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The Los Angeles Clippers have every reason to be bold, but that doesn't mean the short-term ramifications of trading Tobias Harris are much easier to swallow. Considered by most an afterthought in a loaded Western Conference leading up to the 2018-19 season, the Clippers have played pretty much exactly as expected given their coaching staff and personnel.
Doc Rivers' best work roaming the NBA sidelines has always been helping teams with substandard talent emerge as something more than the sum of their parts through unceasing toughness and togetherness. Los Angeles did exactly that this season and last, scrapping its way to respectability for two years running despite a roster replete with cast-offs, also-rans, and unknowns.
The Clippers, to be clear, finished four and-a-half games out of the playoffs last season, going 42-40. They're currently eighth in the West, with the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers nipping at their heels, likely to be buyers at the trade deadline. There was a good chance Los Angeles was again going to be left on the outside looking in at the postseason come spring regardless of how the trade deadline unfolded, basically, and the franchise had already accomplished the goal it set out to achieve after trading Blake Griffin last season anyway: proving it boasts the existing infrastructure needed to court megastars in free agency.
The Clippers had enough spending money this summer before trading Harris to sign one max-level player who's been in the league for seven-to-nine years – think Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, and Klay Thompson. Bringing in one of those guys and re-signing Harris at a significant raise was their ideal scenario for this summer, a development that would have done little – in the grand scheme, at least – to tip the balance of power in the Western Conference.
The timing of last night's stunning blockbuster suggests Lawrence Frank, Jerry West, and company aren't done making moves. The Clippers are sellers now, and shipping Danilo Gallinari and his $21.6 million salary out of town would create enough cap space for them to ink two superstar free agents come July, with room left to spare to fill out the roster. Dealing Lou Williams would be enough to accommodate a pair of max contracts, too.
The New York Knicks' had the same end game in mind while executing last week's similarly shocking trade of Kristaps Porzingis. But Los Angeles, on the other hand, accomplished double-max space without surrendering any player or asset of future consequence. Is Harris really good enough to be the second-best player on a title-contending team? Probably not, and the Clippers avoided the obligation of paying him like one while receiving the Philadelphia 76ers 2019 first-rounder, the Miami Heat's unprotected 2021 first-rounder, and rookie sharpshooter Landry Shamet. The ripples of prudent team-building are endless.
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Those pieces, along with promising first-year guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, fellow lottery pick Jerome Robinson, and perhaps Sixth Man of the Year candidate Montrezl Harrell, will prove integral to the formation of Los Angeles' next great team either way. Maybe Leonard affirms months of whispers by signing with the Clippers, someone like Kemba Walkers follows suit, and the team uses the picks and young players mentioned above to fill out the rough edges of the roster on the cheap. More exciting? The reality that Los Angeles has suddenly become a far more viable trade partner for the New Orleans Pelicans in the Anthony Davis sweepstakes.
It could be argued that Gilgeous-Alexander is a superior prospect to any the Los Angeles Lakers can offer. Shamet is ready for rotation minutes right now, Robinson still has value even if it's been somewhat diminished by his inconsequential rookie season, and Harrell is playing on a bargain contract through next season.
The real carrots here for the Pelicans, though, are the first-round picks the Clippers received from the Sixers – especially the Heat's in 2021, one of the league's most enticing trade chips. Another benefit of trading Harris: Los Angeles, no longer fighting tooth and nail for a playoff spot, owes its 2019 first-rounder to the Boston Celtics unless it lands in the lottery.
Would all of that be enough for New Orleans to pull the trigger? It should certainly give Dell Demps something to think about between now and tomorrow's trade deadline at the very least. It's also worth mentioning that recent reporting indicates the Clipper are on the short list of teams Davis would re-sign with after his tenure with the Pelicans finally comes to a close.
Steve Ballmer set out to rid Los Angeles of its longtime status as basketball's laughingstock when he bought the team from disgraced owner Donald Sterling. A few years later, the Clippers still don't have anything meaningful to show for it on the basketball court, as much goodwill as they've created among fans in Southern California and the league at large after the last two seasons notwithstanding. But Ballmer's dream for the Clippers was always bigger than hard-fought first-round exits and the chance injuries to true contenders created a void of which Rivers and his overachieving squads could fill.
This organization wants to be Goliath, not David, and retaining Harris was always going to limit the possibility of that evolution taking place. Los Angeles is in position to be a giant now, with little downside to show for it. Buckle up for this summer. The Clippers are coming.
