The Clippers just lost five first-round picks. Now they have to go find some, and Darius Garland is the most obvious way to do it.
Los Angeles could place Garland firmly on the trade block, according to Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports. The logic is not complicated: a franchise banned from drafting in the first round for five straight years needs to convert its remaining talent into future picks before that talent ages out.
Garland barely got unpacked
Garland arrived in February as part of the James Harden trade with Cleveland. He has been a Clipper for roughly seven months, and the organization that acquired him no longer resembles the one making the trade.
That is the brutal part of the timing. Los Angeles gave up real value for a 26-year-old point guard because it expected to compete. Then the league investigation landed and the competitive window slammed shut in a single afternoon.
Garland is a two-time All-Star and a starting-caliber lead guard when healthy. That skill set belongs on a playoff team. The Clippers are not going to be one for a long time.
The contract cuts both ways
Garland is owed $87 million over the next two seasons. For a contender, that is a fair price for a starting point guard who shoots 43 percent from three. For a rebuilding team, it is $87 million of dead weight attached to a player who will be 28 when the Clippers are next relevant.
The two-year term is actually what makes him movable. Teams are far more willing to absorb salary that expires in 2028 than a five-year commitment. A contender looking for offense can take him on without mortgaging its own future.
The concerns are real
Any team calling has to price in two things. Garland is 6-foot-1, which limits his defensive value and gets exploited in playoff series. And he has an injury history, including a toe problem that has cost him time.
Undersized guards with durability questions are exactly the type of player whose value gets picked apart in the postseason. Every front office knows that, which caps what Los Angeles can extract.
What a realistic return looks like
The Clippers should be chasing quantity over quality. Two future firsts and a young player is a reasonable target, and given the circumstances, they should take it the moment it is offered.
They are not in position to negotiate from strength. Every team in the league knows the Clippers have to sell, which is the worst possible condition under which to run a trade market. That is the cost of getting caught.
Sources
- https://larrybrownsports.com/basketball/clippers-could-trade-all-star-darius-garland/769067
- https://heavy.com/sports/nba/los-angeles-lakers/nba-trade-rumors-lakers-deals-new/
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.