The Clippers’ final of three trades before the 2025 NBA deadline was sending Kevin Porter Jr. to the Bucks straight up for MarJon Beauchamp.

On one hand, in terms of actual assets and roster construction impact, this was the least important of the three deals by far. On the other hand, this was the most important of the trades for me personally, because it saved my eyeballs from watching Kevin Porter Jr. play basketball every game.

Even leaving aside the off-the-court stuff (Law Murray said the NBA’s investigation into Porter Jr. is still ongoing), KPJ was one of my least favorite Clippers to watch play basketball of all time. His ball-stopping, over-dribbling tendencies are traits that I despise (I understand this is an aesthetic thing to some extent), and his taking contested midrange jumpers with 10+ seconds on the shot clock made me want to throw things out windows. On top of all that, Porter Jr. was simply bad in his role of being the Clippers’ lead scorer and ballhandler off the bench, shooting insanely bad 42.3/24.5/64.5 splits. He couldn’t make threes, he didn’t get to the line, and he finished his 45 games as a Clipper with a dreadful 47.6 True Shooting. There were times Porter Jr. was helpful as a rebounder, defender, and scorer, but they never outweighed his awful inefficiency and high turnover rate. He will not be missed on the court.

Beauchamp is not being brought on because the Clippers are high on him. Beauchamp was the 24th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, but has played in just 126 games across 2.5 seasons and averaged 11.4 minutes per game, with a lot of that playing time coming in garbage time. A 6’6 wing, Beauchamp has shown signs of competence on defense, but is not able to contribute much on the offensive end. If the Clippers are able to find a buyout guy they like, Beauchamp might well get waived so that the Clippers can convert Jordan Miller from his two-way deal to a full NBA contract. If the Clippers don’t get a buyout player, it’s possible Beauchamp does stick on the Clippers for the full season, but it seems very unlikely he will get any rotation minutes.

Really, this trade was done because the Clippers as an organization did not want to see any more Kevin Porter Jr. minutes, but knew that if he was on the team, Ty Lue would play him. As people on Twitter put it, the trade was taking away one of Ty Lue’s toys. This is something front offices have to do semi-frequently in the NBA, which doesn’t necessarily make it better – but it is understandable.

There’s one final benefit, which is that Beauchamp’s contract is expiring (the Bucks turned down his 4th year team option) while Porter Jr. had a player option for next year he was probably going to pick up. Thus, the Clippers clear another roster spot and a bit of room for this offseason.

In short, this move lines up perfectly with the Clippers’ other trades. Their starting lineup will remain as it has been since Kawhi returned, while their bench rotation now will probably of Dunn-Amir-Bogdan-Nico-Eubanks, with a deep bench of Patty Mills-Miller-Beauchamp-Brown-Jones.

The Clippers are almost certainly going to be pursuing buyout players, but for now, this is their roster. MarJon, welcome to Los Angeles!

Clippers Trade Kevin Porter Jr. for MarJon Beauchamp
Robert Flom

For the first time in many years, the Clippers did not acquire an active NBA player at the 2024 trade deadline. The only move they made was using some cash to buy the rights to Ismael Kamagate from the Nuggets.

The Clippers, far from making any kind of major upgrade to their roster, didn’t even acquire a depth rotation forward, dump PJ Tucker’s contract, or trade Bones Hyland for picks. Their roster will be the same as it has been since they picked up Daniel Theis in early November. Which, to be fair, is a roster that has gone 26-6 over the past two months. Still, I’m a bit surprised they didn’t get some kind of veteran forward to shore up the bench a bit. The Clipper must be totally comfortable with the roster they have now.

Kamagate, who just turned 23, was the 46th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. I liked him a fair amount as a mid second round flier, and still think he could be an NBA player someday due to his size (6’11) and defensive instincts, but the Clippers did not do this trade for Kamagate. They made this move because starting this summer, the new CBA will fully kick in, and the rules prevent second apron teams like the Clippers from sending out cash in deals. With most of their future picks already out the door, the Clippers would have had very limited means to make minor trades. The acquisition of Kamagate’s rights gives them something to use to swap for the trade of a second-round pick or another small transaction.

In short, the Kamagate trade was a good piece of business for the Clippers, as small as it is. The reason for the Clippers’ silence is more apparent now after the deadline. Guys they may have had interest in, like Kelly Olynyk and Bojan Bogdanovic were traded for more than the Clippers had to offer. Clearly nobody would take on PJ Tucker’s contract for anything less than the 2030 1st or maybe other assets the Clippers didn’t want to part with. And Bones Hyland’s market would seem to be even smaller than just a couple second round picks, sadly. The result was a nearly silent 2024 trade deadline for the Clippers, and honestly, considering how they’ve played for months, that’s ok.

Clippers Stay Quiet at 2024 NBA Trade Deadline
Robert Flom

Our trade deadline roundtable series concludes with a review of the acquisition of guard Bones Hyland from the Nuggets for two second-round picks.

Shapan Debnath: A

I don’t expect Bones to be a big difference maker this year: the Nuggets shopped him to a contender knowing he’d be unlikely to help them in the playoffs this year. But, from an asset management standpoint, he’s a fantastic swing that has a ton of upside on a team that barely has any youth making a real dent in the rotation. We were pretty vocal about wanting Bones in his draft, and while I think there is real downside to a tough shot maker from deep that is slight of frame and can’t score close to the rim (some concerning Brandon Jennings vibes), he has some real star potential and at minimum feels like a guy that can be a microwave off the bench. Worth the swing for minimum cost.

