Why This Trade Makes Sense For The Los Angeles Clippers
If the Clippers are going to dethrone the Lakers in the Western Conference and make the NBA Finals, then they are going to have to be willing to make a big move at the trade deadline and be willing to pay a lot of money to field a championship caliber team. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George can definitely compete for a championship, but can these two alone win one?
Los Angeles would definitely be one of the favorites to win the championship this year if they were to acquire Victor Oladipo because of the firepower they would have with their three All-Star players. Not only could each guy go for 20+ a night, but all of them have been known to be great defenders over the years.
With three All-Star two-way players, the Clippers would be one of the better overall teams in the league and a team that would be extremely difficult to guard. Even without Beverley and Morris, the Clippers would still have Lou Williams, Luke Kennard, Reggie Jackson, Serge Ibaka and Nicolas Batum as their role players, which is definitely enough production to make it to the NBA Finals.
Not to mention, P.J. Tucker is one of the better “glue guys” in the entire NBA. He will not go out and be a scoring machine for the Clippers, but can hold his own defensively and would complement Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Victor Oladipo quite well.
The only bad thing about this trade for L.A. is the fact that they are already limited on draft picks and would be left with virtually nothing after this trade. If the Rockets accepted this trade, the Clippers would be left with 8 second-round picks from 2023-2027, giving them virtually no ways to build a young core for the future.
The only way the Clippers would make this trade is if they could get a long-term commitment from Victor Oladipo in order to field this “Big 3” for years to come. They could definitely be special together and win a championship with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George at the helm, which is why this trade makes a lot of sense for the Los Angeles Clippers.
