Special Report: Chris Paul Edition

[TrueLAfan]

Sal Cap expert Eric Pincus on the radio today--said Lakers best bet if CP is bought out--Lakers the better match for basketball reasons and maybe political too if he plays for the minimum.

But the Lakers have nothing to trade and as a family business, not a huge inclination to be a repeat lux taxpayer at CP's salary.

And CP is not averse to getting PAID. The Clippers have Ballmer Bucks and plenty of expiring contracts and pretty much what I wrote above, something like Boston or the #30 to sweeten the pot. And VERY motivated to dump Marcus's contract and I think DGAF if Gordon or RoCo stays or goes. [We're so far over the cap it doesn't make any difference, and neither is a needle-mover on the court.]

I don't think we need to throw *anything* into a trade. Washington just picked up a boatload of second rounders that they're unlikely to use except as trade capital ... like here. This is where expiring contracts like Mook and RoCo are nice. CP3 is more valuable than those two combined--but that ultimately doesn't help the Wiz, who are going to spend 2-3 years (minimum) rebuilding. The big deal is that CP3 has 2 years left on his deal. If he gets bought out ($15.8 million), the Wiz spend $16 million and count it against the cap for--nothing. If he's traded for Coffey, RoCo and Mook, they spend $14 million for three NBA quality players. If RoCo and Mook get some minutes, they have value as mid-season trade targets for playoff teams wanting bench strength or teams looking for expiring deals. Far as I can see, the Wiz are the ones who should sweeten the deal just a bit. They got 6 second round picks from the Suns. We'll take two, thanks.

About CP3 and Westbrook together ... like I said, I think it could work. We have to ask them. And this is where I give priority to the lesser player. Westbrook came here, fit in, played hard, helped us in the playoffs. (Last time he did that--Washington! The irony is not lost on me.) He should be asked first.

[esqtvd]

Sal Cap expert Eric Pincus on the radio today--said Lakers best bet if CP is bought out--Lakers the better match for basketball reasons and maybe political too if he plays for the minimum.

But the Lakers have nothing to trade and as a family business, not a huge inclination to be a repeat lux taxpayer at CP's salary.

And CP is not averse to getting PAID. The Clippers have Ballmer Bucks and plenty of expiring contracts and pretty much what I wrote above, something like Boston or the #30 to sweeten the pot. And VERY motivated to dump Marcus's contract and I think DGAF if Gordon or RoCo stays or goes. [We're so far over the cap it doesn't make any difference, and neither is a needle-mover on the court.]

I don't think we need to throw *anything* into a trade. Washington just picked up a boatload of second rounders that they're unlikely to use except as trade capital ... like here. This is where expiring contracts like Mook and RoCo are nice. CP3 is more valuable than those two combined--but that ultimately doesn't help the Wiz, who are going to spend 2-3 years (minimum) rebuilding. The big deal is that CP3 has 2 years left on his deal. If he gets bought out ($15.8 million), the Wiz spend $16 million and count it against the cap for--nothing. If he's traded for Coffey, RoCo and Mook, they spend $14 million for three NBA quality players. If RoCo and Mook get some minutes, they have value as mid-season trade targets for playoff teams wanting bench strength or teams looking for expiring deals. Far as I can see, the Wiz are the ones who should sweeten the deal just a bit. They got 6 second round picks from the Suns. We'll take two, thanks.

About CP3 and Westbrook together ... like I said, I think it could work. We have to ask them. And this is where I give priority to the lesser player. Westbrook came here, fit in, played hard, helped us in the playoffs. (Last time he did that--Washington! The irony is not lost on me.) He should be asked first.

We are not in disagreement. See my post above that Westbrook should be consulted before any move to acquire CP3 is made. Respect for what he did here already, and respect to his willingness to sign for the minimum moving forward.


As for your proposed deal, if I'm Steve Ballmer I will blow you if you pull this off. [Actually I will pay someone else to do it, but you follow what I mean.]

[esqtvd]

TrueLA, my interest in Chris Paul is more psychological, narrative, story, like Disney's The Mighty Ducks. Forget the basketball stats and typical sports tropes. I can't see Paul coming back to Clippers; he's Laker bound. He wants to retire with James, finally play on purple and gold, and get that elusive title. Recent reports of Clippers getting Paul back read beyond desperation. If you were to compare Paul's Clipper stats to every point guard Clippers had since he left, they have been abysmal. They really miss him and his leadership, and want him back. But Paul still resents his former team for not taking competition seriously - remember that video he had with Jay-Z where he said Clippers weren't committed enough. He proved his stance by defeating them in the playoffs. Of all the teams Paul faced in his playoffs career, the only team where he's undefeated with at least two series played is against the Clippers - every other team was either a one-show (Wolves, Pelicans), or has at least one or two losses.

