What I like about this trade is that the Clips made multiple moves. I look at the Harden trade (and the CP3 trade also I guess) as part of a coordinated effort to rebuild the team.

Just one of these moves would have felt like a half-assed effort

If Mathurin is credible, then LAC has a backcourt that may be worth it for Kawhi to stick around. If Kawhi doesn’t believe in Mathurin he will probably ask out.

Kawhi is playing his best ball ever as a Clipper, and he’s sort of made himself into a PF version of Steph Curry. I think he can be productive and durable in this phase of his career. LAC should look to keep him if they can.

Did it end prematurely? I think Kawhi thinks (and I believe) that the team with Garland in place of Harden could still more or less pick up where the team left off and continue on a winning trend to where they could finish with a winning record (e.g., 45-37, 46-36). Then, you’re a shooting guard who is a better defender than Norm away from really being able to compete.

Without Zu, that seems unlikely and we look about 3/4ths of the way to a full on rebuild.

The other thing about this deal is that the 2026 pick is more valuable than the 2031. The draft class is among the best ever. It will impact the team’s ability to keep Kawhi. Not getting that pick probably condemns the team to losing seasons and mediocrity for 2 more seasons.

LAC has given itself only a narrow window to get that pick in the 5-9 slot. Indiana has the inside track to having one of the 5 worst records in the league, which gives them a higher probability of getting a top 4 pick. They’re 2nd worst right now. LAC can try to tank the 2 games vs Indiana next month, but other than that Indiana is so bad that LAC tanking itself doesn’t improve the odds very much. Carlisle has already indicated that Zu isn’t going to be on the court much over the next month. I personally would not have traded Zu without a clear, unfettered right to the ’26 1st round pick.

As for Zu, I’ve said it many times on this site, but he’s been one of the best 2 way centers and the net rating with him on/off has been among the best in the league. LAC has been a playoff caliber team with him on the court over the past 5 seasons, and pretty much a lottery team when he’s off. The Zu haters will point to the ‘6 games’ he was out with an ankle injury where the team started the good run, but Lue got Zu to rush back to the lineup early for a reason. He knew it wasn’t sustainable w/Brook Lopez playing heavy mins at center.

Zu will elevate Indiana, make them tougher, make the game easier for Halliburton and raise Halli’s floor as a player (especially in half court sets), and give them a shot to make the conference finals. I do have some questions about how good Indiana really is given how bad they are this year. They shouldn’t be this bad without Turner and Halli. But maybe all they need is Halli and an upgrade from Turner to be great, and Zu is that upgrade.