David Mendez-Yapkowitz: B

Hyland doesn’t figure to be featured in the rotation this season and he’s a developmental piece. He’s a talented player but he did have some issues with the Nuggets in terms of efficiency and shot selection. It’s possible the Clippers send him down to Ontario to get some reps in with their G League squad. Overall, it’s not a bad move. He has some upside as an instant offense type player off the bench and his best-case scenario is probably a high-level starter. The Clippers have done a good job using their G League team and getting their young guys valuable reps, and they should do the same for Hyland.

Niels Pineda: A

Although Bones Hyland may not be my favorite type of prospect (ball dominant scorer that can’t defend), I have long been saying that the Clippers need to get younger and more exciting as a team.  Bones does just that.  What he lacks in defense and passing, he makes up for with electrifying plays and absurd range.  The All-Rookie guard will undoubtedly have us up off of our seats with some dazzling plays and infectious swagger.  Best of all?  We got the high upside Sophomore for only two 2nd rounders!  The value alone made this a no brainer.

Lucas Hann: A

The sophomore guard has been terrible this year.  He gets his numbers, but the Nuggets–the best team in basketball–get blown out in his minutes regardless of the lineup he’s in due to his erratic shot selection, poor finishing in the paint, turnovers, and defense.  So, why do I give the Clippers an A?  Because he’s still the player that was much more competent as a bench scoring guard for Denver last season, earning All-Rookie honors, and the cost of LAC’s own 2024 and 2025 2nds (both presumably 50 or later) is essentially 0.  There’s some stuff to work out for Bones in the short-term, but I genuinely think he has quality starter upside due to his scoring/playmaking ability and truly elite three-point shooting (the combo of efficiency, volume, diversity, and degree of difficulty is already at Damian Lillard levels).  The Clippers, who are not positioned to get high-pedigree prospects anytime soon, just had one drop into their laps.  The 22-year-old will compete in the Rising Stars challenge at All-Star Weekend.

Ralston Dacanay: B+

This was probably the easiest move the Clippers’ front office ended up making Thursday, which makes sense considering it was the first of the three that got done. I was a big fan of Bones heading into his draft and it pained me to see how fun he was to watch as a rookie, especially with a conference rival. Seeing how rapidly he’s gone from beloved to headache in Denver this season has tempered my expectations for him a bit, but he’s certainly worth the flier considering the low cost. If the presence of Bones in LA also helps just a little bit in warding off the Clippers from looking at a certain point guard in the potential buyout market, or getting some consistency out of Marcus Morris Sr., this move is a home run for me.

Robert Flom: A-

In terms of sheer value, getting Bones Hyland in a trade for two second round picks is an easy A grade. Bones is a ridiculously capable shooter who also has ball-handling and passing chops. Even though he’s an awful defender, he’s young and will improve on that end to some extent. So why is this anything less than a full A, or even an A+, considering how on the Bones bandwagon I was before the 2021 draft? Well, the reason the Nuggets were willing to sell low on him was due to some attitude and locker room issues. And while Mike Malone can be a bit of a taskmaster and the Nuggets did do him dirty in some regards, I’m always wary about that sort of stuff, especially since Bones is going to a situation where his playing time might be limited. I hope this doesn’t crop up, but it’s something to keep an eye on.

213 Hoops Roundtable: The Bones Hyland Trade
Robert Flom

Our 213 Hoops roundtable series on the 2023 Clippers’ trade deadline deals continues with a look at the acquisition of Mason Plumlee for Reggie Jackson and a second round pick.

Niels Pineda: A+

As a believer that the Clippers would comfortably be in the top 4 of the Western Conference standings thus far with a competent backup big, getting front court depth was priority number 1 in my book. Boy did the Clippers deliver!  I’m not sure if there was a more ideal trade target for what the Clippers needed than Mason Plumlee, who has had a stellar year starting for the Hornets this season.  Even at 32 years old, Plumlee is having arguably the best year of his career by bringing a bit of everything to the table.  I’m excited to see how his passing can unlock the offense, similar to what Isaiah Hartenstein did last year.  While sentimentally I’m incredibly sad to see Reggie get moved, I’m happy to see that he’s working towards a buyout so that he can find a new contending home where he hopefully finds his groove (just not against the Clippers). Overall, I’m stoked about this deal for the Clippers!

Ralston Dacanay: A

The Clippers had an Isaiah Hartenstein-sized hole at center, and they might have just nabbed themselves the best backup big in the league via trade in Mason Plumlee (in what was rumored to be a popular deadline market for big men). Sure, it would’ve been cool to see Hart return, but it seems Plumlee can fill that role and then some. It sucks to see Reggie Jackson go, but feelings aside, this was a fantastic deal for LAC. Here’s to hoping Ty Lue and co. actually utilize him and Ivica Zubac enough moving forward.

