Los Angeles Clippers: Cavaliers could be potential trade partner
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Clippers need to either add pieces to contend or remove pieces to tank. If the team goes the contending route, the Cleveland Cavaliers could help.
The 2018 NBA offseason will be very telling for the Los Angeles Clippers; a team that needs an identity the most in the NBA. Los Angeles is stuck in that weird ground between contention and rebuilding. There is enough talent on the roster to carry LA to a lower playoff seed, but not enough to contend for a championship.
Without much youth on the roster, it makes it even harder for the Clippers to decide which way to go. Either the team can add pieces and hope to contend with the veterans already on the team. Or, the front office can strip the roster completely, hoping to accelerate a potential rebuild.
No fan wants to see their team go with the latter, even though sometimes it is inevitable. With some good talent on the roster already, it might make sense for the Clippers to try and acquire pieces.
Who those pieces are and what the team wants to accomplish is still up in the air. Kawhi Leonard has emerged as a possibility. As is LeBron James and Paul George.
If LeBron does leave Cleveland but does not sign with the Clippers, the Clippers can still take advantage. Without their superstar, the Cavs would understandably want to hit the reset button on the roster; trading away any pieces they can to go with youth.
Thus, the Clippers can bring in a star that is familiar with Los Angeles that can help the Clippers add even more pieces this offseason. While this trade alone would not be enough to contend, it could be the start of something special.
Los Angeles Clippers receive: PF Kevin Love
Cleveland Cavaliers receive: SF Danilo Gallinari, SF Sam Dekker, Los Angeles Clippers’ 2018 First-Round Pick
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I already know what you are thinking. As a fan of the Clippers, the last thing you may want to see is the team trading away a first-round pick for another injury prone power forward. I get it.
However, the pick becomes much easier to trade considering the fact that the Clippers have the Detroit Pistons’ first-round pick, which is one spot better than LA’s. Detroit’s pick is the 12th-best in the draft.
It is a small price to pay for a significant upgrade from Gallinari to Love. Gallinari is injury prone himself and does not look to be the long-term role player that the Clippers portrayed him as when the team signed him.
Sam Dekker is young and has promise, sure, but won’t see much playing time with Tobias Harris on the roster.
This move forces Tobias Harris back to small forward, Love to power forward and keeping DeAndre Jordan, assuming he opts back into his contract.
The backcourt would be pretty deep as well. Patrick Beverley is a defensive genius, Austin Rivers enjoyed a breakout season and Milos Teodosic will do the distributing off of the bench.
In the draft, the Clippers could add to that great backcourt with a guard like Collin Sexton in the draft. Or, the team could add a center that will take over Jordan’s role in the likes of Robert Williams III.
Regardless, the team is still going to get a great player in the draft to go with an already solid core. The cap space situation would be essentially the same with Love, however, the Clippers would now be even more flexible to make a trade for someone like Kawhi Leonard.
Harris would become much more expendable and could be packaged with Beverley and a future first-round pick (not in this year’s draft) to land Leonard. The draft can be used to fill Beverley’s void and Leonard would slot in as the starting small forward.
Next: Teams most likely to trade for Kawhi Leonard
Regardless, trading for Kevin Love could be an easy trade to execute if LeBron James does walk away from the Cleveland Cavaliers. For the Los Angeles Clippers, it would give the team identity and open up several different doors of opportunity.