Transaction Discussion Part 4 (Trades, Free-Agency, News, Rumors & Ideas)

[og15]

Batum has clearly stated he wants to be a Clipper, this was expected as he needed an extra season for the Clippers to have Bird rights. He should get a decent deal and probably about 3 years, maybe not fully guaranteed in year 3 when he's 36.

[Roscoe Sheed]

Watching teams like Dallas and the Warriors exploit mismatches, it is clear that if you want to beat teams like that (particularly the Warriors), you need to get rid of as many weak defensive links as possible- for the Clippers, their weakest defensive players are Kennard, Morris, Zubac, and Jackson. Therefore, some of these guys need to go if they want to get truly serious about contending.

One guy I'd like to see them pursue is Javelle McGee. He is a good screen and roll player- great for lobs. Also, he has very quick feet for a guy his size. He has shown he can contribute on winning teams too.

[Wammy Giveaway]

The Clipper's trade that's rumored: Norman Powell, [Marcus] Morris, [Luke] Kennard, [Terence] Mann, [Reggie] Jackson, [Robert] Covington. That's interesting! For Brooklyn. I do think because it rebuilds their rotation like this {*snaps fingers*} Suddenly, they have the Clipper's rotation. But do the Clippers wanna roll with Kawhi [Leonard], [Paul] George and Kyrie Irving? I mean, they're all healthy for about 60 games max, so I don't know about that one.

(J.E. Skeets dropped a mild expletive in the middle of Kerby's take on rumored trade)

That rumored package is a farm trade. It would be the second farm trade the Clippers have made in the 2020 decade since the seven-pick draft haul that netted them George as a condition to signing Leonard. You're gutting one of George's best friends, a Raptor familiar, the "Mann" who single handedly brought the Clippers into the western conference finals, culminating in the first ever double 2-0 comeback in NBA history (a pseudo-curse breaker akin to a theoretical 3-0 comeback), and a huge chunk of their small forward rotation (because they wanna make up for the zero small forward problem the Clippers endured throughout the entire Lob City era).

All of that just to have a True Big 3, something the Clippers never truly had in their franchise history. The best they've cobbled up has been dynamic duos. Irving is a point guard, a position the Clippers have desperately lacked ever since switching over to the small forward ideology. He would also join Leonard and George as the only players to average more than 5 APG in their careers - and they're all superstars. After them, it's Reggie Jackson with a career 4.6 APG. Everyone else is no more than 2.5.

Irving is also a walking butler who invites unwanted distractions. The farm trade itself will cut into that chemistry, as well as their image of being the new Good Samaritan Spurs. Under Leonard, the Clipper's penchant for techs, flagrants and ejections have dropped, and they've focused more in playing for the good of basketball, never letting personal emotions get in the way of business. Irving counters the Clipper's newfound image and good will towards the league. Imagine if Leonard's first ever ejection was because of Irving's presence. Sure, having ties to his Cavs days might help Irving get his head straight, and Lue is a hybrid of Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, but Clippers are trying to win with a team that's solid, not super.

Irving to the Clippers could also cause a seismic shift within the NBA. Suppose Chris Paul is influenced by this move that he demands out of Phoenix so he can join the Warriors for a free ride, look to the Celtics so he can still have a role, or link up with the Lakers in hopes that LeBron James can save his career, the latter automatically guaranteeing a Lakers-Clippers playoff series. Irving could make the Clippers better... but it might come at a huge price: making the west even better.

I have mixed feelings with Irving to Clippers. They don't want power, dominance or respect; they just want to be loved. Over the years, Clippers have preferred going after players who have high character and are coachable - even if said player is a one-trick pony or extremely limited (like a center that's only good for being a foul shield). They don't care how bad you play, or if you truly suck at defense, so long as you're a team player and will do whatever the team asks of you. It's kind of similar to San Antonio who goes after overseas players who don't see playing time because they aren't taken seriously, except it's with end of bench players that only see garbage time, and are only freed when playing for lottery teams. Any bad move they make would be as if Donald Sterling never left, so they have no other choice but to behave. But Irving solves quite a number of problems Clippers are currently faced with.

So yeah, I don't know. I'm leaving it up to them this time if Clippers want to go for this.

[madmaxmedia]

I don’t specifically want the Clippers to trade for Kyrie (and don’t think it will actually happen), but could see it under the following conditions:

1. Ty Lue vouches for him (he probably knows Kyrie best since he’s coached him)
2. As a distressed asset, Kyrie is traded for less than market value
3. Strong buy-in from Kawhi and PG

The upside of Kyrie coming the the Clippers in this scenario is sky high, but the downside is as well.

I would assume that Norm would go in such a trade. I don’t want to see Norm go at all, but if the net result was flipping Eric Bledsoe and Keon Johnson (plus whatever other assets) into Kyrie Irving and RoCo, I would laugh my head off.

[esqtvd]

I'd much rather get Wall for free

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[esqtvd]

Hartenstein update

[esqtvd]

Mook update--

It ain't gonna be on LAC so...

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[KL2]

Mook update--

It ain't gonna be on LAC so...

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Was just about to post this. Can we accommodate him please?

[og15]

Watching teams like Dallas and the Warriors exploit mismatches, it is clear that if you want to beat teams like that (particularly the Warriors), you need to get rid of as many weak defensive links as possible- for the Clippers, their weakest defensive players are Kennard, Morris, Zubac, and Jackson. Therefore, some of these guys need to go if they want to get truly serious about contending.

One guy I'd like to see them pursue is Javelle McGee. He is a good screen and roll player- great for lobs. Also, he has very quick feet for a guy his size. He has shown he can contribute on winning teams too.

I wouldn't particularly call McGeee switchable.

Morris is an adequate defender on the perimeter, he seems to be more of a concern with impacting on the glass.

[Roscoe Sheed]

Watching teams like Dallas and the Warriors exploit mismatches, it is clear that if you want to beat teams like that (particularly the Warriors), you need to get rid of as many weak defensive links as possible- for the Clippers, their weakest defensive players are Kennard, Morris, Zubac, and Jackson. Therefore, some of these guys need to go if they want to get truly serious about contending.

One guy I'd like to see them pursue is Javelle McGee. He is a good screen and roll player- great for lobs. Also, he has very quick feet for a guy his size. He has shown he can contribute on winning teams too.

I wouldn't particularly call McGeee switchable.

Morris is an adequate defender on the perimeter, he seems to be more of a concern with impacting on the glass.

McGee is much better than most bigs guarding the perimeter because of his length and footspeed. Aside from age, I’d rather have McGee than Zubac

[esqtvd]

I'm not familiar with the metric but my eye test is that except for 3s, Mook has become mostly invisible out there lol

no Rs, no As, no Bs, no D

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[esqtvd]

[MartinToVaught]

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Durant and Jerry West reuniting?

[KL2]

Anybody have access?

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[KL2]

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[esqtvd]

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must not have a deal then lol

maybe not "shopping" but of course he is on the table

[KL2]

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[nickhx2]

yeah i thought the reports about trading kennard seemed unlikely.

this clips FO doesn't leak.

[esqtvd]

yeah i thought the reports about trading kennard seemed unlikely.

this clips FO doesn't leak.

other teams would have done the leaking

[KL2]

other teams would have done the leaking

Agreed. Feels like the Clippers tried trading him and didn’t like the packages. Once that was clear sources claim it wasn’t true.