If Paul couldn't get it done with Clippers under Lob City, why do you think it will be different now? Is it just more maturity from simply having Kawhi Leonard, no more chasing distractions, showboating or jealousy? Could bringing Paul back blind them in such a way where they are tempted to bring back other former Clippers? There are rumors that they may look to bring back Tobias Harris. And if Blake Griffin is not retained with Celtics, he may come back. Some are already preparing to call this 2023-24 team the Clippers Multiverse Of Madness. Are the Clippers the victims of history repeating itself?

Interesting approach. But you should be psychoanalyzing Ballmer. He's the last word--and the only word. Lawrence Frank is a puppet. They all are except Ty.

Ballmer was a caretaker CEO at Microsoft and although he made billions, was an also-ran to Apple, who went all-in on the i-Phone while Ballmer passed.

Taking over the Clips--a 50-win franchise--Ballmer dumped CP and Blake then went all-in on Kawhi but it's been less than meh. Now he can go all-in again and dump THEM or do what he did at Microsoft and take the path of least resistance.

I won't predict which--he's done both. But keep in mind that Steve Ballmer never built jackspit--he took over the #1 tech corporation in the world and finished in second place to Apple. Took over a functional Clips franchise and took it from 2nd to 3rd place.

Hey, it's his billions and the Clips are his plaything. He has maybe $10 billion tied up in the Clippers and his new Ballmerdome. That sounds like a lot of money but Steve Ballmer is worth $110 billion. If he loses a billion dollars a year he won't have to sell until the year 2133.

[wco81]

Franchise value should be much higher once the new stadium is open, assuming they sell most of tHe PSLs and the luxury suites.

So he’d probably make more money if he sold in a couple of years even if he paid the more punitive luxury taxes for a couple of
years.

To keep the new stadium filled, he may have to sign KL and PG13 to their mid and late 30s unless the team gets some draft assets.

With the Lakers improved, Clippers have to stay competitive to sell the higher priced tickets to the new stadium?

[esqtvd]

Franchise value should be much higher once the new stadium is open, assuming they sell most of tHe PSLs and the luxury suites.

So he’d probably make more money if he sold in a couple of years even if he paid the more punitive luxury taxes for a couple of
years.

To keep the new stadium filled, he may have to sign KL and PG13 to their mid and late 30s unless the team gets some draft assets.

With the Lakers improved, Clippers have to stay competitive to sell the higher priced tickets to the new stadium?

Bron can't play forever. Tick, tick, tick. Without him, is there any there there?

As for Ballmerville, yes, he IS facing a crisis. Right now is the time he most controls his own destiny. Next summer, KL and PG hold all the cards. Without them, there definitely is no here here.

[donemilio21]

I don't think we need to throw *anything* into a trade. Washington just picked up a boatload of second rounders that they're unlikely to use except as trade capital ... like here. This is where expiring contracts like Mook and RoCo are nice. CP3 is more valuable than those two combined--but that ultimately doesn't help the Wiz, who are going to spend 2-3 years (minimum) rebuilding. .

Actually CP3s contract could help Wiz to gain assets from a team that is trying to clear cap for 24-25 season.
Just an example; Nets could trade Simmons to Wiz for CP3, and get out of paying him $40.3M in 24-25 season if they have plans to sign high profile FAs and compete; while Wiz would gladly take Simmons + a draft pick to take on the contract since they probably do not have similar paths they are pursuing in the next 2-3 years.
Or Hornets could take CP3 for Rozier to clear space next year and make room for LAmelo's extension and a potential FA signings.

[wco81]

Franchise value should be much higher once the new stadium is open, assuming they sell most of tHe PSLs and the luxury suites.

So he’d probably make more money if he sold in a couple of years even if he paid the more punitive luxury taxes for a couple of
years.

To keep the new stadium filled, he may have to sign KL and PG13 to their mid and late 30s unless the team gets some draft assets.

With the Lakers improved, Clippers have to stay competitive to sell the higher priced tickets to the new stadium?

Bron can't play forever. Tick, tick, tick. Without him, is there any there there?

As for Ballmerville, yes, he IS facing a crisis. Right now is the time he most controls his own destiny. Next summer, KL and PG hold all the cards. Without them, there definitely is no here here.

Zach Lowe said on today's podcast that KL can sign a 4-year max extension this July and PG13 can sign one in September.

