The perfect rebuild scenario for the Los Angeles Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers are nowhere near the team they were one year ago. Now, it is time to focus on the rebuilding process.

It is official, Lob City is no more. In a move that shocked the basketball world, Blake Griffin is now a member of the Detroit Pistons. Los Angeles Clippers fans around the country held nothing back as they displayed their displeasure with the trade.

While it is understandable that many fans may be feeling this way, this trade is actually perfect for the future of the team. The Clippers are now in prime position to undergo a total rebuild in a single offseason, while not having to necessarily tank.

Several weeks ago, after Blake Griffin went down with a sprained MCL, I suggested that the Clippers should trade some of their more valuable assets in an attempt to do a one year tank job, in preparation for next season when Blake would come back healthy. Well Griffin returned from injury far quicker than I imagined he would, which just about eliminated the chances of the plan I proposed actually coming to fruition, or so I thought.

It now seems that the team is heading down the exact path that I described in my previous piece, but with a twist that is the addition of Blake Griffin to the list of players that will leave Los Angeles.

After dealing Griffin to the Pistons, the team now has two first round picks in the upcoming draft, which is already a nice situation to be in. If I told you they can obtain two more of these picks, while simultaneously creating enough cap space to pursue a big free agent next year, would you believe me? You should.

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The next move to make for the Clippers is shipping off Deandre Jordan. A deal for Jordan should be made in similar fashion to that of Blake Griffin. The team should look to get one or two solid rotation players, in addition to a first round pick. An example of such a trade could be with the Portland Trailblazers.

The Blazers could receive Deandre Jordan, while sending the Los Angeles Clippers Jusuf Nurkic, Noah Vonleh and their first-round draft pick. While that will likely not be the exact trade done, it should be something along those lines with whatever team decides to pursue Jordan.

Moving on from both Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan will give the team a huge amount of cap space for this offseason, which is imperative for a team that is seemingly starting from scratch. Some people may be thinking, why is cap space better than having two star players? In theory, this line of thinking is correct, generally it is better to have the star players opposed to a chance to sign a star player in the offseason.

What makes the Clipper’s situation deviate from the norm is that Blake Griffin’s contract is entirely too expensive for a player with the injury history of himself, and Deandre Jordan would also have demanded entirely too much money for a player approaching 30 years of age, who’s game is entirely based on his athleticism. Moving on from these potentially dangerous contracts is the best thing possible for the future of the team.

Now that we have established that the team needs to move Deandre Jordan quickly, it is time for the team to go get that fourth first round draft pick. Who will be dealt for this pick, you may ask? Well the answer to that is totally predictable, none other than certified journeyman, Lou Williams.

At the age of 31, Lou Williams is having far and away the best season of his career. The former 6^th man of the year is currently averaging 23.5 points as the offensive spark plug of the Clipper’s bench. But if Williams is playing so well, why trade him? Lou Williams is the perfect example of a player you should sell high on.

The 31-year-old guard will soon be past his prime, so there is no reason for the team to think he will be an essential part of their plans for the future. You know what can be an essential part of their plans for the future, the first round pick that the team can acquire in exchange for Lou.

There are plenty of teams that can use an offensive presence such as Lou Williams off their bench, so he will not be difficult to move. A myriad of teams may be willing to trade their first round pick for him, especially those in contending situations who’s pick is not that valuable. The team that stands out as the most likely is the Cleveland Cavaliers.

While the pick would be a very late first rounder if they were to deal him to the Cavs, that is completely acceptable for the Clippers. With this being the 4^th pick acquired in the first round of the upcoming draft, they can easily package this pick along with one of the other three picks they’d have for one higher in the draft order. An example of such a trade can be seen as recent as the 2017 draft, when the Trailblazers sent the 15^th and 20^th pick to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for the 10^th pick.

If the season were to end today, and the Los Angeles Clippers owned their own pick, the Piston’s, the Trailblazers, and the Cavaliers, that would look something like the 24^th, 14^th, 17^th, and 13^th picks.

Of course, this is not entirely accurate as I am doing a lot of projecting, but the picks would all be somewhere in these ranges. The team could easily flip the Cav’s late 20s pick and the Piston’s high-teens pick for another one in the 11-15 range.

Next: Making sense of the trade

If everything falls together as I have outlined, the Los Angeles Clippers could go into the offseason with tons of cap space, 3 mid-round first round draft picks, while still having a respectable roster already in place. If the team does anything similar to this plan, they would have prepared themselves perfectly for next season, along with the future seasons to come.

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