The LA Clippers have acquired Houston Rockets forward KJ Martin in exchange for two future second-round draft picks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Martin was the 52nd pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, but has blossomed in his three years in Houston, growing into a part-time starter for the admittedly dreadful Rockets last season. He played in all 82 of Houston’s games, starting 49 and averaging 28 minutes, 12.7 points and 5.5 rebounds. His three-point shooting took a slight dip in year 3, but overall he has shot 34% from deep on 4.6 attempts per 100 possessions in his career–a clear step down from the Clippers’ veteran power forward options. But still just 22 years old with over 200 games and 5,000 minutes of NBA experience (and 350 NBA dunks!), Martin brings a combination of youthful upside and NBA experience that the Clippers were unlikely to find anywhere else on the trade market. While undersized at the power forward spot at 6’6″, he’s a phenomenal athlete that will quickly become a fan favorite due to his exceptional dunking prowess and high defensive motor.

The Clippers traded two future 2nds for Martin and absorbed his $1.9M salary into the trade exception created by the Reggie Jackson trade in February. While 2 2nds is an entirely appropriate cost for Martin, the Clippers do have to be mindful of their future 2nd round pick situation, as they also traded 2 2nds for Bones Hyland at the deadline. Both are good value deals, but LAC is quickly running out of future 2nds, as they’ve also already traded their own selections in 2024, 2025, 2027, and 2028. Martin is entering the fourth season of his cheap deal signed as a second-round rookie–but that means that he will be an unrestricted free agent next summer, depriving the Clippers of the right of first refusal teams get for first round rookies and players finishing contracts in their first 3 seasons in the NBA. They will have full bird rights to re-sign him.

It’s easy to see where Martin fits into the Clippers’ weaknesses, as he’s a virtually perfect fit to address some of the biggest complaints about their roster: age, speed, athleticism, motor. Figuring out where he fits in the rotation will be another question. His shooting won’t make for ideal floor-spacing, especially if he starts in the same lineup as recently re-signed Russell Westbrook (though honestly, his ability to cut threateningly is going to go a long way in offsetting defenders sagging from the corner). He’s also not ideally-sized at power forward, though that’s clearly the position where the Clippers need the most help. If Terance Mann starts in an undersized unit, Martin could play either forward position off the bench–he could also find himself in that role if Mann is part of a package moved for a star.

On a final note, “KJ” of course stands for Kenyon Junior, as in Kenyon Martin Junior, son of former Clipper Kenyon Martin, who was a part of the Clippers’ 2012 playoff run in the first year of Lob City. KJ was born in Gardena and played at Sierra Canyon High School. Welcome home, KJ.

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 Trade for KJ Martin
Lucas Hann

The LA Clippers traded for Balsa Koprivica’s draft rights Friday evening, sending cash considerations to the Detroit Pistons, the team announced. Pistons beat writer Omari Sankofa II reported that the Clippers sent the Pistons $2.1 million in the deal to acquire Koprivica, a 23 year old 7’1″ center from Florida with Serbian heritage (he has appeared for the Serbian national team at youth levels) who played for two years at Florida State before being taken with the 57th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and stashed overseas.

Let’s be blunt: Koprivica averaged 9 points as a sophomore at Florida State before entering the draft and has been a backup in the Adriatic league for the last two years. I won’t pretend to be well-versed in fringe prospects playing overseas, but he wasn’t on anyone’s radar to come over to the NBA next season; in fact, the Pistons didn’t even have him on their Summer League roster this year after scarcely playing for them in Las Vegas the last two summers. The Clippers didn’t trade for Balsa Koprivica because they think he can join them next season, and they didn’t trade for him because they think he has a shot at being a helpful piece at some point down the line. They traded for him so that they can trade him again, potentially as soon as in the next few days.

Let me explain. In multi-team trades, each team must “touch” at least two other teams in the trade by having something sent or received. The draft rights to an international player who hasn’t come over yet counts as something (even if that guy seems unlikely to ever actually come to the NBA, as long as he’s still a player in a competitive professional league, which the Adriatic league certainly is). I don’t know what the Clippers’ potential deal for James Harden looks like, but they’ll probably already be fine on this front–if the Sixers’ plan is to flip stuff from LAC along with additional pieces of their own to a third team to add a replacement star, then “stuff from LAC” going to the third team already satisfied this requirement. Even in hypothetical 4-team, or 5-team, or 9-team trades that Morey could be cooking up, you only need to touch two other teams in the trade, not every other team. Something from LAC being rerouted to a non-Philly team + Harden coming in = touching 2 other teams. But the Clippers could need Koprivica’s draft rights as the “something” in any multi-team scenario that could come along, now or in the future.