He said maybe the Clippers need to push back, something like 2 + 1 (team option?).

Or they may look to move PG13.

I don't know why Ballmer would worry about money. He's going to leave generational wealth to his children and their children and their children after that.

NBA seems to be his main interest now. He didn't try to start his own company or do some other venture like Gates did with his foundation. I think I heard that for the first couple of weeks of his forced retirement, he binged The Good Wife, so getting to buy the Clippers was huge for him.

He's 67 so he may not be able to travel with the team all the time in a few years. Maybe he should take the Suns' new owner approach, go all-in now, the window is the next 3-4 years or so. Load up on salaries now, because once the new CBA fully kicks in, 2024-25 or 2025-2026, the teams over the second apron will not be able to trade or sign like they can now.

Lacob should think the same with the Warriors but he doesn't have Ballmer money so he may trade away someone like Kuminga for rookies who'd be on much lower rookie salaries (drafted later or maybe UDFAs) to avoid bigger and bigger repeater taxes.

[MartinToVaught]

I don't know why Ballmer would worry about money.

Money itself isn't the problem here. It's the longterm commitment to players who can't/won't play the games, how their salaries would limit our flexibility to make moves under the new CBA, and how low their trade value's going to be after a few more injury-filled seasons.

A good front office would at least trade one of them this summer while they still have value. Our incompetent front office appears to be running it back. Not really seeing how this ends well for us.

[esqtvd]

Franchise value should be much higher once the new stadium is open, assuming they sell most of tHe PSLs and the luxury suites.

So he’d probably make more money if he sold in a couple of years even if he paid the more punitive luxury taxes for a couple of
years.

To keep the new stadium filled, he may have to sign KL and PG13 to their mid and late 30s unless the team gets some draft assets.

With the Lakers improved, Clippers have to stay competitive to sell the higher priced tickets to the new stadium?

Bron can't play forever. Tick, tick, tick. Without him, is there any there there?

As for Ballmerville, yes, he IS facing a crisis. Right now is the time he most controls his own destiny. Next summer, KL and PG hold all the cards. Without them, there definitely is no here here.

Zach Lowe said on today's podcast that KL can sign a 4-year max extension this July and PG13 can sign one in September.

He said maybe the Clippers need to push back, something like 2 + 1 (team option?).

Or they may look to move PG13.

I don't know why Ballmer would worry about money. He's going to leave generational wealth to his children and their children and their children after that.

NBA seems to be his main interest now. He didn't try to start his own company or do some other venture like Gates did with his foundation. I think I heard that for the first couple of weeks of his forced retirement, he binged The Good Wife, so getting to buy the Clippers was huge for him.

He's 67 so he may not be able to travel with the team all the time in a few years. Maybe he should take the Suns' new owner approach, go all-in now, the window is the next 3-4 years or so. Load up on salaries now, because once the new CBA fully kicks in, 2024-25 or 2025-2026, the teams over the second apron will not be able to trade or sign like they can now.

Lacob should think the same with the Warriors but he doesn't have Ballmer money so he may trade away someone like Kuminga for rookies who'd be on much lower rookie salaries (drafted later or maybe UDFAs) to avoid bigger and bigger repeater taxes.

Absolutely. Ballmer doesn't care about the money, of course. He's worth $110 billion. Between profits, franchise appreciation, and tax writeoffs, even with a $150M luxury tax in 2022, the Clippers make him money. But the new CBA will prevent him from buying his way out of bad decisions.

I do think he's going all-in [albeit hoping to avoid 4-year max deals for KL and PG] with the present course, and being 67 has something to do with it. Neither has The Process been proven to work--both Philly and the Lakers tried it, and 4-5 years of misery and high draft picks brought them little to nothing. The Sixers finally hit with Embiid but have failed to reach the ECF, and the Lakers won their Mickey Mouse trophy only because LeBron decided to honor them with his presence as a UFA.

The Los Angeles Lakers have a 333-466 record between June 21, 2013 and June 21, 2023.

That's a LOT of misery for just the Mouse Trophy and a gentlemen's sweep in the WCF this year. I don't see why Ballmer would sign up for that at his age.

Maybe the Clippers can make a go of it with older players at reduced rates. With the other 29 teams all looking for [and fighting over] the same profile [6'7", young, athletic, 3 and D], Moneyball says to look for value elsewhere.

[wco81]

I don't know why Ballmer would worry about money.

Money itself isn't the problem here. It's the longterm commitment to players who can't/won't play the games, how their salaries would limit our flexibility to make moves under the new CBA, and how low their trade value's going to be after a few more injury-filled seasons.

