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Are The Clippers Preparing To Make A Significant Move?

Are The Clippers Preparing To Make A Significant Move?

The Los Angeles Clippers have had a quietly efficient offseason up to this point. They replaced Montrezl Harrell with Serge Ibaka, brought in Luke Kennard via trade, re-upped Patrick Patterson and signed Marcus Morris to a four-year, $64 million deal.

Unfortunately, due to the more splashy nature of the Los Angeles Lakers’ recent transactions, some of the Clippers’ moves seem understated by comparison. That has prompted many to ask: are they done?

According to multiple league sources, the answers is no. Per LA Times NBA insider Andrew Greif there is an expectation among many that the Clippers are still primed to make more moves. That coincides with a similar report from fellow LA Times NBA insider Dan Woike, who also reported this week that “if you ask around the NBA, people expect the Clippers to have something special up their sleeves.”

“The Clippers have bolstered their rotation by agreeing to re-sign forwards Marcus Morris and Patrick Patterson, luring respected big man Serge Ibaka away from Toronto and trading for guard Luke Kennard,” Greif wrote.

“Yet, with the [Los Angeles] Lakers loading up to defend their championship and other Western Conference rivals making substantial moves to challenge, too, numerous league observers believe the Clippers are far from done in revamping their roster as they mount another attempt at winning the franchise’s first NBA title.”

So what exactly will these looming moves entail? Presumably finding a point guard is high on the list. The Clippers made a very strong push to steal Rajon Rondo away from the Lakers this offseason, but he ultimately signed a two-year, $15 million deal with the Atlanta Hawks.

Between Austin Rivers and Elfrid Payton signing with the New York Knicks, D.J. Augustin joining the Milwaukee Bucks on a three-year, $21 million contract, and Avery Bradley agreeing to a two-year, $12 million deal with the Miami Heat, a lot of the more logical point guard options appear to already be off the board.

Kawhi Leonard specifically cited getting a more offensively-oriented point guard as something he really wanted the organization to do this offseason, but unless it’s done via trade, it’s hard to see how it happens at this juncture.

Speaking of trades – the Clippers have been linked to a pair of particularly notable ones.

Last week, reports surfaced of Terry Rozier being a potential target for the franchise. The 26-year-old apparently doesn’t feel like he is going to be a part of the Charlotte Hornets’ long-term plans now that they are building around Devonte’ Graham and LaMelo Ball, so he’s looking for a new situation as well.

In 2019-20, Rozier averaged 18 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists while shooting 42.3 percent from the floor and 40.7 percent from three. He would definitely help the Clippers, but it remains to be seen what his cost is at this point. It’s also debatable whether he qualifies as a “big” get.

The Clippers have also been linked to a potential trade for Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook. Thus far, it is unclear what the team would have to part ways with to acquire the former league MVP.

There has also been a bit of chatter regarding the front office possibly having interest in Jeremy Lin, but nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

This is going to be an interesting few weeks for the Clippers. By any objective measure, they’ve had a fine offseason. They kept the players they needed to keep and added solid replacements for pieces they lost to free agency. That said, given how disappointing the conclusion to last year was, most expected them to do more.

League executives seem to think “more” is on the way. Are they right? Time will tell.

Related: Will Lakers Or Kings Sign Hassan Whiteside?

Carlos Garcia

A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.

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