Shapan Debnath: A

My biggest complaint about this deal is that it didn’t happen sooner. Plumlee brings a lot of what Isaiah Hartenstein brought: smart offensive player, very good passer, good rebounder. It’ll also keep the Clippers from constantly being so damn small with Zu out and watching players stroll into the paint. Really looking forward to seeing how Plumlee can raise that bench. It sucked to lose Clipper legend Reggie Jackson, but he (and importantly, not a first rounder) left getting the Clippers what they needed most positionally.

Lucas Hann: A

It’s not a sexy move, but the Clippers have needed a second center all season and they went and got a quality rotation big man who has played some good basketball in a terrible situation in Charlotte this year.  Plumlee’s passing will help one-star second unit lineups that now also won’t have a point guard, and he most importantly gives the Clippers center depth–the ability to stay big for 48 minutes, to not be completely ruined if Ivica Zubac is injured or gets into foul trouble, and even just to sub for Zubac and ride the “hot hand” on nights when Zu doesn’t have it.  Reggie Jackson (who deserves “Clipper For Life” status for his contributions and vibes over the years) was a spare part after the acquisition of Gordon, and even in a depth role, I think the Clippers will be looking for opportunities to get Bones Hyland minutes.  For the cost of 1 2028 second-round pick (which Ballmer Bucks will simply replace for cash in 5 years if needed), the Clippers basically added one of the league’s best backup centers for free.

David Mendez-Yapkowitz: A

This was probably the best move the Clippers made at the deadline. Plumlee absolutely addresses a need for the Clippers at backup center. He was having a career-year for the Hornets. He’s an effective finisher at the basket, a capable rebounder, and a decent passing big man. Ty Lue has had his affinity to go with small-ball lineups, but Plumlee gives him some legit size to help keep Zubac fresh and not have to play such heavy minutes. The Clippers have struggled at times when trotting out small lineups this season. It may have cost fan favorite Reggie Jackson, but Plumlee addresses what was arguably the Clippers biggest need.

Robert Flom: A

A’s across the board here! While Reggie is great, and I’m happy that he’s getting picked up by a championship contender, his time with the Clippers was coming to a close, and the Clippers were able to fill the biggest hole on their roster with him and a lone second round pick. Plumlee is a starting-caliber player who will be coming off the Clippers’ bench, and will add rim protection, rebounding on both ends, and passing to a unit that has needed all of those things. He also provides invaluable Zubac insurance in case of injury or foul trouble. The one downside for me is that this firmly pushes Robert Covington back out of the rotation, but that’s not on Plumlee. Plumlee has an awkward game, but it’s effective, and he will help the Clippers both in the regular and postseason.

213 Hoops Roundtable: Clippers Trade for Mason Plumlee
Robert Flom

The Clippers have acquired Charlotte Hornets center Mason Plumlee for Reggie Jackson and a 2028 2nd round pick, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:

Plumlee was one of the most talked-about centers on the market at this trade deadline, as the Charlotte Hornets are clearly in tanking mode and had no need for a solid veteran center who will turn 33 years old in March and hit unrestricted free agency this summer. He represents a sorely-needed addition for the Clippers, who have lacked a second NBA-quality big man behind Ivica Zubac all season long and are especially vulnerable on the interior with soon-to-be 3-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic blocking any likely path to title contention in the Western Conference. Averaging 12.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists for the Hornets this year, Plumlee is having a strong season and I am surprised that it only cost the Clippers a single future second-round pick to acquire him. While he is offensively limited to finishing around the rim as a scorer, he is capable of crafty passing that might help the Clippers via short roll creation on the second unit, where he should spend lots of time with Norman Powell. He isn’t as strong of an interior defensive presence as Zubac, but still represents a massive upgrade over smallball options and a little more foot speed than Zu on the perimeter. I’m a big fan of this pickup at this price point for the Clippers.

The loss of Jackson, one of the best playoff performers in Clippers franchise history during their 2021 Western Conference Finals run, stings. He had been the emotional centerpiece of this team for much of the last two years. However, his inconsistency this season was difficult to overlook, and it seemed inevitable that the team would seek to upgrade his role at this deadline. While Eric Gordon isn’t the point guard many expected the Clippers to acquire today, Jackson was going to struggle for playing time after his arrival and replacing his salary slot by filling a pressing need at backup center is a good piece of business–even as it is a reminder that the NBA is, in fact, a business. Jackson is reportedly expected to reach a buyout agreement with the Hornets so that he can join a playoff team down the stretch, with the Phoenix Suns linked as an early suitor.

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: Clippers Trade Reggie Jackson for Mason Plumlee
Lucas Hann

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the LA Clippers have traded Luke Kennard to the Memphis Grizzlies in a 3-team deal that will net them the Houston Rockets’ Eric Gordon:

Exact details on deadline trades can often take hours (or even days) to trickle out, especially for minor matters like “which 2nd round picks got thrown into this trade?” The current reporting on this deal suggests that the Clippers sent Kennard to Memphis for 3 second-round picks, while they sent John Wall and swap rights in the first round in this year’s draft to Houston for Gordon. Veteran wing Danny Green is heading from Memphis to Houston as part of the trade to facilitate salary-matching. Notably, the Clippers also sent out 3 second-round picks today, 2 for Bones Hyland and 1 for Mason Plumlee. However, we’ll have to wait for the dust to settle before we know if those are the same picks or if there is a value differential between what was sent out and brought in. (Update: Andrew Greif has the details on the 2nds the Clippers got in this trade–though which of them remain in the team’s war chest is unclear.)

