Clippers: Don’t be surprised if Lou Williams is traded in the offseason
By Jason Reed
After Lou Williams signed a three-year, $24 million extension, it is safe to say he is in the Clippers’ long-term plans. However, that will not be the case.
All signs pointed to the Los Angeles Clippers blowing things up prior to this season. Both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin owned player options and seemingly had one foot out the door. Several years of coming up short in the playoffs would cause the slow death of Lob City.
Blowing the team up seemed to be the only option after the Clippers agreed to a sign and trade deal with the Houston Rockets and Chris Paul. Why would Blake Griffin come back to LA when his hometown Oklahoma City Thunder needed stars around Russell Westbrook?
However, Griffin inked a five-year extension with the Clippers that likely would have made him a lifetime Clipper. LA brought in great depth pieces such as Milos Teodosic, Lou Williams, Patrick Beverley and Danilo Gallinari. While the Clippers were still left without Chris Paul, they weren’t in a much worse state.
Fast forward to late January and the Clippers trade their franchise guy in Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons for Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic and a draft pick. Now, the team was going to rebuild. Williams was a big trade chip, as was DeAndre Jordan. They did nothing.
Instead, they inked Lou Williams to an extension. Jordan, with the changing financial status of the NBA, will likely opt back into his contract for a $24 million payday. The Clippers are ultimately setting themselves up to be the most “middle of the pack” team for years to come.
However, Clipper fans should not rush to the team store in pursuit of a Lou Williams jersey. If anything, this extension only signals that Williams will be traded in the offseason; not the deadline, as many expected.
The Clippers got a steal. Williams is a borderline all-star and the best sixth man in the game and they are only paying him $8 million per year for three more years. With so many awful contracts in the NBA, Williams’ light contract is salivating for opposing executives.
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Not only is he cheap, he is under team control for several years. This directly helps a team like the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have a two-three year title window and need more than a rental piece. This shoots Williams’ value to the moon. The Clippers might have outsmarted us all with this extension.
I was hyper-critical of the extension, I really was. I think it is better to lose and have an identity in this league rather than go .500 with no identity. LA could have traded their pieces, stocked up on draft picks and restart the franchise.
And while they may not have done that in February, they are setting themselves up to do that in the future. I did not really understand why they would delay the rebuild, but this makes perfect sense.
Take the Philadelphia 76ers or Boston Celtics, who, depending on where the Lakers end up, will own the Lakers pick. Both teams could use a guy like Lou Williams and neither really need more youth.
Philadelphia needs a shooting guard replacement for J.J. Redick and the Celtics may seek more depth if they ultimately fall to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East. All of a sudden, either team is willing to give up a high lottery pick for Lou Williams. That was not possible two weeks ago.
Williams and a second round pick for the high first round pick makes sense. Both Philly and Boston have another first round pick, making it easier to trade the Lakers. Now, the Clippers are set to have a top seven pick and two middle of the round picks. One trade later, packaging the two middle of the round picks and the Clippers could have two picks in the top ten.
Next: Let's debate: Did the Clippers make a mistake?
Thus, although it goes against common wisdom when it comes to extensions, the Los Angeles Clippers are actually more likely to deal Williams now than they were before. We already saw it with Blake Griffin, we will see it again with Lou Williams.