Of course, not having the draft rights to a random stashed player who iwll never come over hasn’t blocked teams from making multi-team deals in the past. Among other things (like a 2nd round pick), teams could satisfy this requirement by sending $1.1M in cash. But with the NBA’s new second apron rules, which I wrote about yesterday, teams over the second luxury tax apron can no longer send out cash in trades. It’s unclear to me if that rule kicks in this summer or next, as the stricter rules will be phased in, but regardless: there’s a possibility, whether it’s this summer or years down the line, that the high-spending Clippers will be above that second apron and need to send something for the “touching” rule to pull off a multi-team trade, and having Koprivica’s draft rights to send will save them a second round pick. That’s what $2.1M gets you, apparently–maybe saving yourself a second round pick if a very specific situation arises at some point down the line. Teams hold on to draft rights without expiration, so we could go a decade without hearing this guy’s name again before he suddenly makes a trade possible–Sofoklis Schorsanitis (affectionally known to Clippers fans as My Big Fat Greek Center in the mid-2000s) was drafted by the Clippers in 2003 and never came over, but they used his rights in a trade in 2012.

It would obviously be more fun if this move was a precursor to an imminent deal, especially if it turns out to be part of a larger series of transactions that brings James Harden to Los Angeles. But realistically, it’s probably not that (even if Harden comes to LAC, and even if it’s in a multi-team deal, it’s likely the Clippers will be “touching” at least 2 other teams without needing Koprivica). It’s more likely just LAC using some of their use-it-or-lose it 2022-23 trade cash in the waning minutes of the old collective bargaining agreement to get a 0-value piece to technically satisfy the rules in a potential future trade.

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 Trade for Balsa Koprivica’s Draft Rights
Lucas Hann

According to mutliple reports (Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Shams Charania of The Athletic, and Chris Haynes of TNT were all within minutes of each other), James Harden is picking up his player option for the 2023-24 season so that he can be traded from the Philadelphia 76ers, with the Clippers the apparent frontrunners in pursuit of the All-Star guard. Harden is a 5-time All-NBA 1st team guard and a 10-time All-Star selection, though he earned neither accolate for the 2022-23 season and will turn 34 years old in August.

Known during his time in Houston as the cheap-foul-drawing scoring leader who repeatedly challenged and could not overcome the dynastic Golden State Warriors, Harden has settled into more of an orchestrator role alongside Kevin Durant in Brooklyn and Joel Embiid in Philadelphia in recent years. After averaging 29.6 points and 7.7 assists during his 8-year stretch as Houston’s best player, he’s averaged 22.3 points and 10.5 assists as a floor general costar in recent years. While he gets downhill less than in his prime, Harden still drew 6.2 free throw attempts per game last season, more than any Clipper. In addition to giving the Clippers the best pick-and-roll ballhandler since Chris Paul, Harden is also a strong shooter who can take and make high-difficulty threes (contested, step-backs, etc.) to keep defenses honest against Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.

James has one year worth $35.6M remaining on his contract–a 2-year deal that he signed with Philadelphia last summer. He is not eligible for an extension because the original contract was so short, meaning that he will become an unrestricted free agent during the 2024 off-season. The Clippers, or any other team that trades for James, would have his bird rights next summer, with the star said to be looking for a long-term deal but flexible on the annual salary number.

In terms of a trade return, it’s unclear at this point what the Clippers would be sending back for Harden (no, I don’t care what random anonymous accounts that have never been reputable newsbreakers before are “hearing”). The team losing a star in an opt-in-and-trade situation typically gets a very underwhelming return, because the alternative was for that star to walk as a free agent. Remember, 6 years, ago, the Clippers traded Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets so that he could team up with Harden, a deal that they negotiated with Daryl Morey, who is now running basketball operations for the Sixers. Paul, then 31, was still near the height of his powers, but the Clippers only got an odds-and-ends salary-matching return from the Rockets to facilitate the trade. Chris had made it clear he intended to leave, and he had a player option that would have allowed him to do so, so the Clippers took back role players, prospects, and a first round pick. They could make a pretty comparable package for the Sixers now, built around Norman Powell, a high-volume, high-efficiency scoring guard. Throw in Robert Covington to make the money work (yes, Covington likely goes instead of Morris because he’s the better player and the one the Sixers should want), the Clippers’ 2028 lottery protected first round pick, and whatever combo of Amir Coffey/Brandon Boston Jr./Kobe Brown the Sixers find intriguing. Philadelphia will likely also push for Terance Mann, though the Clippers will hopefully successfully resist that. If Mann is included, some of the other value in the package should come off the table–LAC should keep their 2028 1st and even try to hold on to Powell and send Morris’ contract instead.

