major hurdle to overcome is the simple fact that the salary numbers don’t match up here. In addition to Jordan and Bledsoe the Clippers would have to throw in Caron Butler and a wad of cash to even get the NBA to seriously look at this deal.
This trade could potentially go down still if it were broken down into two separate ones; if this was the case then the salaries would be close enough to warrant league consideration. This of course still leaves the matter of coach Doc Rivers. The Clippers would have to assume Rivers $7 million annual salary and provide compensation to the Celtics in the form of cash and draft picks.
In summary, the Clippers give up at least three players, a minimum of $5 million cash, assume $25 million-plus in salary, plus a $7 million a year coach and they surrender a couple draft picks all for two aging veterans who at best have two years left in them. Even with Pierce and Garnett in the fold it might still not be enough to knock off a healthy Oklahoma City Thunder squad or the San Antonio Spurs.
Another rumour to gain some momentum is the Clippers potential acquisition of Danny Granger from the Indiana Pacers. Again it is Bledsoe who is rumoured to be the expendable one, but again the salaries don’t match up. Bledsoe and Granger are over $12 million apart in terms of salary so even with the addition of Butler and his $8 million the deal still can’t get done without cash considerations and league approval.
This deal for the Pacers makes little sense. They don’t need the payroll flexibility as they have plenty of room to sign David West and they pushed the Miami Heat to a seven game series without the versatile Granger being available. So long as the Pacers are confident that Granger will return healthy next season and be the explosive scorer that he was, why wouldn’t they keep the pieces intact and make another run at a conference title?
A most ridiculous rumour floating around has the Clippers and the crosstown rival Los Angeles Lakers doing a Dwight Howard sign and trade deal for Jordan and Blake Griffin. There is absolutely zero chance of this happening as the Lakers would rather see Howard go to Houston or Dallas for nothing in return but the salary cap break than watch Howard play for another team in the Staple Center. We should put this rumour to bed now as it is absolutely preposterous to contemplate any further.
A potential deal that could make sense is Bledsoe to the Orlando Magic for Arron Afflalo. The Magic are in need of a point guard and they probably don’t like the available options via the draft. Plus the Magic have the second-overall selection in the draft and they could very well have their pick of whoever is left between Nerlens Noel, Ben McLemore and Otto Porter. If the Magic are counting on McLemore being available to them then they could potentially move Afflalo in order to make room at the shooting guard spot. The Clippers would again have to salary match to make this deal work, but this is one scenario that could actually benefit both teams.