Despite some unrealized excitement earlier in the week, the Clippers had an uncharacteristically quiet draft night (they didn’t make a single trade tonight after making at least one during each of the last 8 NBA Drafts). For the first time since Lawrence Frank took over basketball operations from Doc Rivers, the Clippers simply entered the day with two picks, made them, and called it a night. While the hope is that these two guys–Kobe and Jordan–develop into good players, it’s unlikely that either is a major factor in the Clippers’ pursuit of the 2024 NBA title. Forward Kobe Brown will be on the 15-man roster in a reserve role behind a host of veterans, while wing Jordan Miller is expected to sign a two-way contract, spending most of the upcoming season with the Ontario Clippers.

The biggest story of the draft for the Clippers, though, wasn’t who they took–it was the players who weren’t moved. It’s no secret that the team is ready to move on from Marcus Morris, who has been the team’s primary power forward for the last 3.5 years. Originally, the team expected to send the 30th pick and Marcus Morris to the Washington Wizards in a 3-team trade that would have brought guard Malcolm Brogdon to Los Angeles, but they backed out over concerns regarding Brogdon’s health. Adding Brown with the 30th pick instead is all well and good, but the clear need to move on from Morris at the power forward position remains–and the team targeting Brogdon (and Chris Paul who was dealt to the Golden State Warriors today) suggests that they’re looking to move for a guard and a forward this summer. Whether the goal of making a big addition at guard is to replace or complement Russell Westbrook, who is an unrestricted free agent, is anyone’s guess.

At guard, the Clippers could always simply re-sign Westbrook, having sufficient depth to round out a solid guard rotation without an addition (Bones Hyland will definitely appreciate not being stuck behind two hall of fame point guards next year). Questions about the championship upside of putting his shooting and turnover issues alongside Paul George and Kawhi Leonard remain, but it would hardly be a surprise to see him back with the team after he became the emotional centerpiece of an otherwise listless Clipper team last year and put up big numbers in the team’s first round loss with George and Leonard sidelined. I’d still look for the Clippers to deal a guard (Westbrook, Hyland, Norman Powell, and Eric Gordon is one too many guys as long as Paul George is starting at shooting guard, and that’s without mentioning Terance Mann, who more easily slots into the backup small forward role), likely Gordon who is the most expendable and movable due to a combination of skill level, age, and contract status.

Westbrook cannot be traded as a current free agent, only re-signed. Powell’s contract is likely unappealing to trade partners, but he’s an important piece for the Clippers, so it’s hard to see a win-win deal developing there. Mann and Hyland both represent players with positive trade value, but they’re both players the Clippers would be reluctant to part with lightly. Gordon, at 34 years old and with a fully non-guaranteed salary of $20.9M next season, is an easy choice to explore moving. The Clippers face an interesting decision with Gordon–in many ways, he’s a completly expendable piece on this team, because if Westbrook is retained (or another guard added in his place) the team can build a comfortable backup rotation with Hyland, Powell, and Mann. While it’s certainly possible that Ty Lue would play Gordon over Hyland if both are on the team in October, it wouldn’t be healthy for the organization to invest minutes in a mediocre 34-year-old veteran over a high-upside (if tumultuous) 23-year-old prospect. Cutting Gordon does Lue a favor by taking away a bad choice and leaving him with a straightforward guard rotation. At the same time, Gordon isn’t a bad player, and the Clippers aren’t getting that $21M salary slot back if they release him. He has on-floor utility, especially during a regular season where you know you won’t always have your first-choice 10-man rotation available, and could be a part of a deadline deal as a huge expiring. Then there’s the tax angle: simply releasing Gordon would save the Steve Ballmer something like $100M next season. Even for the league’s wealthiest owner, that’s gotta be hard to not consider for a guy who shouldn’t be in the nightly rotation.

Even if the Clippers are hunting for an upgrade at guard, the possibility of running it back with Russ at least exists. That isn’t the case at power forward, where Morris was woefully ineffective for the majority of last season before losing his starting job late in the year. His time with the team, both on the court and interpersonally, seems to have fully run its course. 34-year-old backup glue guy Nico Batum isn’t exactly ambitious to take over starter’s minutes, and it’s hard to imagine Ty Lue trusting Robert Covington to fill Morris’ shoes next season after routinely giving him the cold shoulder last year. In fact, while Gordon and Morris almost need to be moved in this off-season, Covington is the third player who I most expect to depart. The non-trade options for the Clippers to address replacing Morris come down to Covington and Kawhi Leonard… and while I’m into the idea of shifting Kawhi to PF in certain lineups, it’s hard to imagine the team asking their oft-unavailable superstar small forward to play against bigger, stronger opponents on a nightly basis in the regular season.