There will be a lot of chatter about the Clippers sending Paul George or Kawhi Leonard back for Harden from folks who are using “star for star” logic, but that neglects the realities of opt-in-and-trade leverage. The Clippers have been open to moving George this month, but it won’t be in a one-on-one swap for James Harden–if he were to be involved here, the Sixers would either have to throw way more LAC’s way, or work some three-team angles. All of that should be considered exceedingly unlikely, even if it makes for some fun trade machining.

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 Trade Rumors: Clippers Pursuing James Harden Deal
Lucas Hann

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.

NBA Trade Rumors: Clippers in Malcolm Brogdon talks
Lucas Hann

According to TNT’s Chris Haynes, the Clippers are expected to pursue a trade for veteran point guard Chris Paul. While Paul was never expected to return to the Phoenix Suns for another season, this afternoon’s blockbuster deal that sent him to the Washington Wizards as part of a package for Bradley Beal has accelerated talks. Now, there’s a chance he could return to Los Angeles, where he may very well already be the greatest player in Clippers franchise history.

Paul, who just turned 38, is owed $30M each of the next two seasons, though his salary for the 2024-25 season is fully non-guaranteed. While he clearly still has something left to offer a team, he’s a shell of the player the Clippers traded to the Rockets 6 years ago. From a fit perspective, Chris does a lot of what you would want offensively alongside Paul George and Kawhi Leonard: he’ll initiate the offense & get them the ball in their spots, and he can hit threes off of kick-outs. But there’s basically no juice left there–his athleticism is completely gone, leaving him unable to get downhill and in trouble defending speedy opponents.

Of course, any Paul talks for the Clippers bring a comparison to incumbent Clippers point guard Russell Westbrook. There are a number of considerations here. One is fit: as I mentioned above, Paul is a major upgrade from Westbrook as a table-setter and floor-spacer. Fewer turnovers and more threes. But the athleticism gap is so wide (Westbrook is WAY closer to the real Russell Westbrook than CP3 is to the real Chris Paul), with Russ simply having so much more gas left in the tank to get downhill and contribute on defense, that I’m skeptical of the reality of Chris’ hypothetical fit. After all, while Russ’ turnovers and lack of shooting did cause significant issues for the team, they previously struggled with applying rim pressure and point of attack defense. Adding Paul to the lineup will exacerbate those weaknesses. There’s also durability: Paul is notoriously incapable of staying healthy, and Westbrook is a tank. On a team with injury-prone stars, Westbrook adds significant value when one or both of George and Leonard aren’t on the floor–whether that’s keeping their minutes down, or playing games without them.

But the conversation doesn’t start and stop with pure fit alongside 213. It’s also unclear if the Clippers really have much choice here. Westbrook, while aging and flawed, clearly showed a resurgance with LAC late in the season and could have played himself out of the Clippers’ price range. If you know that he’s gone in free agency, the Paul-Westbrook debate becomes pointless. I would also float, perhaps foolishly, the possibility of both: Russ embraced a 6th man role for the Lakers last year, which allowed him to be the featured option instead of attempting to play as a complement to other stars, and Chris is ancient, declining, and needs his minutes monitored anyway. Could one be talked into a bench role? And if so, what would it look like for them to share the floor at times to ensure they both got their minutes? Where would that leave guys like Bones Hyland, Norman Powell, and Terance Mann?

Lastly, there are the mechanics of a Clippers trade for Chris Paul. Fortunately, LAC is flush with expiring contracts, which seems to be Washington’s priority as former Clippers executive Michael Winger attempts a full teardown-and-rebuild. Eric Gordon seems likely to be the centerpiece of any effort, with Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, and Nico Batum all possibilities to help close the salary gap. Paul’s contract is also essentially expiring, so if the trade is as straightforward as exchanging expiring money, expect some sweetener from the Clippers–maybe this year’s 30th overall pick, or a couple of 2nds, or maybe Washington likes Brandon Boston Jr.

But the trade could also be expanded beyond just involving CP3. While the Wizards don’t have any devastating long-term money on their books with Beal gone, Landry Shamet has an extra year of guaranteed money past next season, and it’s easy to see why the Wizards would rather not deal with an underwhelming backup shooting guard standing between them and clean books in 2024. Kristaps Porzingis, who should pick up his player option for next season, looms large (literally and figuratively) as a guy the Wizards would surely like to get a return for as part of their tear-down, although the finances escalate quickly and I’m skeptical of adding any serious return assets (Terance Mann or future 1sts) for Porzingis. Lastly, there’s Kyle Kuzma, who has ended up in an awkward situation: his $13M player option for next year is well below what he’s worth, but the team that owns his bird rights is clearly disinclined to give him a big new deal this summer. Depending on what interest he has from other teams in free agency (people talk behind the scenes… him and his agent will know if anyone is planning a big $20M/year offer), maybe working out an opt-in-and-trade to the Clippers, where he knows he’ll get paid in time, is the smart play.