A good front office would at least trade one of them this summer while they still have value. Our incompetent front office appears to be running it back. Not really seeing how this ends well for us.

He would probably want to keep the stars to sell out the new arena.

Not because he needs big ticket sales revenues but because he wants the new arena to be seen as a big success.

If he spends all that money for a new arena and it doesn't sell out, he could find it embarrassing.

That part has to do with his professional past, he's looking for some big wins on his CV.

[MartinToVaught]

He would probably want to keep the stars to sell out the new arena.

Not because he needs big ticket sales revenues but because he wants the new arena to be seen as a big success.

If he spends all that money for a new arena and it doesn't sell out, he could find it embarrassing.

That part has to do with his professional past, he's looking for some big wins on his CV.

I've mentioned this before, but attendance has been trending downward lately. After all the hype of "just wait until Kawhi comes back," "championship favorites," etc., the Clippers had worse attendance than the Pistons and Magic this year. Only 17th in the league. People are tired of having to hold their breath and check Twitter for injury reports before they buy tickets, so they're just not buying them anymore, and it's hard to blame them. Particularly with how dishonest the Clippers have been about some of these injuries over the years.

The new arena boost won't last very long if it's the same product on the court. No amount of bells and whistles can make up for stars who don't play and a team that's going nowhere.

[Clemenza]

He would probably want to keep the stars to sell out the new arena.

Not because he needs big ticket sales revenues but because he wants the new arena to be seen as a big success.

If he spends all that money for a new arena and it doesn't sell out, he could find it embarrassing.

That part has to do with his professional past, he's looking for some big wins on his CV.

I've mentioned this before, but attendance has been trending downward lately. After all the hype of "just wait until Kawhi comes back," "championship favorites," etc., the Clippers had worse attendance than the Pistons and Magic this year. Only 17th in the league. People are tired of having to hold their breath and check Twitter for injury reports before they buy tickets, so they're just not buying them anymore, and it's hard to blame them. Particularly with how dishonest the Clippers have been about some of these injuries over the years.

The new arena boost won't last very long if it's the same product on the court. No amount of bells and whistles can make up for stars who don't play and a team that's going nowhere.

Not sure about this. Pistons arena is always a ghost town status

[Quake Griffin]

The best player in franchise history is a Golden State Worrier.

Wow.

[MartinToVaught]

Read on Twitter

I know people are down on Poole right now (especially because of his contract), but he's only 24 and has some potential. If that was the going rate for CP3, imagine how badly we would have been fleeced out of our few remaining assets in a trade. Again, thank you Warriors for saving our FO from their own stupidity.

[donemilio21]

I honestly can't believe Wizards went from waiving CP3 to turning him into Poole + FRP.
Michael Winger could make trades like this and why on earth has he not done it with us? oh that's right. Lawrance Frank....

[wco81]

Read on Twitter

I know people are down on Poole right now (especially because of his contract), but he's only 24 and has some potential. If that was the going rate for CP3, imagine how badly we would have been fleeced out of our few remaining assets in a trade. Again, thank you Warriors for saving our FO from their own stupidity.

I guess they just wanted out from that contract.

The other thing is, they probably think that it will never work with Draymond Green and Poole on the same team again.


If CP3 can solidify the Warriors' second unit, it will help. That was probably the theory behind giving Poole that big contract in the first place. But he played best with Curry so that didn't help when the team is trying to load manage 35-year old Curry during the regular season.

[Wammy Giveaway]

Clippers will not like this at all. The very team they helped create a dynasty by not taking them seriously in 2012-13 season just traded for the greatest Clipper ever. Not only can they defeat Clippers again like they did post Sterling-scandal, their wins will be blowouts. And if Clippers draw Warriors, given that Paul is 2-0 vs. Clippers...

It's an automatic sweep. They really have to think about this.

An ejection to Leonard, George or both this upcoming regular season could mean the end of the Clippers.

[Roscoe Sheed]

I honestly can't believe Wizards went from waiving CP3 to turning him into Poole + FRP.
Michael Winger could make trades like this and why on earth has he not done it with us? oh that's right. Lawrance Frank....

they did get Powell and Covington for very little when he was here

[clipperlover]

So sad. The Warriors have admitted that their Championship window has closed. There is no chance this trade helps them get past the Nuggets. Should make for some regular season wins, but does not move the needle in a positive direction for them at all.

[clipperlover]

I am trying to understand the numbers for this trade. GS can't bring in Chris Paul for Jordan Poole until the new league year. Prior to that, there is a salary gap of $24M.