Knowing that the Clippers should be shopping Gordon and Morris (and Covington) hard while looking for a guard upgrade/insurance and a new starting power forward is the easy part. Making a deal or two along those lines is a bigger challenge. Without the 30th pick to attach in deals (the Clippers can still trade Kobe Brown’s draft rights, but the pick is always more valuable as currency before the selection is made), the Clippers will have a hard time attracting much interest in Gordon and Morris. In fact, last night, the Sacramento Kings straight-up gave Dallas the 24th overall pick in order to take the undesired contract of Richaun Holmes–and Holmes is a useful player that the Mavericks will use! If 24 + Holmes = nothing, then 30 + Morris = Brogdon was actually a massive win (health notwithstanding)… and Morris without 30 = less than nothing. The Clippers are hardly in a position to give up future picks, Terance Mann, or Bones Hyland just to get off of Morris’ contract, so unless someone is really clamoring for Amir Coffey or Brandon Boston Jr., they’ll have to get creative to make a deal work.

As far as I can figure, the Clippers’ best bet is to go deeper into the crevasse by trading Gordon and Morris for less desirable contracts, thereby creating a situation of leverage where they can get some value back to help the team next year (either via a flippable asset or a useful player on an undesired contract). Say what you will about not wanting to pay them next season, but both of their contracts end after just one more year (and in Gordon’s case, only the amount required to make trade math becomes guaranteed, meaning he could offer some instant savings–more on this in a second). That’s not true for someone like Ben Simmons, who will make $40M in 2024-25. Would the Nets downgrade from Dorian Finney-Smith to Robert Covington if it meant the Clippers ate Simmons’ extra year in exchange for Gordon and Morris? Would they give LAC an additional asset too? If the Heat need Duncan Robinson’s outgoing salary to make a trade work this summer but their trade partner doesn’t fancy owing him $30M over the two seasons beyond next year, would Miami compensate the Clippers for taking on that deal in exchange for Morris’ expiring, and could they use that asset with Gordon to land a new power forward? Would the rebuilding Hornets jump at the opportunity to offload 3 years and $75M of Terry Rozier, a player who could be useful to LAC? What about the Hawks and ever-rumored forward John Collins’ similarly big deal? Atlanta particularly strikes me as a team that has to prepare to pay their upcoming young talent and could look to offload money this summer to set the stage for those deals in future years.

While it’s possible that some trade partners could value Gordon as a short-term role player, his presence allows for some immediate savings, too. His deal is fully non-guaranteed, which means the Clippers are completely off the hook for his salary if they cut him by June 28th. It’s not a complete mulligan for trade partners, though–enough of his contract needs to be guaranteed to make a trade legal. Still, teams can save money that way. Let’s look at that Gordon/Morris/Covington for Simmons/Finney-Smith deal, just as an example. To bring back those two players, the Clippers would have to send out about $38.6M. After Morris and Covington, the Clippers would only need an additional $10M, meaning that the Nets could immediately cut Gordon and have trimmed $13M ($19.6M if they elect to stretch his salary hit over the next 3 years) from their payroll for next season on top of savings on Simmons’ additional year.

Of course, there is the possibility of bigger deals solving these issues organically–maybe Gordon, Morris, Terance Mann, and future picks can land the Clippers Zach LaVine (good luck figuring out how to make him fit with Paul and Kawhi on offense, but talent is talent). If they get off of Morris’ deal in such a fashion, there are a couple of younger, less established power forwards that the Clippers could always look at as upside plays with the knowledge that they can turn to Batum or move Kawhi up a position in the playoffs: Obi Toppin is looking for a way out of New York to a bigger role, and the Clippers are rumored to have interest in Rockets forward Kenyon Martin Jr. One issue with targeting Toppin or Martin, aside from their relative inexperience and unprovenness, is that their salaries are too low to make a swap for Morris easy. Another is that they’d likely cost draft capital to acquire, something the Clippers have very little of and need to treasure.

Then, there are the elephant(s) in the room: the lingering rumored availability of Paul George in trade talks (and Damian Lillard’s satisfaction in Portland). It’s been mentioned throughout the week that the Clippers are gauging George’s value, though the latest update from Andrew Greif in the LA Times suggests that the feedback they received wasn’t great, with teams concerned about the downside of trading serious packages for a 33-year-old with a looming opt-out next summer who has averaged just 47 games played over his 4 years as a Clipper (2 of which were shortened from 82 to 72 games due to COVID scheduling, for what it’s worth). Still, Knicks reporter Ian Begley says he would expect New York to continue a pursuit of George if the Clippers are open to trading the star wing. The problem: both teams are trying to get closer to a championship in the near future, not further away. The Clippers would surely entertain a George-Randle framework for the same age, health, and contract reasons that the Knicks wouldn’t; the Clippers would hopefully rebuff a package built around RJ Barrett for the same quality disparity reasons the Knicks would pursue it. Perhaps a convenient way out: if Damian Lillard does finally decide it is time to leave the Trail Blazers behind instead of hanging around to mentor #3 overall pick Scoot Henderson, could a 3-team deal sending George to the Knicks, Lillard to the Clippers, and Barrett and a heap of draft picks to the Blazers satisfy everyone? The Knicks are committed to Jalen Brunson as their younger, cheaper star point guard, but covet a two-way All-NBA wing to join their core, while the Clippers would embrace the Lillard upgrade, especially given George’s reluctance to be a playmaker last season. I wouldn’t bet money on it, but I wouldn’t rule it out either. Lillard isn’t eligible to be traded until July 9th, the one-year anniversary of signing his designated veteran maximum extension last summer, so I’d expect these talks to be slow-developing as all sides (including Lillard himself) consider their options.