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 Expected to Pursue Chris Paul Trade
Lucas Hann

It wasn’t so long ago that I wrote about the Clippers’ active role in the point guard market–how fast things change in a week in the lead-up to the NBA trade deadline. Today the news broke that mercurial star guard Kyrie Irving has requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets. This latest fallout between Irving and the Nets organization continues long-running disagreements that have consumed the franchise ever since Irving and Kevin Durant joined the team in free agency in 2019, the same year that the Clippers signed Kawhi Leonard and traded for Paul George.

Without retelling in detail a long, ugly, and controversial history that most basketball fans are already familiar with, the current trade demand is based in an inability between the sides to agree to a contract extension. Irving’s ability to appear in NBA games has been impacted by off-court controversies that have ranged from erratic to uninformed to hateful. As a result, the Nets want to include some stipulations on a new contract that would protect them and provide him with a financial incentive to avoid controversy. We don’t know the details of the negotiations, but one can imagine what contract language around morality and availability might sound like. Irving, naturally, wants his money to be guaranteed. Regardless of your feelings towards the entire situation, the dispute here boils down to the same type of tension we see in other negotiations, with the team wanting to protect themselves from downside and the player wanting to guarantee his earnings.

There is, undeniably, a “should the Clippers trade for Kyrie Irving?” debate raging on twitter. At least a half-dozen fanbases are having that debate right now, and the same war is raging inside front offices. We don’t have to fool ourselves into thinking that NBA teams are going to try to stake some moral high ground about not getting a guy because of his vaccination status or antisemitic tweets–professional sports pretty consistently glosses over moral considerations if someone is good enough. But as fans–especially Jewish fans–ask “do I want to root for this guy?” front offices are asking “is this guy gonna show up for us?” Irving has played 143 games in 4 years for the Nets (you know how Kawhi Leonard never plays? He’s at 138 and he tore his ACL) and is a major flight risk, walking away from the Boston Celtics after saying he wanted to re-sign and now threatening to walk away from the Brooklyn Nets. You should probably only trade for him if you’re comfortable giving him a max deal without availability stipulations, which is a scary proposition, because he could ghost you at any time during that deal.

But to be honest, I think the “should the Clippers trade for Kyrie?” debate is a little played out. We get it. He’s an All-Star point guard, and the Clippers are a team that could really use an All-Star point guard. He’s a flight risk and locker room saboteur, and the Clippers are a team that struggles with star availability and internal cohesion. I lean no, but you do you.

It’s probably easier to reach the logical end of the conversation if we ask “should the Nets trade Kyrie to the Clippers?” It’s a no, I think. Brooklyn has essentially two options: reload, and quickly, around 34-year-old MVP contender Kevin Durant, or move on from Durant as well for pennies on the dollar and rebuild. I’m sorry, but any collection of Reggie Jackson, Norman Powell, Luke Kennard, Terance Mann, Marcus Morris, etc. accomplishes neither for the Nets. All of those guys have utility, but none of them give Durant the kind of creative costar that he is going to need for the Nets to be contenders. None of them have the trade value to be flipped for such a star in the next year (which is the problem the Clippers currently have), and none of them are sufficient cornerstones for a rebuild (I know Clippers fans love Luke and Terance but they’re both turning 27 next off-season and are at best fringe starters). The Clippers can also only trade one future first round pick, hurting their offer from both perspectives as they wouldn’t give Brooklyn significant capital to put together a trade package for another star or contribute much to the stockpile of draft picks that the Nets would need to end up with to justify a tear-down.

Other trade partners for Irving make much more sense from one or both perspectives. The Phoenix Suns could work a number of angles involving combinations of Chris Paul, DeAndre Ayton, and a full chest of future draft picks (including potential 3-team options). I imagine that despite his decline, Durant and the Nets would view adding CP3 as an acceptable portion of a win-now return. If Ayton doesn’t interest them, how about a 3-team deal that reroutes Ayton and nets Brooklyn Toronto’s OG Anunoby or Portland’s Anfernee Simons (if they got Simons, they might not want CP3, but we’ll touch on that in a moment)? The Los Angeles Lakers can’t offer Brooklyn help directly, but if they include two unprotected future first round picks, the Nets could move quickly to repackage those picks and replace Irving or at least have them in the war chest if they ultimately trade Durant as well. However, it’s unclear if a Lakers front office that has been conservative with those picks in trade talks up until now would put them both on the table to gamble on Irving. The Dallas Mavericks are also hunting for star talent to pair with Luka Doncic, but a potential deal feels less compelling there; they lack a meaningful costar centerpiece and, given Doncic’s age, have reason to be cautious in conserving their future draft capital for a future swing with lower downside.

