According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the LA Clippers are engaged in three-team trade talks that would bring Malcolm Brogdon to Los Angeles in exchange for Marcus Morris and draft compensation. The Clippers’ package would be rerouted to the Wizards, with Kristaps Porzingis headed to Boston. It’s unclear if veteran guard Chris Paul, who is heading to Washington as part of the agreed-upon Bradley Beal trade and rumored to be rerouted to the Clippers, would be a part of this or not.
Malcom Brogdon is a strong fit for the Clippers, a versatile 6’5″ defensive guard who can contribute offensively in on- and off-ball roles. He averaged 20 points and 6 assists in a lead guard role for the Indiana Pacers across the 2021 and 2022 NBA seasons before playing a lower-usage 6th man role on the championship-contending Boston Celtics last year, where his efficiency skyrocketed. While this move isn’t finalized and the Clippers likely have more to come, Brogdon is almost assuredly going to start next season, and he will likely try to take the reins as the number 3 guy alongside Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. Brogdon’s main drawback, in true Clipper fashion, has been his availability; he’s averaged 24.5 games missed over the last 6 seasons. At 30 years old, it seems unlikely that he’ll suddenly develop durability as a Clipper.
While giving up on Marcus Morris is no loss to the Clippers–the veteran power forward played his way out of the rotation late last season, has been rumored to be dissatisfied with his role (which he refuted on Instagram), and overall it felt like the relationship had just fully run its course–it remains to be seen what the full picture of this trade would be. Morris alone doesn’t send out enough salary to bring back Brogdon, who has 2 seasons remaining on his contract at $22.5M each, though the math is close enough that simple filler, like Jason Preston or Brandon Boston Jr., could help complete the trade. There’s also the matter of draft compensation. What exactly is Washington due if Porzingis flexes the leverage of his player option? Opt-in-and-trade deals simply don’t net the same kind of return that a player gets when he doesn’t have the option to walk away as a free agent next week, as Clippers fans will recall with the return from sending Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets in a similar situation 6 years ago. And if the Celtics are getting a desired upgrade from Brogdon to Porzingis, shouldn’t they be pitching in to get that upgrade as well? The Clippers have some options, and while Brogdon is a good addition, I would be against over-committing assets to acquire a non-star at this stage of the 213 era.
213Hoops is an independently owned and operated L.A. Clippers blog by Clippers fans, for Clippers fans. If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our Patreon. Subscriptions start at $1 a month and support from readers like you goes a long way towards helping us keep 213Hoops sustainable, growing, and thriving.