Getting three second-round picks for Kennard is not an amazing return that blows you a way, but it makes sense–the Clippers likely missed an opportunity to sell high on Luke last summer and it was always going to be hard to move a $15M salary for a player that was only on the fringes of their rotation. It certainly has seemed for weeks that the emergence of Norman Powell meant that the writing was on the wall for Luke, and recouping some value while repurposing his salary into a player that was a better fit for what Ty Lue is searching for in the rotation. There is the element of what Kennard brings to the Grizzlies, a conference rival and potential opponent of the Clippers. While I don’t want to dismiss his shooting or the Grizzlies’ quality (they could easily beat LAC in a series with or without Kennard), I think it is probably wise that the Clippers are focused more on making moves to improve themselves than worrying about Memphis. Both teams have significantly larger concerns in the form of the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns.

The real question is if repurposing Kennard’s salary slot into Eric Gordon was the move that the Clippers needed. The former Clipper draft pick is now 34 years old and makes just under $20M this year before getting a raise to $20.9M next season, and isn’t quite the scoring volume/efficiency monster that he was as a support scorer for James Harden in Houston years ago. He’s still a better scoring option than the guards he is replacing–he creates for himself far more than Luke Kennard is capable of doing and does so much more efficiently than Reggie Jackson or John Wall. However, he’s more like Norman Powell as a player than the “point guard” archetype that the Clippers had been linked to–Mike Conley, Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, etc. What he does still do effectively is drive, so he brings a potential value add of initiating the Clippers’ paint-and-spray offense, even if he isn’t going to be a super dynamic playmaker.

Gordon’s contract is team-friendly, as the $20.9M salary for next season is fully non-guaranteed. Typically for a veteran deal, there would be a trigger date where he would have to be waived before free agency opens to allow him to find a new team, but Spotrac doesn’t show that for his contract–I’d take that with a grain of salt just because it’s unusual. Regardless, it’s a big expiring for next year that doesn’t have to be guaranteed if he is moved in a draft-day deal, meaning that acquiring Gordon–much like Eric Bledsoe not too long ago–might be a deal made with the next trade in mind, especially because they did not move any future first round pick capital at this deadline and are set up to be able to put pretty compelling offers together this summer.

The pick swap here hurts, in my opinion. The upcoming draft is very deep and the Clippers are starving for youth, athleticism, talent, and upside. Currently their own pick is slated to be 18th, while the Milwaukee Bucks pick that Houston will have the right to swap is slated to be 28th. The draft order will change as the standings do, but it’s going to be a notable shift backwards in the first round. Losing John Wall is a non-factor for the Clippers, as he was unlikely to play for the team again. He, funnily enough, heads to the Houston Rockets, who will buy him out for the second time in under a year. It appears unlikely that his NBA career will continue.

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: Clippers swap Luke Kennard for Eric Gordon
Lucas Hann

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the LA Clippers have acquired Bones Hyland from the Denver Nuggets for their 2024 and 2025 second round picks:

Hyland, the 26th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, had a breakout rookie season in 2021-22 where he was named to the All-Rookie team and brought a useful scoring punch off of Denver’s bench, gathering hype for some highlight play including very high-degree-of-difficulty three-point shooting.

But Bones’ second season in Denver was underwhelming, as his assist-to-turnover ratio and efficiency on shots inside the three-point arc both decreased. On the defensive end of the floor, he has been an absolute disaster so far in his career, and the inconsistent offensive efficiency left him on the outside of Denver’s rotation in recent weeks. The Nuggets were 18.5 points per 100 possessions worse with Bones on the floor this season than off, a staggering number. Still, the upside of his scoring punch is notable: he has 7 games with 20 or more points in 41 appearances off the bench this season (and one 20-point game in his only start).

Overall, the Clippers’ need for a serious guard reshuffle created an opportunity for Hyland to find a place on this team as they shed multiple veteran guards who were outside of their rotation. It seems most likely that Bones is a future developmental piece as opposed to someone who will play a significant amount of minutes in the final stretch of this season and the 2023 NBA Playoffs. At 22 years old, he makes just 2.2 million this year and has 2 additional years remaining on his contract at $2.3M and $4.2M, giving the Clippers plenty of time to let him come along at his own pace. While he isn’t slated to be a major contributor this season, it’s an injection of youth and talent that the team sorely needs as they think about the medium-term timeline. I’m a fan of this upside play at the low cost of 2 future 2nd round picks.

Hit the comments below to share your thoughts on the Bones trade and how he fits into the new-look Clippers after their deadline moves!

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: Clippers Acquire Bones Hyland
Lucas Hann

The Clippers have been linked most heavily to veteran point guards, but have also been connected with upgrading their backup big men via trade. Here’s a quick look at some guys they might trade for, spanning larger deals, mid-sized moves, and small trades or signings after buyouts.