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.

After Quiet Draft, Clippers Need Trades For Gordon, Morris
Lucas Hann

Clippers free agent center Isaiah Hartenstein is headed to New York on a 2-year, $16.7M deal, reports Kelly Iko of The Athletic.

Hartenstein had a stellar season for the Clippers as their backup center in 2021-22, but the team had very limited avenues to re-sign him and as his strong play continued throughout the season, it seemed increasingly likely that he would be able to leverage his success as a Clipper into more money elsewhere. The absolute most that the Clippers could have offered him was their taxpayer mid-level exception, worth a maximum of $20.1M over three years–or, to compare to the deal he took with the Knicks, $13.1M over two years. Frankly, I expected Hartenstein to be able to find a little more money, or at least more long-term security at this price point, and I’m a bit interested in him going to the Knicks basically the instant free agency opened instead of letting the market develop, with multiple teams rumored to be looking for backup centers with their non-taxpayer mid-level exception. However, NBA teams are often reluctant to invest long-term money into players who haven’t established themselves as consistent, year-in, year-out impact players, and Hartenstein is still establishing himself as a rotation guy. It’s possible that he accepted a 2-year deal instead of pushing for more specifically because he believes that after two more solid seasons building a name for himself, he will be able to secure a bigger/longer contract.

There were reports that Hartenstein was very happy with the Clippers and looking for a way to stay with the team, but it’s hard to know exactly what extent he would have been willing to leave dollars and opportunities on the table to do so. Even if the Clippers offered him that comparable 2-year, $13.1M deal, $3.6M could still have been enough to sway him away from taking the paycut, especially considering he has only made about $5.5M so far in his NBA career. It’s also possible that he found the potential opportunities in front of him with the Knicks more appealing–it’s no secret that the Clippers are committed to starting C Ivica Zubac (who they just gave a 3-year extension to) and are overstocked with big, veteran forwards who fit into head coach Ty Lue’s preferred smallball units. More minutes, more shots, a chance to earn a starting spot and maybe be a part of a core going forward–these are all things that could come in New York and were less likely to be found in Los Angeles, considering team contexts.

However, it’s also possible that Hartenstein never even got to choose between the two offers, as it is rumored that the Clippers will be giving that taxpayer mid-level exception to John Wall. We certainly don’t know the order of operations here–and we might never know–but we can’t rule out the possibility that LAC chose Wall over Hartenstein at that price point. It’s certainly a justifiable decision, but if that were true it would also change the rubric for evaluating the John Wall signing over the course of the next year due to an increased opportunity cost. For now, I’m going to operate under the tentative assumption that the taxpayer MLE was not going to be enough to keep Hartenstein and the Clippers knew that and pursued Wall after Isaiah’s departure was a foregone conclusion. Teams, players, and agents do exhaustive work in the weeks and months leading up to free agency to get a feel for how the market will develop, which teams will be interested in which players at what price points, what type of money/role players are looking for, etc. By the time Wall negotiated his buyout with Houston earlier this week, I feel like the Clippers likely already knew that Hart was a goner. I would certainly feel more confident in that analysis had his new contract been more lucrative–say, the full mid-level exception worth 4 years and $45M–but I still find it fully plausible that the smaller raise and bigger opportunity in New York was enough to lure him away regardless.

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.

NBA Free Agency: Isaiah Hartenstein signs with New York Knicks
Lucas Hann

According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the LA Clippers and New York Knicks have discussed a trade for Knicks big man Nerlens Noel. Noel is slated to make $9.24M next season, interfering with New York’s plans to clear cap room to offer a contract to Dallas Mavericks restricted free agent guard Jalen Brunson that is big enough to scare the Mavs out of matching–possibly in the range of $100M over four years. The Clippers have a $9.7M trade exception from when they moved Serge Ibaka’s salary at the February deadline, which would allow them to absorb Noel’s contract without sending the Knicks salary in return.

That basic framework makes sense for both teams, so it’s understandable that the two sides would be engaged in at least preliminary discussions. However, determining the finer details gets murkier. Presumably, the Clippers would be interested in Noel as a replacement for backup center Isaiah Hartenstein. Hartenstein likely played himself out of the Clippers’ price range last year–they can only re-sign him for 120% of the minimum without using their taxpayer mid-level exception, and even that $6.4M taxpayer MLE salary could be quite a bit short of what other teams are offering. With the news that John Wall agreed to a buyout with the Houston Rockets and will join the Clippers, signs seem to point to that taxpayer MLE going to Wall (though that hasn’t been confirmed), which I would read as an indication that the Clippers already have accepted that Hartenstein will be taking more money elsewhere in free agency.

