Los Angeles Clippers

After not trading Lonzo Ball at the trade deadline this year, the Pelicans have made their intentions clear that they want to keep the young guard long-term, but could the Los Angeles Clippers aggressively pursue Ball? They had shown a lot of interest in him ahead of the NBA trade deadline and as a result, could look to put together a sign-and-trade for him in the offseason. 

With the Clippers being way over the salary cap this season and entering the offseason, they will not have any room to outright sign Ball, which is why they would have to execute a sign-and-trade with the Pelicans for him. 

In this deal, they could potentially move a couple of key names like Patrick Beverley or Marcus Morris Sr. A lot of what the Clippers do in the offseason though depends on how they perform in the playoffs this year. 

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At 32-18 to this point in the season, the Los Angeles Clippers are going to be a playoff team, the only question though is if they can finally break through and make a run to the NBA Finals. If they come up short of their goal again and do not even make the Western Conference Finals, this team could look completely different next year, hence why the Clippers would potentially be willing to move both Beverley and Morris for Lonzo Ball. 

With Kawhi Leonard and Paul George being a dominant duo in this league, all the Clippers need is a reliable, young player who can play with or without the ball in his hands, which is exactly the type of player Lonzo Ball is. He could fit in perfectly next to the Clippers two superstars, which is why Los Angeles will aggressively look to acquire Ball in the offseason.