And if the Suns, Lakers, and Mavericks all play it safe and the Nets really wind up in a situation where three of the Clippers’ role players and a first is their best option? They should just keep Irving. When Irving and Durant are both healthy, the Nets have been good this year, and they have a chance at winning the 2023 championship–a much better chance at a title than they’ll have trying to retool around Durant with any return they could get from the Clippers. There is the downside that keeping a malcontent Irving could disrupt the locker room, that he could opt to not play, and then ultimately leave for nothing in the summer. But if teams’ skepticism of him has lowered his value so much that the Nets can’t get a better return than what the Clippers can offer, he’s not going to get the no-strings-attached max contract he wants this offseason either. Choosing not to show up to work after the deadline despite the Nets being a good team would only drive that valuation further down. On the other hand, if teams don’t like him enough to make a big trade for him, and therefore don’t like him enough to offer him a big deal this summer… he might be forced by the market to re-engage with Brooklyn on their stipulations. Is he stubborn enough to walk to Orlando just to spite them? Maybe. Is he mercurial enough to reverse course and decide that living in Brooklyn, playing with KD, and winning games is a path worth staying on? Maybe.

So, even tabling the debate about what LAC needs and if Irving is worth the risk, I don’t think the Kyrie-to-LAC thing makes much sense from Brooklyn’s perspective. I do think that it could have some fascinating ramifications on the point guard trade market in general, where the Clippers are known to be one of the most aggressive teams as this deadline approaches. I have mentioned a couple of ideas in recent weeks that warrant revision with this news: first, that I am not sure that the Clippers have a competitive enough trade package to win the Fred VanVleet bidding war as he is the biggest name on the market that teams with assets will be chasing; second, that if the Suns (with far superior trade assets to LAC) won the VanVleet bidding war, that Toronto would have no interest in Chris Paul and the two sides would have to find a win-now team willing to absorb $90M worth of aging hall of fame point guard. Sound like any teams we know?

Irving’s presence on the market–and, in my opinion, the Suns being best-positioned to get him if they want him–changes both of those equations. Assuming the Suns value Irving over VanVleet (this is an obvious on-court preference but could be complicated by teams avoiding off-court risks), the spotlight of the point guard market shifts and the Clippers would have a clearer path, though no guarantee, to a successful offer for VanVleet. The prognosis on potentially scooping Chris Paul out of a multi-team deal if LAC can’t find a deal for VanVleet probably gets a little bit worse, however. One would assume that in most Irving-to-Phoenix scenarios, the Nets would stay in win-now mode and want Paul to be part of a larger return package to keep the team competitive around Durant. There are exceptions, of course–if they can’t find a solution that satisfies Durant and are forced to move him as well, then they’d have little need for a soon-to-be 38-year-old. And if the Nets don’t want Ayton and work a deal where he goes to a third team and a younger star guard comes back to Brooklyn (like Portland’s Anfernee Simons, mentioned above), Chris Paul could be left adrift. Nonetheless, I think it’s most likely that he would join Durant in Brooklyn in the vast majority of potential trade builds.

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 Trade Deadline: Kyrie Irving Demand Complicates Point Guard Market
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

Update: The Los Angeles Times’ Andrew Greif has strongly stated that sources are “adamant” that the Clippers are not looking to trade Luke Kennard. It is unclear at this time what the Clippers are looking to do–they’re obviously working on stuff, but the team hates to have leaks and rumors surrounding them. It’s also possible that they were talking about Luke, but nothing materialized, so they are now covering their tracks.

According to Sean Deveney, a lower-profile but established NBA reporter, the Clippers are shopping sharpshooting guard Luke Kennard. While it’s likely that the heaviest flurry of trade activity this off-season will focus around today’s NBA Draft, Deveney notes that the Clippers are expected to continue looking for a deal for Kennard during free agency if he isn’t moved today. He listed the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, and Sacramento Kings as suitors; subsequent (questionable) Twitter scuttle this morning has linked the Celtics to Kennard:

Kennard is coming off a fantastic bounce-back second year with the Clippers where he stayed healthy to make 70 appearances, averaging 11.9 points while shooting a league-best 44.9% from beyond the three-point arc. It’s no wonder, in today’s high-scoring game, that teams would covet the highest-efficiency three-point shooter in the league. And the Clippers, despite Kennard’s strong season, have reason to look to move on–they have a severe logjam at the wing positions as Paul George and Kawhi Leonard retake their full-time starting spots and trade deadline acquisition Norman Powell plays his first full season with the team. Kennard would be competing on the fringes of the rotation with Terance Mann, whose defensive-minded skillset is a better complement to the aformentioned players, and Amir Coffey, who can’t be traded as the Clippers hope to retain him in restricted free agency next month. Trading Kennard would hopefully allow him to find a larger role to flourish in during his prime (he turns 26 tomorrow) as well as net the Clippers an asset and allow them to avoid awkward playing time disputes this season.