Of course, that’s just guesswork at this point. It’s still entirely possible that Wall–who was slated to make $47.4M with the Rockets next season and gave back $6.5M in the buyout–is coming to the Clippers on a league minimum salary and leaving the taxpayer MLE open for Hartenstein (or someone else). But, him giving back $6.5M to sign a new deal worth $6.4M would line up nicely. It’s also possible that Hartenstein is amenable to taking a paycut to stay with the Clippers. Last summer, Nicolas Batum re-signed for well under market value in the same situation so that the Clippers could keep their taxpayer MLE open for another player. Some key differences, though, are that Batum has already made over $150M in his NBA career while Hartenstein’s career earnings are just around $5.5M, and that Batum was still getting paid $9M/year from his Charlotte Hornets buyout. Hartenstein taking such a cut at this point in his career would really be a staggering move, and frankly feels like unrealistic wishful thinking.

So, assuming Wall takes that taxpayer MLE and Hartenstein walks, the Clippers would now have that backup C opening where engaging with the Knicks about Noel would make sense. But is the deal worth it? Minimum salary veteran centers are typically available in bulk in the free agency pool, and the Clippers would be able to find someone from a solid list of candidates at a fraction of the cost of absorbing Noel, especially when factoring in the ever-increasing luxury tax penalties Steve Ballmer faces as the Clippers’ team salary rises.

Noel is coming off of a challenging year with the Knicks where he played just 25 games. He missed time in training camp and preseason due to knee soreness and couldn’t get healthy all year, being listed out due to soreness in both knees throughout the season as well as spending time in the league’s health and safety protocols, needing extra time for reconditioning after clearing protocols, struggling with lower back soreness, and finally missing the last two months of the season with left foot soreness that was eventually upgraded to plantar fasciitis. Noel also missed his rookie season in 2013-14 due to an ACL tear and played just 30 games in the 2017-18 season due to a thumb injury that required surgery.

While Noel is a good backup C and capable fill-in starter when healthy, his skill level doesn’t make him a spectacular, can’t-miss addition to the Clippers on paper–merely a good one. With a slate of players like JaVale McGee and Hassan Whiteside available for cheap in free agency, there is little need for the Clippers to aggressively pursue a deal for a much more expensive backup center with notable injury struggles. The Knicks, on the other hand, are desperate to dump one more contract to get to their target number for Brunson’s offer sheet, and moving undesired contracts for nothing in return can be challenging. Case-in-point: the Knicks had to give the Detroit Pistons 13th overall pick Jalen Duren to dump Kemba Walker’s $9.2M deal in the draft last week as part of this same cost-cutting effort. So in any Noel trade, it would appear that the Knicks need the Clippers much more than the Clippers need the Knicks. The Clippers have easy pathways towards filling the backup C slot in other ways, while the Knicks would be challenged to find similar avenues to offload salary without attaching draft compensation.

Nailing down the fair additional value for the Knicks to include is tricky. While they gave a lottery pick to offload Walker’s $9.2M to the Pistons, there’s a much more realistic use scenario for Noel on the Clippers. I would expect that the Clippers would try to get either a protected first or two high-value 2nds in exchange for absorbing Noel. The Knicks currently have their own 2023 1st round pick in addition to protected 2023 first round picks from Dallas, Detroit, and Washington. They also have a solid collection of future 2nds from different teams, including 2023 and 2024 Detroit 2nd round picks that the Clippers have already possessed before trading away. If the Knicks offer a future first–even a low-value one–the Clippers should absolutely take it to absorb Noel’s deal. If the Knicks are holding off, I wouldn’t be opposed to the Clippers taking a pair of 2nds, but they should probably be patient as well to see how else they can put that TPE, which doens’t expire until the trade deadline, to work.

NBA Trade Rumors: Clippers, Knicks discussing Nerlens Noel
Lucas Hann

Dropping the season series 0-2, the LA Clippers (34-32) fell flat to the New York Knicks (26-38) 116-93 Sunday night. Terance Mann was perhaps the lone starter for LA that had a decent outing, posting a line of 11 points (4-9 FG, 1-2 3PT, 2-2 FT), eight rebounds and four assists. RJ Barrett was spectacular to lead New York over LAC once again, with a game-high 24 points (8-18 FG, 1-2 3PT, 7-7 FT), nine rebounds, four assists and a +/- of +36. Read on for our full Clippers vs. Knicks game recap.

Summary

Offensively, the execution for both teams to start was good. The actual shooting? Not so much. The Knicks came out sharper and with more energy than the Clips early, pressuring the ball right from the inbound and making LAC pay for falling asleep on three different Alec Burks triples. Overall, New York shot just 10 of 27 from the field here though, letting the Clippers off the hook a bit for giving up five offensive rebounds in the period. Getting used to playing against an above-average defensive center again was tough for the LAC frontcourt, which went 0-6 from the field. Easily the best takeaway for the Clippers in the frame was holding Julius Randle scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting despite him playing the entire quarter. Robert Covington, in particular, had a stretch where he stripped Randle on a drive two possessions in a row. After one, the Knicks held a 25-22 lead.

