Recently, the Los Angeles Clippers traded Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons. What does this mean for the Los Angeles Lakers?
On Tuesday, Blake Griffin was traded to the Detroit Pistons in a multi-player trade that kicked off the 2018 trade deadline. The deal didn’t involve the Los Angeles Lakers directly, but the deal definitely affects them indirectly.
Jordan Clarkson – Avery Bradley Trade
It was rumored on Monday that Jordan Clarkson could possibly be traded to the Pistons in a package for Avery Bradley. This possible trade obviously fell through, as Bradley was one of the pieces that the Pistons traded to acquire Blake Griffin.
The deal would have provided some benefits to the Lakers, specifically more salary cap for the 2018 offseason. Bradley is currently in a contract year, as he will hit free agency after this season.
The deal would have taken Clarkson’s contract off the books for 2018-19 which would have opened up $12.5 million in cap space for the offseason. This would have provided the Lakers a better chance at signing two free agents this offseason to max deals, namely Paul George, LeBron James, or DeMarcus Cousins. Look for the Lakers to still try and deal Clarkson, although it didn’t workout with the Pistons.
Clippers/Lakers Battle in Free Agency?
With the trade of Blake Griffin, the Clippers free themselves of his huge contract that was signed in the 2017 offseason. The deal seemed to be a sort of franchise player type deal, which made it seem like the Clippers still intended to compete without Chris Paul.
With this trade done, it seems the Clippers might have plans that extend past the 2017-18 season. They now have way more salary cap space and will look to trade the contracts of DeAndre Jordan and/or Lou Williams to free up even more space.
Sources: Clippers will continue to pursue packages of young players and picks in talks for DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 29, 2018
These moves would obviously signal that the Clippers will be joining the Lakers and others in the pursuit of big free agents in the offseason. This would not be good for the Lakers, as they will already have intense competition for the potential acquisitions of George, LeBron, and Cousins.
Lakers’ Playoff Hopes not Dead?
This may be a stretch for the 19-31 Lakers, but we still have 32 games left with the 7th and 8th seeds up for grabs. The teams currently in front of them in the standings are the Utah Jazz (10th), the Clippers (9th), the Denver Nuggets (8th), and the New Orleans Pelicans (7th).
The Lakers are currently 6.5 games out of the 8th spot, and the Griffin trade gives them an even better chance of getting in. The Clippers might free fall for the rest of the 2018 season without Griffin, but they definitely will if they also move DeAndre and/or Lou before the deadline. You also have to consider DeMarcus Cousins’ injury and how that will affect the Pelicans moving forward. This paired with the current run of success makes the Lakers playoff hopes seem little more realistic.
Next: 3 Reasons why trading Jordan Clarkson is the right move
It’s still a long shot for the Lakers to make the playoffs. Also, the Griffin trade is more likely to affect next year’s team than this year’s team. It’ll be worth seeing if the Clippers can clear more cap space and join the Lakers in being a destination for big free agents. If this happens, then the Lakers’ chances for George, LeBron, and Cousins will surely be affected.