The Los Angeles Clippers already made their big move for the 2023-24 season when they dealt four of the power forwards in their rotation plus a few draft assets in their trade for James Harden. It was a rough go for the Clippers at first, but now, the veteran team helmed by head coach Tyronn Lue has integrated the Beard into a cohesive, well-oiled machine, hence their rise up the Western Conference standings over the past month or so.
However, the Clippers know that their current core doesn't have the luxury of time when it comes to the pursuit of an NBA championship. Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George are all in their 30s, and the team doesn't have too many draft assets to surround the team with young contributors who can extend the team's window of contention.
Thus, one would think that the Clippers will continue to be in search of ways to bolster their roster. At present, the Clippers appear to have all bases covered; in the postseason, rotations get shortened anyway. Nevertheless, acquiring even more players who wouldn't look like a fish out of sea during the playoffs is never a bad idea, for as long as they fit within the overall vibe of the locker room.
With that said, here are a few predictions for what the Clippers would do prior to the NBA trade deadline at 3 pm on February 8.
PJ Tucker gets traded for additional wing help
When the Clippers acquired PJ Tucker in the trade that brought James Harden to town, the hope was that Tucker would provide at least some semblance of the impact he has had for the many winning teams he has played for in the past. Tucker is as defensively grizzled as it gets; he has battled against Stephen Curry and LeBron James in the grandest of stages, and to top it all off, he has shown that he can also hold his own as a small-ball five.
Alas, age appears to have crept up completely on Tucker's game. Tucker is already 38 years old, so he has lost a step or two on the defensive end, and he doesn't do enough (or anything at all) on the offensive end, making it feel like his team is playing four on five whenever he's on the floor.
PJ Tucker has shown flashes of providing two-way impact for the Clippers. In one close loss to the Nuggets during their acclimating period, Tucker was crashing the offensive glass with fury and he was also battling hard against Nikola Jokic. This could come in handy come postseason time. But it's no coincidence that the Clippers began rolling when Tyronn Lue removed him from the rotation.
Now, Tucker has close to zero trade value. He has a player option for $11.5 million next season, which he's sure to pick up, so he won't be an attractive trade piece for any team, even for salary-matching purposes. The Clippers don't have the draft capital to package Tucker for an impact player.
But with PJ Tucker making waves due to his lack of minutes, the Clippers may have no choice but to find a suitable trade that ships him out of town. LA will be hoping against hope that Tucker and a few second-rounders will be enough to get the job done in a trade for, perhaps, Royce O'Neale of the Brooklyn Nets or maybe even Matisse Thybulle of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Bones Hyland gets dangled in trade talks, but Clippers hold on to him
The Clippers made a low-key yet very shrewd move during last year's trade deadline when they flipped a bunch of second-rounders for Bones Hyland, the young guard who was on the outs with the eventual champion Denver Nuggets. Hyland proceeded to provide a spark for the Clippers off the bench, and he was fearless during their five-game series defeat against the Phoenix Suns back in April.
However, with the addition of James Harden and the subsequent move of Russell Westbrook to the bench, the Clippers had to remove Hyland out of the rotation due to fit issues. He is now surplus to requirements at Crypto.com Arena, and he's one of the few youngsters the Clippers have who could be of interest to other teams in potential trades for win-now talent.
As enticing as it may be for the Clippers to dangle Bones Hyland as trade bait, they will come to the conclusion that Hyland has something that nearly the rest of the roster doesn't: youth. Only 23, Hyland can only get better, and he is still in his rookie deal, so maybe in a year or so, he ends up being too good to be kept out of the rotation. The Clippers don't have many young lottery tickets, so they better not trade away someone who has shown that he can be a rotation piece for a winning team thanks to his instant offense capabilities.
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