Things went from sluggish to straight-up bad real quick for the Clippers, who shot just 25% in the second quarter, including 4 of 15 from deep. The recipe was fairly simple for the Knicks, who continued to put pressure on the ball and in transition and shot 16 free throws in the frame, compared to zero for LA. Starting the frame on a 16-0 run courtesy of LAC going 0-for-13 before Luke Kennard’s 3 at the 6:14 mark, the Knicks kept the game physical and didn’t hesitate to attack with the Clippers’ perpetual missing. RJ Barrett especially broke loose here, scoring 16 points in the frame with layups and free throws. Heading back to the locker room, the Knicks held a 59-40 halftime lead.

Out of the break and early into the third, it was more of the same as the Knicks extended their lead to as high as 26. From the 7:36 mark on, however, the Clippers got some much-needed juice from Amir Coffey, Terance Mann and Covington. Down 25 with 7:36 left in the third, LAC swung some rare momentum their way on both ends to outscore the Knicks 20-6. Part of that run was an Ivica Zubac-long two to beat the clock, but attacking aggression from all three of the aforementioned trio suddenly saw the Clips down just 80-68 heading to the final frame.

Coming into tonight, the Knicks had a league-leading three losses after leading by as much as 20, while the Clippers were notoriously in a class of their own when it came to comebacks this season. Unfortunately, that all went out the window right away in the fourth as Cam Reddish paced a stabilizing 10-0 run for New York to start the quarter. By way of four line drives to the rack, ending in either layups or perfect trips to the stripe, Reddish forced Tyronn Lue to call for time with LA down 90-68. For the final 8:53, the game saw plenty of Reddish and Immanuel Quickley in garbage time. While those two were busy combining for 26 of New York’s 36 in the period, LAC got another look at Brandon Boston Jr., Semi Ojeleye and Rodney Hood, who scored his first points as a Clipper.

Clippers vs. Knicks Game Note

• Perfect Storm: We got another glimpse at the floor of the short-handed Clipper unit in just about all facets of the game tonight. Reggie Jackson shot 4 of 18 from the field and 0 of 8 from deep. Marcus Morris Sr. and Nicolas Batum combined for 4 of 19 shooting from the field and 1 of 7 from deep. As a team, LAC allowed their 25th-ranked 50 points in the paint, lost the rebounding battle 57-43 and gave up 16-0 and 10-0 runs to start the second and fourth quarters alongside stagnant perimeter shooting.

Up Next: The Clippers will kick off a 5-in-7 stretch, as well as wrap up their season series with the Golden State Warriors on the road at Chase Center on Tuesday, March 8, at 7 p.m. PT.

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.

Clippers vs. Knicks Recap: The Other Side of the Broom
Ralston Dacanay

The LA Clippers (34-31) aim to win their sixth straight against the slumping New York Knicks (25-37) on the national stage Sunday night. Read on for our full Clippers vs. Knicks game preview.

Clippers vs. Knicks Game Information

Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California
When: 7 p.m. PT
How to Tune in: ESPN, Bally Sports SoCal, AM 570 KLAC, KWKW

Projected Starting Lineups

LA Clippers: Reggie Jackson – Terance Mann – Nicolas Batum – Marcus Morris Sr. – Ivica Zubac
New York Knicks: Alec Burks – Evan Fournier – RJ Barrett – Julius Randle – Mitchell Robinson

Injury Report

LA Clippers: Paul George – OUT (Right Elbow UCL Tear), Kawhi Leonard – OUT (Right Knee; ACL – Injury Recovery), Norman Powell – OUT (Left Foot; Fractured Medial Sesamoid Bone), Jason Preston – OUT (Right Foot – Injury Recovery), Jay Scrubb – OUT (Right Foot – Injury Recovery)
New York Knicks: Quentin Grimes – OUT (Right Patella Subluxation), Derrick Rose – OUT (Right Ankle Surgery), Luka Šamanić – OUT (G League – Two-Way), Obi Toppin – OUT (Strained Left Hamstring), Kemba Walker – OUT (Not With Team)

The Big Picture

Oh me, oh my. Following a 21-point shellacking of the crosstown Los Angeles Lakers Thursday, the Clippers are feeling upbeat as winners of five straight and seven of their last eight. Although stacking up dubs against LAL and Houston over the last two weeks isn’t exactly the most impressive-sounding feat, there is something to be said about being able to consistently take care of business without your first, second and third-best players. Speaking of the Clippers’ missing talent, the cookie crumbs that social media detectives had been following religiously in recent days appeared to culminate in a big way Saturday — Paul George not looking like a guy whose season is over. Ultimately, it still feels like a long shot whether or not the Clippers will get blessed with one, let alone any, of their 20+ ppg scorers back in time for the playoffs. Until then, it’ll be on everyone else to keep on keeping on and, hopefully, avoid the injury bug as well.

The Antagonist

For the first time since Feb. 15, the Clippers will down some pregame PB & Js in preparation for a team not named the Rockets or the Lakers, yet one that perhaps has been struggling just as much as both of them. The Knicks haven’t won a game in more than three weeks, including losing to Portland and Oklahoma City in what has been their lowest point of the season. Unfortunately for New York, who are on a seven-game skid, their last five losses have all been well-documented on national TV as well, with their sixth-straight ESPN showcase coming tonight. Currently sitting 12th in the east, above just Indiana, Detroit and Orlando, last year’s exciting regular-season run appears to have been all but a brief facade for the Knicks. The Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker acquisitions have not panned out as envisioned, Julius Randle has looked like a guy playing his way toward a new gig and the team’s defense has dropped off from fourth in the league last season to 18th today. It’s been tough sledding for New York, as demonstrated Friday in which they led by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter, pulled ahead 114-112 with 7.1 seconds left but lost at the buzzer to a banked-in 3.

