Slow your roll on those Blake Griffin trade rumors, fam. The Los Angeles Clippers have other ideas.
They, apparently, want to get another star (or five) to join their current nucleus, not willingly deal one they already employ to a rival NBA team. This latest dispatch comes from the Orange County Register‘s Jeff Miller:
Doc Rivers, who not only coaches the Clippers but also makes pretty much every important decision about the franchise not relating to Chuck the Condor, has made a point in the past of emphasizing his desire to keep Griffin.
It is a well-reasoned stance, seeing how Griffin is really good at basketball and the Clippers are interested in remaining really good at basketball, too.
According to those who know these things, the Clippers are focused on adding stars – that is the trend in the NBA, you know – not subtracting them.
Miller does note that we cannot be “100 percent” sure about any of this, given how topsy-turvy and abrupt the league can be. But his findings hold water when you consider that the Clippers tried to assemble a Big Four with Kevin Durant before he joined the Golden State Warriors.
Sure, it was a long-shot theory. But they could have a better chance of completing something similar next summer, just without Durant. Both Chris Paul and Griffin are expected to reach free agency, and the Clippers could look to offload the deals of Jamal Crawford, Wesley Johnson, Austin Rivers, etc. to create more flexibility.
Even with the cap projected to rise above $100 million, there’s no way the Clippers retain J.J. Redick, Griffin, Jordan and Paul, plus another star, without Griffin and/or Paul accepting a pay cut. But clearing the deck before two of your cornerstones enter free agency does give you more options on how to fill out the roster.
Still, it’s beyond unlikely that the Clippers are able to land another marquee name while keeping their Big Three intact. Given how much each will be making in 2017-18, their best bet would be absorbing someone via trade, and there won’t be many (read: any) teams peddling All-Stars in exchange for some combination of Crawford, Johnson, Rivers or even Redick.