Major Trades

John Collins – The Hawks have apparently lowered their asking price for a Collins trade of late, but have also made it clear they’re less in a hurry to trade him. Collins is having a down year, but it almost exactly what the Clippers need – size, athleticism, some shooting, and significant scoring capabilities. Collins can play at the four next to Zu, but can also offer legitimate size and rebounding as a small-ball five. It doesn’t seem like the Clippers want their “splash” to be for a big, so I doubt they trade for Collins. Luke Kennard, Robert Covington, and picks would give the Hawks shooting, defense, and future salary relief, but that probably won’t be enough – and the Clippers seemingly won’t want to trade more.

Jakob Poeltl – Poeltl is a very good player, but is a little too duplicative with Ivica Zubac for my liking (and probably the Clippers’) as a defense-first big man. The Spurs are also in no rush to trade him, and are asking for a 1^st round pick, which the Clippers won’t move for him. Luke Kennard, one of the young guys, and seconds might be enough to get in the convo, but I highly suspect other teams would easily beat that offer for Poeltl. Feels unlikely.

Christian Wood – The Mavs trading for Kyrie Irving has unbalanced their team in favor of offense instead of defense more than it already was. Their best way to turn that around would be to flip Christian Wood, a dynamite offensive player but a sieve defensively, for some help on the perimeter. The Clippers could offer Robert Covington, Amir Coffey, and second round picks, and would add a dynamic offensive player who can operate both as creator and finisher. I’d be iffy on it from the Clippers perspective – while Wood’s shooting enables him to play both the 4 and 5, his defense is awful at all positions, and he’s completely unproven as a playoff player. Depending on the assets it could be a helpful trade, but I think the Clippers would wat someone a bit better on defense.

Medium Sized Deals

Kelly Olynyk – Maybe the most popular trade target for months on Clippers’ twitter has been Olynyk. He’s a proven, playoff-hardened veteran who offers legit size (6’11), solid defense, and enough outside shooting to play alongside of Ivica Zubac as well as serve the lone big man. Considering the Jazz would be in teardown/rebuild mode, they’d probably be looking for younger pieces and picks. The Clippers won’t give up a 1^st or Terance Mann for Olynyk, but any other of their younger players to match Olynyk’s $12.4M in salary. Luke Kennard straight up is a possibility, especially if the Jazz also move Malik Beasley.

Mason Plumlee – Plumlee might be the most obvious trade candidate for the Clippers. The Hornets are selling all of their veterans for future assets, and they have a young center they want to give big minutes to. For the Clippers, Plumlee is a capable defensive big man who won’t require a large role, and can add some playmaking to the 2^nd unit as well. Plumlee’s $9M deal fits into the trade exception (TPE) the Clippers got from trading Serge Ibaka last deadline, which means they wouldn’t even need to send salary back, necessarily – just picks. If they wanted to, or the Hornets wanted either, Reggie or Wall would work for Plumlee as well. It’s a good fit, and the price point probably won’t be high.

Naz Reid – Naz might be the best backup center in the NBA. The issue, from the Timberwolves’ perspective, is actually that he’s too good, and has priced himself out of their future plans considering they already have Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns on their roster. For the Clippers, Naz Reid making such a small salary ($1.9M) actually makes a trade for him more difficult. The only guys who would fit for him straight up are Amir Coffey, Brando Boston Jr, and Jason Preston. Any of those guys alone is not enough for Reid. Would Coffey, one of the young guys, and some seconds get the Clips there? Maybe. Ultimately, I think Reid goes elsewhere, but he’d be a great get.

Isaiah Hartenstein – We are all familiar with Hart’s game. He has been struggling for much of the year with the Knicks, but between Mitchell Robinsons’ injury, his own improved play, and the ups and downs of youngster Jericho Sims, I don’t think the Knicks trade him. If he is available, swapping Wall and a 2^nd or two for him would be a great piece of business.

Add-Ons/Small Deals/Buyout Guys

Khem Birch – After playing an important role for last year’s strong Raptors team, Birch has lost his spot in Nick Nurse’s rotation this year. Although he’s undersized at 6’9, Birch is a strong defender and solid-enough rebounder. Like so many of these other players, he offers little offensively. The Clippers probably wouldn’t need to send much for him, as his salary fits in the trade exception.

Nerlens Noel – After being a key player for the surprisingly good 2021 Knicks team, Noel has barely played the last two seasons. Once one of the best defensive big men in the NBA, Noel has slipped on that end – and provides almost no value offensively. Still, he remains a good defender, and the Clippers could slide him into their TPE without sending salary to Detroit. The trade would require minimal assets, maybe a 2^nd round pick.

Alex Len – Len has barely played for the Kings this year, and is clearly on the fringes of the NBA. He doesn’t offer much besides being a large 7 footer veteran who knows the nuances of NBA basketball, but eve that would put him above Moses Brown and Moussa Diabate. Fitting into the Clippers’ trade exception, the Clippers would presumably not have to give up anything except rights to a international player who isn’t coming over or a “fake” heavily protected 2^nd round pick.

Andre Drummond – Just three years removed from a 17.7 point, 15.2 rebound per game 2020 campaign, Drummond is a low-minutes bench player for a middling Bulls team. His greatest strength remains his rebounding – he’d certainly help the Clippers’ second unit with that, and provide them with a lob threat. At $3.2M a year, Drummond makes too little for a swap with Wall, but adding in someone like Tony Bradley gets the deal done.