Of course, however, the Clippers have been one of the few teams to concede defeat to this year’s Knicks, falling 110-102 in their midday matinee at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 23. That game, the duo of Randle and RJ Barrett, who this season are an overwhelming net negative when sharing the court, combined for 52 points, 21 boards and 15 assists against an otherwise lethargic Clipper effort. Tonight would be a great time to avenge that loss.

Clippers vs. Knicks Game Notes

• The Future Face of the Knicks: As dubbed by Jimmy Butler on Feb. 25, who had front-row seats to RJ Barrett’s career-high 46 points, the Duke of York is averaging 30 ppg over his last four since returning from a four-game absence due to an ankle injury before the All-Star break. Although Barrett also just went 6-for-26 from the field against Phoenix on Friday, the Clippers should know better than anyone that he can get hot in a hurry.
• Reg and Zu: Reggie Jackson and Ivica Zubac have had their fair share of up-and-down moments this year. However, their play as of late perhaps illustrates why they deserve more respect moving forward. Since the All-Star break in a well-expanded role, Jackson has averaged 24 points, 6.5 boards, 6.8 assists, 2.5 threes, 0.8 steals and 3.8 TO on 43% FG and 85.7% FT. Zubac has had scoring and rebounding double-doubles in four of his last seven. Both were also easily the two best Clippers against New York earlier in the year, so it will be interesting to see if they can keep it going tonight.

Feel free to stick around and chat down below as this article’s comment section will serve as our live game thread tonight against the New York Knicks. Sign up for a free account and join the conversation!

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.

Clippers vs. Knicks Preview: Shooting for Six Straight
Ralston Dacanay

Despite a last-minute injury for Nic Batum, the Clippers continued their winning ways on Sunday at Madison Square Garden and improved to 16-5 on the season and 3-1 on this road trip. Read on for our full Clippers vs Knicks player grades.

Clippers Starter Grades

Reggie Jackson: A-. Reggie had a really solid and efficient all-around game, with 18 points on 6-12 shooting, 3-6 on threes, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 0 turnovers in his 26 minutes of court time. It is incredibly, incredibly nice to be starting your third string point guard and having a performance like this be unexceptional based on how he’s done in the last week.

Paul George: B-. It wasn’t a great shot-making night for PG, who had 17 points on 7-16 shooting, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. He wasn’t bad by any means, but if PG has a more normal scoring night this game probably gets blown open well before it did–and against a better team, like Brooklyn on Tuesday, the Clippers might not be able to put up a huge offensive performance without Paul’s firepower.

Kawhi Leonard: A-. Kawhi had a fantastically efficient night, putting up 28 points on 15 shots as he got 11 free throw attempts and made all of them. In the second half, he had 16 of his points and shot 5-6 from the field. And, of course, he was dominant defensively.

Patrick Patterson: A-. Patterson realitistically did everything you could possibly want him to do as a last-minute fill-in starter, especially as he was red-hot offensively and put up 13 points on 5 shots, hitting all three of his threes and converting on two floaters as well. The minus comes because part of the rationale in these grades has been to not overreact to made and missed shots so much as look for good process and team results when a player in on the floor. Patterson’s offense was great process tonight, even if he hadn’t been perfect from the field, but he was on the floor for some bad team defense with the starting unit.

Serge Ibaka: A-. Similarly to Patterson, Serge had a phenomenally efficient offensive performance while getting dinged a bit for team defensive issues. He finished with 15 points on 5-6 shooting, but had only 2 defensive rebounds in 24 minutes and is clearly the inferior defensive center in the Clippers’ rotation.

Clippers Bench Player Grades

Marcus Morris: B+. Marcus had a good offensive performance, taking 6 of his 8 shot attempts from deep. He split those long balls, converted one short jumper in the lane, and missed one mid-range shot. If Marcus routinely puts up 11 points on 8 shots in 28 minutes, he’ll be a very effective and consistent bench player–and if he takes 75% of his shots from beyond the arc, he’ll make Robert Flom very happy with his shot selection. But he didn’t do much else–3 rebounds in 28 minutes and no assists, blocks, or steals.

Ivica Zubac: A-. Gotta give it up to the big man for not just having 8 points and 7 rebounds (including 3 offensive) in 23 minutes, but also tallying 4 assists without a turnover. A 50-50 minutes split with Ibaka is fine on nights like tonight when Serge has it going, because the floor spacing is a really nice complement to Zu’s interior play. But when Serge doesn’t have his jumper going… Zu’s just been the better overall player.

