Should the Los Angeles Clippers opt to continue their fire sale on the heels of moving Blake Griffin, they needn’t worry about getting adequate value for Lou Williams.
Speaking with Nate Duncan for an episode of the Dunc’d On podcast, The New York Times‘ Marc Stein said the team will have no trouble getting a first-round pick for their electric combo guard (h/t HoopsHype):
Marc Stein: [The Clippers] are going to get a first-round pick for Louis Williams. I believe that there is—I don’t know where yet—but I believe there is sufficient interest in Lou Williams, that somehow, some way, they get a first.
Getting a first-rounder back as part of any Williams deal is big time for the Clippers. He’s balling out of his mind right now; he rates as one of the most efficient isolation scorers and pick-and-roll ball-handlers in the league, according to NBA.com. But he’s also 31, going on 32 in October, and slated for free agency this summer. Any team that acquires him does so knowing they’ll have to pay him big money in a few months or let him walk for nothing.
Though the New Orleans Pelicans and Detroit Pistons have both coughed up first-rounders in trades over the past week, this situation is different. Teams aren’t currently in the business of forfeiting costed-controlled assets for expiring contracts unless they’re getting something of equal value in return—an All-Star, as Detroit did; a useful player under contract for more than the rest of this season, as New Orleans got with Nikola Mirotic; or the opportunity to cut dead weight of their own, as the Pelicans were also able to do in the Mirotic trade by sending Omer Asik to the Chicago Bulls.
It says a lot, for instance, that someone like Tyreke Evans remains on the Memphis Grizzlies, who also want a first-round pick for him. Williams’ case might be slightly different, because the Clippers haven’t committed to selling him yet, but the two situations are similar on some level.
Unlike Evans, though, Williams comes with Bird rights. So whichever team trades for him will have the means to re-sign him over the summer, even if it takes them over the cap. And that should ensure some contender, somewhere, eventually relents and offers the Clippers a first-round pick for his services.
