QRich3 wrote:Why would they trade Gallo now? With Butler going to Miami we have no need at all to open more capspace, while we have all the need in the world for a veteran that offers near all-NBA production and future flexibility. Even if Butler wanted to come, I'd rather have Gallo for a year and the capspace next season, than payin 34 year old Butler $37M in 2023. That's the Blake Griffin type of contract this FO hates imo.
I think the only way the Clippers make a move for Butler is if that's what it took to land Kawhi, and that just doesn't seem to be the case- otherwise we would have made a strong move for Butler already.
The absolute worst-case scenario for keeping Gallo as a Plan B, is we can't execute a good trade at the last minute and end up amnestying Gallo to clear up cap space for some signings. You hate to amnesty a guy on his last year who is actually a very good player, but you do it because it's needed to land Kawhi Leonard. Had this roster failed to click after the all-star break last season and we missed the playoffs, it would have been a lot more likely that we preemptively started clearing cap space, etc. Instead, we had one of the most entertaining seasons ever even if we lost in the 1st round. But to hear from other posters (I mean generally, not here), you'd think the Clippers would have been better off getting nothing in return for the Blake and/or Tobias trades, so we have 2 or 3 full max slots going into free agency.
There may be a major move by the Clippers yet this offseason or into next season, but it may not be the obvious one we're expecting or hoping for. Even if we fail to land Kawhi, after the FA dust settles in a few days there are going to be opportunities to improve the team IMO.