Lou Williams: B+. Lou seems to be finding a niche role as a more efficient off-the-dribble playmaker in smaller doses than he’s used to seeing off the bench, and his offensive creation has really helped create good shots for others in key moments the last few games. He had 9 points, 5 assists, and 2 rebounds in 23 minutes tonight–with any luck, he’ll find a better rhythm shooting the ball soon.

Terance Mann: C. The Clippers got a pretty big nothing from T-Mann tonight, with 4 points, 1 assist, and 1 rebound in 16 minutes. Honestly, I’d be inclined to give him a NG, but not prodividing real material for evaluation in 16 minutes of court time is itself something worth evaluating.

Luke Kennard: C-. I’m not willing to move Luke out of passing territory for a night where he didn’t have any major screw-ups and put together a decent low-volume line: 6 points and 3 assists on 2-2 shooting in 11 minutes. But I also think he deserves a huge knock for only playing 11 minutes, as Ty Lue had him on a short leash in the first half and pulled him quickly when he passed up a good look from deep early in his first shift.

No Grades

Mfiondu Kabengele and Amir Coffey got in for a few possessions of garbage time, but not enough to evaluate. Patrick Beverley, Nicolas Batum, and Jay Scrubb were all sidelined with injuries. Daniel Oturu was inactive, possibly because he’s preparing to head to the Orlando bubble to join ACCO for their shortened G-League season.

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.

Clippers vs Knicks Player Grades
Lucas Hann

After weeks of speculation, including my foolish-in-retrospect refrain that “the Clippers always do something that we didn’t see coming,” Jerry West, Lawrence Frank, and the rest of the Clippers’ front office did exactly what many have been expecting them to do for months: trade Maurice Harkless, Jerome Robinson, and LA’s 2020 first round draft selection for the Knicks’ Marcus Morris.

The price ended up being slightly steeper: the Knicks also pried Detroit’s 2021 second round draft pick from the Clippers, as well as the rights to swap first round selections in the 2021 draft (top-4 protected). The latter is overwhelmingly unlikely to mean anything, as the odds of the Knicks having a better record than the Clippers in the 2020-21 season (and thus exercising the swap rights) are incredibly low. The former, however, stings a bit: the Pistons are seemingly on the verge of a full rebuild, and could bottom out next year, making their 2021 second round pick in the early 30s. For a pick-depleted Clippers team (they do not have a first round pick to trade until 2026 or their own 2021 second round pick), that Detroit selection would have represented their best chance to be a buyer at next year’s trade deadline.

Still, acquiring Morris for Harkless and Robinson makes this team better on the court this season, and that’s significant. The Clippers have Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in their primes on two-year contracts. Even if the team’s championship window is extended by new contracts in the summer of 2021, Leonard’s chronic injury issues could mean an earlier-than-usual retirement for the two-time NBA Finals MVP. The team already forfeited any present/future balance by trading Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a bushel of picks to acquire George. It’s clear: the time is now, the Clippers are all-in.

Morris isn’t necessarily only a short-term piece, though. At 30 years old, he roughly fits the Clippers’ timeline even beyond this two year window (George is 29, Leonard 28), and when Morris’ $15,000,000 contract expires this July, the Clippers will be able to re-sign him to a deal starting at as much as $18,000,000–more than enough to keep him around.

One of the Clippers’ oft-discussed weaknesses this season has been a sometimes stagnant, isolation-heavy offense with their starting unit. The obvious answer would be to add a distribution-oriented point guard, but such an addition would be complicated: no such target was readily available, and changing the offense so drastically would take the ball out of George and Leonard’s hands. Also, Patrick Beverley’s unique skillset, intangibles, and leadership would be difficult to replace with a more traditional point guard.

The next-best alternative, then, seems to be playing an elite shooter in lineups with Pat, Paul, Kawhi, and one of the team’s centers. Landry Shamet, likely the team’s best three-point shooter, has had an up-and-down year but has clearly made large a positive impact in recent weeks as he’s found his rhythm. To a lesser extent, the Clippers’ offensive fluidity has seemed slightly better when Patrick Patterson, a capable and willing shooter, has played at power forward.

That’s where Morris can provide the Clippers’ offense with a big boost. A solid career shooter from deep (36.9% on 7.4 attempts per 100 possessions for his career, and 37.2% on 8.6 attempts per 100 possessions across 2017-19 in Boston), he’s shown elite marksmanship this season, hitting 43.9% from deep on 9.3 attempts per 100 possessions, good for fourth in the NBA. Even if his shooting numbers regress slightly–and they already are, as he shot 56% from three in November, 36% in December, and 40% in January–he brings a drastically more willing, efficient, and reliable shooting option at the power forward position than Harkless, who was reluctant to even attempt threes, and Patterson. The situation is slightly murkier with the Clippers’ JaMychal Green, who was a major contributor last year (and shot 41.3% from deep) but has been inconsistent across health, minutes, and effectiveness this year.

In contrast to Shamet, Morris potentially gives LA an elite shooter with size, meaning that they can hope to replicate the spacing of a Beverley – Shamet – George – Leonard quartet with Morris at power forward and George and Leonard on the wings, protecting Kawhi from defending big men. Morris likely won’t imitate Shamet’s movement offensively with regards to navigating off-ball screens, but he’s more capable in terms of creating his own shot or driving against close-outs on the perimeter.