Mo Bamba – The fifth year former top 10 pick is actually having the best season of his career, but is getting squeezed out of the rotation because he Magic just have too many forwards and big men. Making $10.3M both this season and next, the Clippers could flip Reggie for him straight up. Bamba offers length defensively, solid three point shooting on decent volume, and upside for growth. There are some reliability issues, but on a talent basis Bamba would be a good swing.

Dewayne Dedmon – Making $4.9M per year, Dedmon is out of the rotation in Miami. A competent defensive big man who doesn’t offer a ton offensively, Dedmon would be a totally fine 12 min per game regular season center who can pick up extra minutes for Zu foul trouble as needed. Wall for Dedmon doesn’t quite work, but adding one of the Heat’s smaller contracts like Kyle Guy or Haywood Highsmith pushes the deal through.

Clippers’ Big Men Trade Targets
Robert Flom

As the 2023 NBA trade deadline approaches on February 9th, the Clippers find themselves having a very familiar conversation about point guards. For as long as Paul George and Kawhi Leonard have been teammates in Los Angeles, there has been a pretty heavy discourse surrounding the team–and within the Clippers’ organization–about the ideal archetype of supporting players to surround them with, especially at point guard.

Clippers general manager Lawrence Frank, in his public comments, has expressed a vision for the team that goes beyond traditional positional roles, with interchangeable, athletic wings that can switch across multiple positions and handle both on-ball and off-ball offensive roles. Jerry West notably pushed the Clippers to draft Terance Mann in 2019, envisioning the 6’5″ wing with a swiss army knife skillset as a point guard in the NBA. Many of the Clippers’ acquisitions around the margins, from the development of undrafted free agent Amir Coffey to the rehabilitation of veteran Nico Batum to the acquisition of Robert Covington at last year’s trade deadline, support this vision. And it meshes to a large degree with some of the defensive principles that Ty Lue has fallen back on in tight spots during his tenure as Clippers head coach, pulling Zubac for an extra wing and orchestrating strategic matchups and switches. This combo of roster moves and smallball success en route to the 2021 Western Conference Finals led to the birth of the “wingstop” meme/dream among Clippers fans.

Offensively, it has been another story. While the Clippers’ offense has been generally quite good with their stars on the floor in the 213 era (they were 2nd in offensive rating in 2019-20 and 4th in 2020-21), they have been prone to stall and at times even melt down: long stretches without quality looks, late-game ruts, notorious blown leads. Their collapse in the 2020 bubble against Denver notwithstanding, it’s fair to ask if these are really unique problems or just a part of the modern game–I have been known to sarcastically tweet “somebody get this team a real point guard” during other teams’ games when they have dry spells despite a traditional floor general on the court, and a twitter account @notjustyourteam has popped up to document how teams across the league are suffering dry spells, blown leads, and bad losses. But either way, there is a notion, in part pushed by the team’s head coach (a former NBA point guard) and star player (who has mentioned basketball IQ and decision making as one of the team’s needs over the years), that a veteran point guard is needed to keep the trains running on time. Enter a string of buy-low veteran names rubber-stamped by the team’s coach and stars over the last few years–Reggie Jackson, Rajon Rondo, Eric Bledsoe, John Wall. Meanwhile, after Terance Mann was moved into the starting point guard position earlier this month in the midst of a losing streak, we get ESPN reporting about the front office intervening and telling Ty who should play.

The reality is that there is a point guard skillset that has value in the NBA, and would have value for this team. But when you start to list what the Clippers need out of that role, it becomes pretty apparent why their attempts to add a point guard have been largely unsuccessful–they need a good shooter to space the floor around 213, but someone who is also athletic enough to go downhill and initiate the offense, someone who is a disciplined playmaker and doesn’t turn the ball over, and also can spearhead the point of attack defense against the pesky quicker guards that LAC’s big wings struggle with… while hopefully still being big enough to participate in a switch-heavy scheme. There is a term in the NBA for lead guards who are savvy decision-makers, good shooters, downhill athletes, and versatile defenders. It’s “All-Star.” The point guard debate that has dragged on for three years actually has very little to do with point guards, and everything to do with talent. Compared to other title contenders, the Clippers’ 3rd and 4th-best players are remarkably weak–who is their Aaron Gordon? Their Jrue Holiday? Mikal Bridges? Marcus Smart? Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Brook Lopez, Deandre Ayton, Malcolm Brogdon–all of these names are at best their respective teams’ 4th-best player, and all would represent massive upgrades for the Clippers’ supporting cast.

By all means, the Clippers can trade for a point guard at this deadline. Their recent run of success has come with a 9-man rotation featuring Mann as the starter, with Reggie Jackson, Norman Powell, Robert Covington, and Nico Batum playing off the bench as Paul and Kawhi take alternating shifts aiding the second unit. If someone like Mike Conley took Jackson’s role, would it be an upgrade? He lacks the scoring juice of Jackson at this point in his career, but the 35-year-old veteran of 16 NBA seasons is an incredibly savvy navigator, posting a career-high 7.6 assists per game to just 1.6 turnovers for Utah this year. As the floor general for one-star lineups, he would help the Clippers make sure that whichever star is on the floor gets the ball in their spots, and he’s still capable of sniping threes if given space. But he’s slower than Jackson, less of a threat to score on drives and far removed from his status as a good defender from earlier in his career. Exchanging Jackson for Conley in that role would be a tradeoff of skillset, and maybe even a winning one that made those units slightly more stable, but his deficiencies would still be apparent nightly, and the Clippers still wouldn’t have anyone on the roster who belongs on the aforementioned list of contenders’ #3 and 4 guys.