Of the three teams mentioned, Chicago could likely put together the most appealing package for the Clippers. Assuming little-used center Tony Bradley picks up his $2M player option, the Bulls could make the math work by trading young guard Coby White and Bradley for Kennard. White is only 22 years old and appears to have some upside, but hasn’t really emerged as a good player yet. For the Clippers to bite, I’d expect they’d also want Chicago’s 18th overall pick in tonight’s draft, which they could either use to add another developmental piece or flip again (eyeing Marcus Morris + 18 for Malcolm Brogdon or Kyle Kuzma in this space). But to give up both White and their first round pick, the Bulls will likely want to hunt bigger game, and without both, it’s hard to make a deal that is both legal and attractive for LAC.

Boston and Sacramento both have an easier time making the math work on a Kennard trade–the Celtics have a massive, soon expiring trade exception from Evan Fournier last summer that they could absorb Kennard into, and the Kings have small, expendable contracts. To add value, each team would have to look at prospects or picks. Boston is dangling Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard in talks, but neither is super appealing in a straight-up swap for Kennard since the Clippers don’t have roles for them to fill anyway (I could maybe see the Clippers eating the downgrade on a Kennard-Pritchard swap to get a cheap, solid, younger backup PG for the next two years and save a bunch of luxury tax money).

Once Sacramento refuses to put Davion Mitchell in a deal, as they should, they don’t have enticing young players for LAC to consider. Boston doesn’t have a first round pick this year to offer LAC, and Sacramento only has #4, which they’d never surrender in this deal. Both teams have plenty of their own future picks, but that’s complicated as well–Boston, fresh off a Finals appearance, should be very good for a long time, making those picks low-value, while Sacramento is perpetually bad and likely wouldn’t surrender their own future firsts without strong protections.

It’s possible that a deal could be workable, but the protections would have to get wonky. Would Boston give LAC a pick 4 or 5 years out, increasing its value and giving them more time to flip it in another deal? If it’s their 2023 pick, would they be willing to reverse-protect it (so if it’s 21-30, Boston keeps it and LAC gets 2024, but if it’s top-20, LAC gets it)? What protections would Sacramento require? All protected future 1sts either eventually lose their protections as they role over year-to-year, or convert to 2nd round picks instead. How many years would the Kings let it roll over with lottery protections, tying up their ability to make future trades? And when the protections changed, would the pick grow less and less protected or would it simply convey as a 2nd rounder instead? Negotiating out these tiny details can be painstaking, but they determine how much value teams are really getting out of these future picks.

NBA Trade Rumors: Clippers “Shopping” Luke Kennard; Bulls, Kings, Celtics Interested
Lucas Hann

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Brooklyn Nets’ reluctance to commit a long-term, fully-guaranteed, maximum-salary contract to a guy who got famous for not showing up to work last year is tearing their franchise apart and could result in the departure of both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Clippers, among other teams, are on Irving’s list of preferred trade destinations. No such list for Kevin Durant has been reported.

As Woj notes, the Clippers would need to work on a trade with Brooklyn in order to get Irving. However, unlike some other teams on the list, a sign-and-trade is not a viable option for LAC. When a team acquires a signed-and-traded player, they have to operate within a hard salary cap imposed by the NBA for that season–a number the Clippers are already far, far beyond. Dropping not only below the hard cap, but far enough below to then fit in Irving’s maximum salary, is not impossible but highly unlikely and would require cooperation from a number of teams to help the Clippers shed all that salary.

If the Clippers were to acquire Irving, it is far more likely that it would be in an “opt-in-and-trade,” like the deal that sent Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets years ago. If Irving picks up his player option for next season and is traded on his existing contract, the Clippers do not face the same financial restrictions that a sign-and-trade would place upon them. All they would have to do is meet the NBA’s normal threshold for salary matching in a trade, which would be easily achievable with the contracts of existing role players who are already rumored to be on the trading block, like Luke Kennard and Marcus Morris. From there, it’s just a matter of negotiating value–a tricky proposition for a Brooklyn Nets team without much leverage.

