Los Angeles Clippers: Trading for Kevin Love is a good table setter
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Clippers front office seems intent on avoiding a dreaded rebuild. If so, trading for Kevin Love is a smart first move in that process.
Despite losing all four members of the Lob City core that led to so much success, the Los Angeles Clippers have not taken the foot off the gas and continue to try and be successful.
Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and J.J. Redick have all found new homes outside of Los Angeles.
Paul was part of a sign and trade deal with the Houston Rockets; Griffin was shipped off to Detroit after signing a max extension; Redick signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers and re-signed another one-year deal this offseason; Jordan lasted all season before finally joining his hometown Dallas Mavericks this offseason.
The Clippers front office has added some decent talent in return, however. Tobias Harris and Lou Williams are the two most talented assets. Rookies Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jerome Robinson both have a ton of talent and promise. Role players such as Avery Bradley, Marcin Gortat and Danilo Gallinari will play a role.
In wake of losing all of the team’s stars, the Los Angeles Clippers front office has brought together a group of guys that are talented enough to challenge for a lower playoff seed but not talented enough to go much further.
With most of these guys on expiring deals, the Clippers have not afforded themselves any security. However, instead of ripping the band-aid off and working towards the future, the front office seems intent on bringing in a star, such as Kawhi Leonard or Klay Thompson, next offseason.
Maybe the front office knows something we do not know, but Harris refusing to sign an $80 million extension with LA is a bad telling sign of the team’s future.
It is hard to imagine that any star is going to want to come to a Clippers team that is stripped of talent. However, there is a solution to this problem that is set up perfectly for the Clippers: trading for Kevin Love.