A lot of the same could be said for Kyle Lowry (though Lowry’s three-point shooting gives me extra pause). The “upgrade” from Jackson is less profound than many observers likely imagine it to be if they’ve been observing Reggie’s warts close-up for years while Conley and Lowry have resided in our imagination as the younger versions of themselves that we remember. Let’s look at the three across just a few basic categories to see how they fill different roles: who is gonna come into a game and score 20 points in a support role? Who scores efficiently? Who is gonna hit a three on a kick out from the stars? Who is gonna assist teammates while avoiding miscues?

My point here is not to argue that Jackson is better than these other 2 players, but rather that neither is a revolutionary upgrade that is going to catapault this team to the next level. They have mixed skillsets that will help in some areas and leave the team exposed in others, plus intangible combinations of leadership/experience that could help in a title run as well… although I’m not sure how much that helped the Clippers in 2021 as Rajon Rondo played himself out of the rotation. With the way the Clippers’ depth chart is shaping up, there are likely only roles for 2 guards (not just at point guard) to join Terance Mann and Paul George in the rotation. Not only would Jackson be displaced by an addition, but Wall has to be presumed gone, and then still you likely have to trade or bench one of Luke Kennard or Norman Powell to accomodate Lowry or Conley in the rotation.

It’s possible that either Conley or Lowry could have an important role to play in the Clippers 9-man rotation as they chase a title this year. I also think it’s possible that Jackson or Kennard could. If the team prefers the tradeoff of losing scoring punch to add Conley’s distribution, or thinks Lowry’s leadership is worth the shooting dropoff, I won’t hold it against them. But if they expect either come in and be some type of third-star difference-maker that is going to take the ball out of Paul and Kawhi’s hands in big moments, this team won’t be going as far as we all hope. I think similarly of another point guard whose name has been popular at this deadline: Charlotte’s Terry Rozier. Much more in the Jackson role, Rozier is a high volume driver/scorer who lacks some of the traditional floor general qualities of Conley and Lowry. But unlike his senior counterparts, he’d bring an athleticism upgrade over Jackson, creating more paint touches to initiate the Clippers’ ball-movement, three-point-heavy offense. Just as with the others, we are probably closer to swapping out sets of strengths and weaknesses than significant talent upgrades.

The noteworthy exception in this conversation is Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet, perhaps the biggest name known to be very available at the upcoming trade deadline. An All-Star last year, some of Fred’s key numbers don’t necessarily jump off the page in comparison to the other veteran names we’ve mentioned. He’s had an inefficient season (and was never a highly efficient scorer), averages fewer points this season than Rozier, and posts distribution numbers closer to Lowry’s than Conley’s. Diminutive in size and turning 29 in February, with nagging ailments from a heavy minutes burden over the years in Toronto and due a massive new contract next summer, there are reasons why he’s available–and why teams might be cautious about surrendering a major trade package for him. But there is a star power element present that the others simply lack, whether due to age or, in Rozier’s case, the low-leverage minutes he is playing on one of the league’s worst teams. Like Lowry, VanVleet was teammates with Leonard during Toronto’s run to the 2019 title, but unlike Lowry, he is still at an age where you would believe a return to peak form is possible. He brings a different class of volume self-creation and difficult shot-making that none of the other guards mentioned in this article possess, elevating him to a tier where he actually belongs in the same conversation with players like Aaron Gordon and Jrue Holiday.

Unfortunately, the Clippers aren’t the only team that would like to add a player of Fred’s caliber, and the 7 years of draft picks the team sent to Oklahoma City for Paul George still limits their ability to build the same kind of package that a team like the Phoenix Suns, for example, could. The Raptors also don’t really like the Clippers after the team’s relatively brazen recruitment of Kawhi Leonard (they can cry me a river about that one, but nonnetheless if the grudge is there and impacting decision-making then it warrants mention), and have shown a willingness to lose players, like Kyle Lowry, in free agency rather than budge on their asking price in trade talks. I wouldn’t call the Clippers’ outlook of landing VanVleet impossible, but I would probably lean towards unlikely. The Raptors don’t seem like the team to take a weak return, and if any of the other teams searching for point guard help at the deadline are going to go all-in and make a godfather offer for someone, it’ll be Fred. That would leave the Clippers in the same spot they’ve been at past deadlines: hoping to make a significant upgrade at point guard but lacking the trade assets to do so.

NBA Trade Deadline: Clippers Face Familiar Point Guard Debate
Lucas Hann

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the LA Clippers made a massive trade Friday afternoon to acquire Norman Powell and Robert Covington from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, and Keon Johnson. The Clippers are also sending Portland Detroit’s 2025 2nd round pick, acquired with Luke Kennard two offseasons ago.