As Wojnarowski notes, the list that the Clippers landed on is one of Irving’s preferences, not an indication that those teams are prioritizing acquiring him. As Irving rumors began to swirl around the league earlier in the week, some national reporters, including Zach Lowe, seemed to suggest that the Clippers were not super interested in the pursuit. If they were interested, it would be hard to blame them. Irving is one of the most talented guards in the league, a high-skilled offensive monster with a championship ring and multiple All-NBA appearances on his trophy shelf. It’s undeniable even to the most staunchly anti-Kyrie observers that he would be the Clippers’ third-best player by a country mile and offer them a significant talent upgrade. If Irving, George, and Leonard can stay on the court, the Clippers would become the odds-on favorites for the title next year. In a video game, the Clippers would probably win a few rings in 3-5 years of having that trio together.

But these are real, complicated people, not video game character. Irving is notoriously unreliable and, in the last year has operated as an organizational sabateur. His refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19 both sabotaged his team’s season and spread misinformation that contributed to worsening the most severe public health crisis in the United States of the last century. His refusal to take any accountability for the fact that his choices have negative consequences led to further disarray in the Nets organization, and ultimately to the current debacle. Not only did he make just 29 appearances last season due to not complying with COVID protocols, but his selfishness ultimately ran multiple MVP winner James Harden out of town at the trade deadline. NBA teams put up with a lot of bullshit from superstar players, because dealing with superstar bullshit is the preferable alternative to not having a superstar. It should say something that Irving, who has proven capable of being the best player on a good team and the second-best player on a championship team, would now be leaving his third team in six years on bad terms. Like I said, teams are willing to put up with a lot of bullshit to keep talent. It really says something that, for how amazing of a player he is, Kyrie’s bullshit has now stunk too much for three different high-achieving franchises.

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NBA Trade Rumors: Clippers are on Kyrie Irving’s list
Lucas Hann

According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, several teams have expressed interest in newly-acquired Clippers forward Robert Covington since the trade Friday night that brought Covington to Los Angeles along with Norman Powell. For those who don’t know Scotto, he is an extablished NBA reporter on these types of minor rumors and has a strong reputation of accuracy.

Scotto adds that “the Clippers are open to retaining Covington,” so it’s far from a sure thing that he will be dealt again this week. While he is in the final year of his current contract, the Clippers would have his bird rights to work on a new deal this off-season. At power forward, the Clippers currently have the established duo of Marcus Morris and Nico Batum, leaving some questions about where Covington fits into the equation. Each of these guys can play in SF/PF combinations with another, but the Clippers’ long-term outlook includes Kawhi Leonard returning to the team next season (or late this season) and occupying most of the small forward minutes, while younger incumbent wings like Terance Mann and Amir Coffey also have likely earned playing time at the position. Covington can also provide cover as a small ball option at the center position, though the Clippers are dealing with a center logjam now as well. Even though many around the team, including myself, consider Serge Ibaka likely to be moved this week, the team has significant investment in defensive anchor Ivica Zubac and needs to continue to find minutes for Isaiah Hartenstein, who has the best on/off numbers on the team this season.

So, it does feel like something’s gotta give here for the Clippers. Even if you take Ibaka away from the team and don’t add another player to the rotation, they’ve got two established centers getting regular time and three quality veteran power forwards in their prime. Then, Luke Kennard, Terance Mann, and Amir Coffey are competing for limited minutes as the backup wings behind Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, once those stars return from their injuries. New acquisition Norman Powell’s best position is also shooting guard, also he’ll likely play plenty of minutes as a shadow point guard with George handling playmaking duties. At point guard, he’ll compete for minutes with the Clippers’ current leader, Reggie Jackson.

Scotto suggests that the Clippers could hold on to Covington as defensive depth and another veteran in the locker room, and that’s definitely on the table. We know that Ty Lue loves to tinker within playoff series, with support players regularly coming in and out of the rotation as needed during last year’s Western Conference Finals run, and Covington provides the luxury to make those types of adjustments. Want to play heavy centerless minutes? Covington would be a huge asset with Hartenstein out of the rotation. Need a full deck of wing defenders with no defensive liabilities? Covington could replace Luke Kennard for a game. And if someone like Terance Mann is struggling, Covington might fill the same role with a bit more consistency and poise.

In the short term, there’s a role for Covington on the Clippers, even if it’s a small one compared to the 30 minutes per game he was playing this season for Portland, where he started 40 of 48 games. In the long term, a regular role for him would likely only come at the expense of Marcus Morris or Nico Batum. It’s a luxury for the Clippers in several senses: Covington is a great luxury depth player for the next 28 games + playoffs, or he could be turned into a positive return for the Clippers in another trade before this deadline. His presence also makes it easier to explore potential deals for Morris or Batum at this deadline, as he would fit pretty naturally into the PF role for the Clippers (he’s not nearly the shooter Morris and Batum are, but he’ll camp in the corners and do just enough, while being a much better defender than Morris), and his bird rights would likewise give the team options this summer, with Morris under contract and Batum holding a low player option. Assuming Batum opts out, Covington could be insurance if Nico gets a big offer elsewhere. The Clippers could also decide to explore trade avenues for Morris and re-sign both.