One bigger disparity will come in ability to create for others. While Shamet is not exactly a major initiator, he has a higher assist percentage than Morris (9.0% to 6.9%, measuring what percentage of teammates’ makes they assisted while they were on the floor) despite a drastically lower usage rate (13.3% to 24.3%). In fact, Shamet is averaging more assists than Morris despite playing fewer minutes per game and seeing drastically fewer touches.

Morris also has a well-established tendency to be a ball-stopper, which could exacerbate the Clippers’ issues. Of 98 players with usage rates above 20%, Morris is one of 13 with a single-digit assist percentage, and of those only Terrence Ross, T.J. Warren, and Kyle Kuzma have lower assist percentages than him. Of 57 players with usage rates above 24%, Morris is one of five with a single-digit assist percentage and ranks dead last in the category. While there may be some sympathy for his situation with the woeful Knicks, the career numbers are only marginally better: 20.3% usage rate with 8.7% assist percentage.

At the very least, it will be interesting to see if Morris’ shooting helps to open up the Clippers’ offense, or if his mid-range-heavy, ball-movement-light tendencies bog it down. That balance will likely be the biggest determining factor for his success in LA.

Defensively, Morris isn’t as good as Harkless as an individual or team defender, nor is he as versatile as the smaller, quicker Harkless. The Clippers frequently used Moe on opposing guards. However, the need for such cross-matching from the power forward position was always questionable at best, as the Clippers’ starting lineup features three top-tier perimeter defenders, and seemingly was not enough to offset Harkless’ offensive deficiencies. Morris can’t defend across as many positions as Moe, but he is slightly bigger, stronger, and a little grittier, which could end up being a slight net positive by replacing a redundant good defender with a better fit for an above-average defender.

The largest question unanswered, though, lies at the center position. Clearly the Clippers’ biggest weakness heading into the deadline, this deal does little to address the critical combination of Doc Rivers’ lack of trust in Ivica Zubac and Montrezl Harrell’s lack of defensive effort and ability. Morris could hypothetically play center in extreme small situations (like against the experimental Houston Rockets), and his presence as a more legit power forward might make JaMychal Green center minutes more viable than the smaller Harkless, but ultimately he is not going to be a consistent option at the position.

The Clippers do have two open roster spots, and–thanks to a salary-dumping trade of Derrick Walton Jr.–enough room under the luxury tax line to sign two rest-of-season deals in the buyout market. My guess is that Beverley, George, Leonard, Morris, and Zubac start while Lou Williams, Shamet, Green, and Harrell serve as key rotation pieces. The underwhelming Rodney McGruder, then, is the Clippers’ emergency wing, while Patterson is their emergency power forward. At point guard and center, however, the team would have to turn to Terance Mann or Jonathon Motley, and you’d hope that neither would see playoff minutes this season, so I’d expect them to pursue veteran options at those positions to fill out the roster.

The reality, though, is that it would be unrealistic to expect anyone that the team could add at center at this point to actually bolster their interior defense. The Clippers’ largest weakness went unaddressed at this deadline, and they’re banking on the addition of Marcus Morris providing enough offensive potency to make up for it.

213Hoops is an independent Los Angeles Clippers blog and fan community founded in February 2020 by a group of dedicated, long-time Clippers fans, writers, and podcasters.  You can support us by following us on twitter @213Hoops and subscribing to our Patreon for rewards and bonus content.

Clippers upgrade at deadline, but questions remain
Lucas Hann

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Clippers have acquired Washington Wizards point guard Isaiah Thomas from the Washington Wizards in a three-team trade with the New York Knicks. The Clippers will send Moe Harkless and their 2020 first-round pick to the Knicks for Marcus Morris, as well as Jerome Robinson to the Washington Wizards for Thomas.

Thomas is averaging 12.2 points and 3.7 assists for the Wizards this year in 23.1 minutes per game, while shooting 40.8% from the field and 41.3% from deep.

Breaking News: Clippers acquire Isaiah Thomas in three-team trade
Lucas Hann

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Los Angeles Clippers are finalizing a deal to acquire forward Marcus Morris from the New York Knicks:

The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, minutes earlier, reported that the package being discussed featured Moe Harkless, Mfiondu Kabengele, Terance Mann, and the Clippers’ 2020 1st round draft pick. It’s a hefty haul of assets for Morris, but ultimately it is two rookies who have failed to contribute in their first year and a very-late first round pick.

Morris, a career 36.9% three-point shooter, is making a career-best 43.9% of his shots from beyond the arc this year, good for 5th in the NBA. The 30-year-old would replace Harkless as the team’s starting power forward, providing less defensive ability and utility but adding another shooter and offensive weapon around Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

He also gives the Clippers another player who can create offense for himself–although he won’t do much to improve their ball movement or create good looks for others. Morris has a reputation for settling for a high volume of relatively inefficient mid-range pull-up shots.

Breaking News: Clippers to acquire Marcus Morris from New York Knicks
Lucas Hann