How the Clippers failed at the deadline and what they should have done

The NBA Trade Deadline is officially over and the Los Angeles Clippers failed to follow-up on the blockbuster Blake Griffin trade.

The NBA Trade Deadline definitely lived up to expectations. It started with the Los Angeles Clippers and Blake Griffin over a week ago. Los Angeles seemingly went all in on tanking by trading Griffin to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley and Boban Marjanovic.

With the Chris Paul trade fresh in the minds’ of Clipper fans, this trade effectively ended a winning era for good. The Clippers seemed back on their way to the rebuilding phase; a phase the franchise has been in for most of its history.

That fear of returning back to the bottom of the barrel, though, has led the Clippers front office to shoot themselves in the foot.

The Los Angeles Clippers had the perfect scenario to completely reboot the team, start anew and build a young core of guys that may not win now, but could contend for years to come. While the pieces they got for Griffin were decent, Los Angeles could have gotten so much more out of trading both DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams.

Jordan fit perfectly on a team like the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had a fairly high draft pick to offer and needed interior defense and rebounding. Although reports indicate that the Cavs wanted to keep the Nets’ pick (which they did) unless they got long-term help, the idea of acquiring Jordan could have been too much to pass on.

The worst-case scenario in a trade for Jordan would have swapping picks with the Cavs. LA would have received the best pick of either their own or the Nets with the Cavs getting the worst.

Lou Williams, who likely would have been thrown into the Cavs’ deal as well if the draft pick was included, also had a fairly large trade market. Any contending teams in need of scoring off the bench easily would have thrown in a draft pick.

Thus, with our self-made worst-case scenario, the Clippers would have:

A top-five pick (whether it be their own or the Nets)
The Pistons 2018 draft pick (which will likely be in the 15-20 range)
Another contender’s pick (20-30 range)
$13-$38 million in cap space (depending on options)

However, the current situation is completely different. Lou Williams is now locked down long-term and is owed $8 million every season over the next three years. DeAndre Jordan is still on the team, sure, but his future is in his own hands, not the Clippers, with his player option.

The Los Angeles Clippers are effectively hoping that Jordan returns and does not opt out of his contract. But why would he?

The team effectively got rid of all of the guys who convinced him not to leave in the first place. Guys lie Tobias Harris and Lou Williams are good, but they are not intriguing enough to make a title run. Plus, they are going likely make the playoffs this year and get bounced in the first round, making their draft pick right in the middle of the pack.

And now the Clippers have two routes.

Route one: Becoming the most mediocre team in the NBA, for a LONG time.

The Los Angeles Clippers are chasing mediocrity, aren’t they? While Williams, Harris and Jordan can keep them in the playoff race, they aren’t going to get past the juggernauts of the Western Conference. With no high draft pick, the Clippers are thus hoping they can bring in a superstar.

However, THEY CAN’T. By re-signing Williams and not moving any other pieces, the Clippers are not going to have anywhere near enough cap space to bring in a star. If they want a star they are going to need every player option to opt out of their deal; which leads to route two.

Route two: They are terrible next year, the rebuild is delayed.

The other thing that can happen is that Jordan does decide to leave and the Clippers are left with a group of Lou Williams, Tobias Harris, Patrick Beverley and Danilo Gallinari as their sales pitch. No star is going to want to join that, and even if they did, they will only have $13 million in practical cap space.

While the Clippers could free up more space if Austin Rivers, Wesley Johnson and Milos Teodosic opt out of their deals, that leaves only more holes to plug and a less intriguing destination for a star.

Thus, the Clippers will only pick up minor guys and turn into the 2016 Bulls; who brought in an aging Dwayne Wade and Rajon Rondo. Instead of just ripping the band-aid off, the Clippers will finally realize next February that they cannot win, will trade all of their assets and get far less than they could have initially.

However, if they took the proposed route, things would be much easier. While they would not be good next season, I would argue that it is better to have an identity rather than chase the middle of the pack. The Clippers’ identity next season should be to lose, period.

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They should have traded away those guys this season and stumbled top-five pick. Package Harris with the fifth overall selection for the first overall selection. Land Marvin Bagley III, open up cap space. Pick up two other prospects in the first round to play alongside Bagley, Gallinari and Beverley.

Fast forward to the 2019 trade deadline. The Clippers are promising, but they do not win. They trade Beverley (who will be on an expiring deal) to a contender that needs defense but does not want long-term commitment. Another draft pick. Meanwhile, they are only freeing up more cap space for the future.

The 2019 draft they presumably would have a top-three pick for another young star plus the contending team’s pick in the 20s. Draft a star guard to go along with Bagley, sign a few veterans to short-team deals. All of a sudden, you have a young superstar duo of Bagley and Player X, a myriad of other promising young first-rounders and A LOT of cap space.

Then, in February of 2020, the Los Angeles Clippers finally strike. They package a couple of their young, late-first round picks and an established Gallinari (who would then be on an expiring deal at that point) to a rebuilding team that has one star to giveaway (again, like Jimmy Butler and the Bulls).

Boom. The 2020 Los Angeles Clippers effectively become the 2017 Minnesota Timberwolves. They have two young superstars (Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins), some crafty veterans (Taj Gibson) and an established star (Jimmy Butler).

They likely wouldn’t make any sort of title push that season, however, they would be setting themselves up for years of title contention.

And to make it all better, if they are smart with the contracts they hand out, they will have enough cap space the ensuing offseason for another star.

Next: Why the Isaiah Thomas-Lakers trade was perfect for LA

Yes, it does require a lot of variables and the Los Angeles Clippers to make the perfect draft choices, but this game plan has already been done; it can be replicated. However, instead, the Los Angeles Clippers remained stuck in their own ways on a hope for a superstar that will never come.

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