The obvious centerpiece of this deal is Powell, who is currently putting up an efficient 18.7 points per game for Portland this season on good efficiency (45.6% from the field and 40.6% from deep). He’s averaged 17.8 points on 48/41 splits in 161 games over the last three seasons, so none of that production should be unsustainable moving forward. For a Clippers team starved of offensive talent (currently 26th in the NBA in Offensive Rating, according to basketball-reference), Powell should provide a lift on that side of the floor without creating major issues on the defensive end either. What Norm doesn’t do is create much offense for others: his assist numbers fall drastically short of point guards like Bledsoe or Jackson and are more in line with current Clippers like Luke Kennard, Terance Mann, and Amir Coffey. While Powell is a guard, he’s really more of a (slightly–he’s 6’3″ with a 6’11” wingspan) undersized scoring wing than a playmaker.

In Covington, the Clippers get a short-term look at a once-coveted defensive forward who has fallen off a bit of a cliff recently. Playing somewhere between the small forwar and center positions based on lineup and scheme, he’s still capable of making an impact on the defensive end of the floor (he’s averaging 2.8 steals + blocks in just under 30 minutes per game for Portland this year), but that impact has declined along with his three-point shot, really hurting his ability to add any value on the offensive end of the floor. RoCo is a bit of a wild card in this trade. In theory, he is still a serviceable veteran who can be a good team defender at power forward and give Ty Lue the versatile switchability in a small ball center that he loves. In practice, he’s not as good as the incumbents in that power forward role, Marcus Morris and Nicolas Batum, and stuck behind all three of the Clippers’ traditional centers. I could see him occupying a part-time rotation role as a depth 4/small ball 5 to replace Justise Winslow. I could also see this acquisition maybe making the Clippers feel a bit more secure in their forward depth if they were to trade Marcus Morris this week–something that has been rumored to be on the table. I also wouldn’t be shocked to see Covington’s $13M expiring contract flipped before the trade deadline passes as the Clippers deal with a glut of forwards and now find themselves in need of a backup point guard.

For Portland, the value in this deal is essentially financial. The Blazers are in dire straits as an organization, recently firing former Clippers executive Neil Olshey after an independent investigation found Olshey created a hostile work environment. They’ve struggled with injuries to core players and constant speculation that star Damian Lillard would ask to be traded, and currently sit well below .500. This trade helps the organization get their finances order in two ways: first, by shedding a total of $4M in the exchange, they avoid the NBA’s luxury tax; second, the team moves Norman Powell’s hefty multiyear deal to create flexibility moving forward. Between Powell, Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and breakout star Anfernee Simons, the Blazers had more 6’3″ guys than they knew what to do with. McCollum’s $30M+ deal will also likely be on the move soon, freeing up money for Portland to invest in rebuilding their frontcourt for next season in a last-ditch attempt to be competitive in the Lillard era. Powell signed a 5-year, $90 million dollar deal with the Blazers last summer that will pay him about $17M next year, $18M in 2023-24, $19M in 2024-25, and $20.5M in 2025-26 when he is 32 years old. It’s not a bad contract for a player of Powell’s caliber, especially since it won’t stretch too far into his 30s, but it is understandable why Portland was reluctant to hold on to it if they felt he was redunant with their other options.

Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, and Keon Johnson all could offer some utility to the Blazers, but it’s unlikely that their play is going to make a big difference for the team. Bledsoe is a solid enough backup guard, but Portland is probably already hard at work on a way to repackage him before next Thursday’s deadline. Winslow is a fun and hard-playing but flawed backup who should get some minutes in Portland and have a similar impact to the one he’s been able to have with the Clippers, while Johnson is a developmental prospect who still needs a lot of work to become an NBA player.

For the Clippers, this trade could indicate that another move is on the horizion, simply because they gave up a point guard and didn’t get one back. One key ramification here is that LAC managed to create a roster spot in a 3-for-2 trade, which will allow them to promote Amir Coffey from his current two-way contract to the 15-man roster. Two-way contract players are not eligible to play in postseason games, so that is an essential promotion for one of LAC’s key contributors this season. In theory, they could just do that and stand pat, but the current depth chart certainly suggests another move is coming:

In the meantime, the Clippers can get by with Jackson and Powell sharing guard duties while Coffey, Kennard, and Mann pick up the slack at SG and Batum and Covington share backup forward minutes, but by the time the deadline rolls around, it would really behoove the Clippers to have another point guard in the regular rotation. While there are any number of options for trades to accomplish that, the most obvious avenues are either a big deal involving Luke Kennard and/or Marcus Morris, or a simpler deal using the expiring contracts of Covington or Serge Ibaka to bring back a veteran guard. It’s worth noting that if the Clippers’ roster currently feels a bit crowded at the 2, 3, and 4, that’s with them still missing two All-NBA wings. Not all of these guys are going to get to stick around heading into next year. I think there’s a chance that the team views Powell as the long-term starter as a shadow point guard, with George resuming his duties as the team’s lead on-ball offensive creator. That would both alleviate some of the logjam on the wings and, with the assumption that Powell and Jackson are your point guards heading into next season, mean that all you need to do here is a simple deal to flip Covington or Ibaka. I would keep my eyes on guys like Kemba Walker and Dennis Schroder as veterans who should be available on the current trade market and can plug a short-term hole on the second unit with some playmaking.

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Clippers Acquire Norman Powell, Robert Covington for Bledsoe, Winslow, and Johnson
Lucas Hann