Now I can be talked into Norm, Coffey, Russ, Bones and PJ for Zach. He doesn’t fit a real need however and we would still need a PF but maybe he could reestablish his value and become a positive trade asset.

SG – Zach/Mann
PG – Harden/Dunn/KPJ
C – Zu/Bamba
PF – Batum/Brown
SF – Kawhi/DJJ

Still some serious concerns at backup C and Nico shouldn’t be a starting PF at this point in his career.

We could do a trade like this:

LAC – LaVine + Couple 2nd Rd Picks

CHI – PJ, Norm, Mann, Westbrook

In addition to getting LaVine, that trade would give another $3 Million to work with under the 1st Apron.

The only problems left to solve after making that trad ….who are they going to get to play PF and how do they trade for Kris Dunn with only Bones and Coffey contracts remaining to trade.

I know many here don’t want to give up Mann but he’s an expiring contract and may cost up to $20 million a year to keep him going forward.

If the opportunity arose to get both Collins and Huerter instead of LaVine for PJ, Norm, Mann, Westbrook & Bones then I would rather choose that path but don’t think that path is realistic.

Basically, the Clippers aren’t a contender even if healthy as currently constructed. They have Kawhi on a 3-year deal, which lines up with Lavine. Why not take a shot with another injury prone player, and hope for the best. If it doesn’t work out, the deal should only get easier to get out of as the years decrease and the cap increases.

By the sounds of it, they’re finding a taker for Lavine to be very difficult, so I’d hope it could be done without Mann. Norm, PJ, Westbrook, Coffey, with maybe Westbrook be rerouted to the Nuggets?

If we’re going to be a team that’s Frankensteined together with various old, young, oft-injured, mercurial parts, why not go all in on LaVine? It’s easy to talk ourselves out of it because we love Terence and Norm but let’s take a look at it from another perspective.

I believe that a healthy 29 year old LeVine could potentially contribute as much as a 34 year old PG and it would basically be the same final offer we made to PG (three years $150) but without a no trade clause. There would also be a 1st rounder included. Terence and Norm are great pieces but have reached their ceilings, and if we actually land Dunn he can cover most of what Terence offers and Bones and/or Porter (ugh) can probably bring enough scoring punch to move on from Norm.

Again, we are screwed regardless. It’s just which version of screwed. I like GMs who are aggressive. For all the shit Pelinka gets at least he swings for the fences every year.