The Los Angeles Clippers aren’t off to the best start this season. They’ve struggled to get anything going with most of the new players they have acquired and it could mean some bad news for their futures.
It was reported that the team has already made calls about trades, primarily involving Jamal Crawford. Jamal might not be the only one on the Clippers made calls about. Two new players the Clippers signed over the summer could be getting moved.
Following from Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
The Los Angeles Clippers gauged trade interest in Lance Stephenson and Josh Smith last month, league sources told Yahoo Sports….
The Clippers haven’t been as active in trying to move Stephenson and Smith in recent days because of the team’s injuries, another source said.
Two NBA executives told Yahoo Sports that the Clippers would have hard time trading the struggling newcomers who have not fit in well during the team’s slow start….
“There is not much of a market for them,” one NBA executive said. “They are buyout candidates. Maybe Lance goes back to Indiana, you never know. You won’t get back much for them.”
All these trade rumors don’t bode well for the current mindset of the Clippers organization. Either Doc Rivers or team ownership can see the light at the end of the Chris Paul/Blake Griffin/DeAndre Jordan tunnel and they know they need to start winning now.
But what can the team get back for a trio of less than stellar players? A team might be willing to part with a draft pick or a young player or even an expiring contract of a lesser player but that’s not what the Clippers want to get. They want to win now or as soon as possible so the Clips might have to stay put with the roster they have unless a big offer comes their way.