For now, let’s peek at what some offers could be from the teams calling the Clippers about Covington this week. It’s probably safe to say that the market for Covington isn’t insanely robust–Portland’s surely been taking calls on him in the lead-up to this trade with the Clippers, and if they thought they could get a first-round pick for him you’d imagine that they would have been able to still avoid the luxury tax by trading Covington separately later instead of throwing him into the Powell deal. There was some chatter that Portland’s value in this trade was getting a first round pick (Keon Johnson) for Powell and a second round pick (Detroit’s 2025) for Covington. If that’s an accurate reading of Covington’s value around the league right now, then the Clippers probably won’t look to trade him. His value as rental depth plus an off-season insurance policy is worth more than a future 2nd. But that being apparent, plus the fact that multiple teams are interested, seems to suggest you might be able to get a little bit more. Maybe 2 2nds? Maybe a useful player coming back as salary matching?

The teams with interest in Covington are obviously going to be good teams with hopes of making a playoff run who would be “buyers.” But Covington being just 31 makes his bird rights a little more attractive than your standard deadline rental–he could easily re-sign with a team and be a rotation piece for several years to come. That makes for easily over a dozen teams that would be interested in adding a player like RoCo to their playoff rotation. The limiting factor here is going to be financial. Teams will need a way to absorb his $12.9M deal, either a large enough trade exception or expendable matching salary. So, who could both use Covington and has a potential trade offer that wouldn’t cost them one of their own core players?

There are only two teams in the NBA with big enough trade exceptions to absorb Covington outright: Orlando and New Orleans. The Magic clearly have no incentive to get into the conversation here, but the Pelicans might–they’re looking like strong contenders for a Western Conference play-in spot with hopes of being playoff-competitive sooner rather than later with a healthy Zion Williamson, meaning that re-signing Covington could work out for them long-term. In addition to that large exception, the Pelicans have the $10M expiring contract of Tomas Satoransky, who Robert Flom mentioned yesterday as a potential stopgap backup point guard for the Clippers. With New Orleans in mind, here are some potential Covington offers from them and other teams:

• New Orleans Pelicans: 2 2nd Rounders, with or without Satoransky. Sato has been dreadful this year and doesn’t warrant compensation. The Pelicans will have bigger fish to fry before looking at a RoCo deal, and Satoransky’s large expiring contract could well be gone as part of a package for a more significant piece than Covington. The Pelicans also have a bucket of future firsts from Milwaukee and the Lakers from the Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis trades, so it’s possible you could get something like “the worst of NOP/MIL/LAL 2024 1sts.”
• Chicago Bulls: Derrick Jones Jr and Marko Simonovic. Simonovic is just filler here to get the math over the finish line. Frankly, I’m not sure that the Bulls would prefer Covington over Jones Jr., but Chicago is in a tight race for the 1-seed in the East and DJJ, also on an expiring deal, could miss most of the remainder of the regular season with a fractured index finger.

• Phoenix Suns: JaVale McGee, Dario Saric, and 2 2nds. McGee has become redundant with the arrival and emergence of Bismack Biyombo, and Saric is out for the season. Covington would give the Suns another switchable defensive forward to join forces with Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, and Cam Johnson–a position where contenders need a lot of interchangeable parts. But with the Clippers getting no short-term utility from McGee and Saric, who is owed $9.2M next season, the two 2nd round picks aren’t enough to sway me and I highly doubt Phoenix coughs up a first.
• Utah Jazz: Joe Ingles and 2 2nds. Ingles is out for the year after tearing his ACL, so the Clippers would simply release his $13M expiring deal to create a new roster spot. It’s just as well, since it’s safe to say the player who injured Kawhi Leonard with a dirty play last postseason wouldn’t be welcomed with open arms in LAC’s locker room. But the Jazz are desperate for defensive help and Covington would give them an interesting addition on that end of the floor, so he could be one of their targets with that expiring deal.

On the whole, if I were the Clippers, I would be holding out for a future first for Covington. Even if it’s a low-value pick (either because it belongs to a good team, or because it’s protected, or both), it gives LAC another relevant asset for a potential future trade package as they try to add high-end talent alongside Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. However, I think they are unlikely to get a first rounder for RoCo at this deadline, which I’m fine with–holding onto him is a pretty good worst-case scenario. I am hesitant to trade Marcus Morris because of his importance to this team, but he’s probably the guy at PF at this deadline who you take a long, hard look to see if you can get a really good return this week while leaving Batum and Covington as your power forwards moving forward.

NBA Trade Rumors: Robert Covington Attracting Interest
Lucas Hann