Hopefully the Los Angeles Clippers didn’t trade Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons with LeBron James in mind, because he certainly doesn’t have them on his brain.
Some speculated that the Clippers’ decision to sell early on Griffin’s five-year, $171.2 million contract had to do with clearing cap space in advance of James’ free agency. Don’t laugh, Los Angeles Lakers fans. It’s not out of the question. The Clippers now have a path to carving out max cap space this summer, provided they trade some combination of Austin Rivers, Wesley Johnson and Danilo Gallinari.
Not that it matters, though. Because, according to The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears, he won’t be considering them as an option over the summer—and they, apparently, won’t be chasing him:
Now, if James signed and was patient, the Clippers could have potentially $40 million to $60 million available in the summer of 2019, when All-Star guards Klay Thompson and Jimmy Butler become free agents.
?The Cleveland Cavaliers forward, however, doesn’t have room to be patient, as he is in his prime in his 15th NBA season at 33 years old. . . .
Coach Doc Rivers, general manager Lawrence Frank and Hall of Fame executive Jerry West would have to make a water-to-wine sales pitch to James for the Clippers to even be in consideration. As of now,James is not expected to consider the Clippers as a free agent, a source close to him said. A source close to the Clippers said they also don’t expect James to consider them in free agency. But the Clippers have to make the call.
There’s a little bit of “Well, duh” involved here. Even if the Clippers jump through the necessary hoops to afford James’ $35-plus million salary, they won’t be left with much. Best case scenario, they’ll have an over-30 DeAndre Jordan, Tobias Harris, Patrick Beverley and James. That core isn’t giving the Golden State Warriors a run for their money. It might not even be good enough to contend with the current version of the Houston Rockets.
If James is going to leave Cleveland, it has to be for a situation that’s ready-made to take down the best in the business. And regardless of what the free-agent landscape looks like, the Clippers aren’t going to be it.
