The Los Angeles Clippers once again failed in their pursuit of a championship last year, as the team got the 5-seed in the Western Conference and fell in five games to the Phoenix Suns in the first round. The team didn’t decide to make any major moves in the immediate aftermath, as head coach Ty Lue will return next season, but as it turns out, there might be some interest in a gigantic shake-up on the team’s roster.
According to Marc Stein, the Clippers are making some calls around the league that, at the bare minimum, have made clear that they’re interested in gauging what they could get back in a Paul George trade.
League sources tell The Stein Line that the LA Clippers have left various rival teams with the impression through their Draft Week conversations that they are, at a minimum, attempting to gauge Paul George’s trade value and, to hear some describe it, giving real consideration to the idea of disassembling the Kawhi Leonard/George tandem.
It would be a gigantic move for Los Angeles, which is under some pressure with the pairing of Leonard and George due to both players having the option to hit unrestricted free agency next summer. Per Stein, if George is truly available, two teams high up in the lottery “have been identified as potential trade partners”: The Portland Trail Blazers, which have the No. 3 pick on Thursday night and have been mentioned as a team to watch in the lead-up to the draft, and the Houston Rockets, which pick fourth and have been in the midst of a lengthy pursuit of James Harden as an unrestricted free agent.
