Los Angeles Clippers: Time To Trade For Kobe Bryant?

As my colleague Gerald Bourguet has written about, there might be something wrong with the Los Angeles Clippers. Do they need a major shake-up? Something to reinvigorate the team and push them closer to a trip to the NBA Finals?

Through three games, the Clippers are 2-1, but have looked shaky in two of those meetings. First was the narrow victory over a depleted Oklahoma City Thunder team, then came a bad loss to a putrid Sacramento Kings squad.

Now, it is still early, but this is a team with championship aspirations, not some “just happy to be here” playoff contender. It has been well documented that this Clippers group has a strong front-court, but is weak on the wings.

New deep pocketed owner Steve Ballmer might not be too patient as his latest and most expensive toy muddles through the early stages of this NBA season.

Nevertheless, what might an eccentric billionaire new to running an NBA team do? Well, the internet has already been buzzing about a certain cross-town rival’s biggest star, including our own Marcus Bass who wrote about the New York Knicks possibly looking to acquire Kobe Bryant.

Now, Bryant has come out and publicly stated that he is happy as a Laker, saying he “bleeds purple and gold”, however, this is a man who is regarded as the biggest competitor since Michael Jordan graced the NBA.

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In my mind, there is no question that Bryant would be interested in changing out that same purple and gold for a Clippers uniform and a chance at another ring.

With that being said, is it possible to trade for Bryant and his massive salary, and would it actually upgrade this roster?

For the first part, it is possible to trade for Bryant without giving up either Blake Griffin or Chris Paul, but you would have to include DeAndre Jordan, J.J. Redick, and probably Jamal Crawford.

A trade would probably be something like Jordan, Redick, and Crawford for Bryant, plus the Clippers giving up other assets like a protected 2016 first round pick, or maybe swapping promising rookie C.J. Wilcox for journeyman Wesley Johnson.

Anyway you look at it, its not a great trade for the Lakers, so its questionable whether they would even entertain the offer. The thought that Bryant might propel this terrible Lakers team into respectability and thus ruin any chance at a juicy lottery pick would be the only real reason for the Lakers to deal Bryant to the other Los Angeles team.

Even then, there would probably be better offers coming from other win-now contenders, such as perhaps the Rockets and Heat. Still, the allure of staying in Los Angeles might coerce the Black Mamba into only relenting on his no-trade clause for the Clippers.

So, if it is possible, would it actually make the Clippers a better team? Looking at Bryant’s stats, its hard to see a noticeable decline, disregarding the season he missed with the achilles tear.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/3/2014.

His FG% was higher than his career average in 2012-13, although his three point percentage has fallen off a cliff late in his career. Of course, this does not take into account what another year and recovery from surgery has done to his game.

So far this season, Bryant is shooting only 41 percent from the field, and a disastrous 25 percent from behind the arc. Still, I would not be too worried about those numbers as Bryant has been forced to carry the offense due to his teammate’s complete ineffectiveness.

Watching his game against the Phoenix Suns early this season, there were a handful of possessions where his fellow Lakers would either stand around waiting for him to do something, or would throw him the ball with the shot clock winding down.

In both situations, Bryant had to chuck up a terrible fade-away three pointer or other garbage shot that had a very slim chance to go in.

On a better team, with players like Griffin and Paul keeping the defense honest, Bryant would undoubtedly perform better. He is a clear upgrade over Matt Barnes, at least on offense, but Bryant is not a good defender anymore and combining his poor perimeter defense with the loss of Jordan could turn a decent defensive team into a disaster.

The biggest thing Kobe could give his team would be that confidence and competitive fire that sometimes seems to be missing from the Clipper starting five. This team has completely melted down or just rolled over too many times in the NBA playoffs for it to be a coincidence.

Love or hate Bryant, but he is not someone who cower in the big moments.

However, given all that, the waves that trading Redick, Crawford, and Jordan would make on the Clippers rotation would be worse than the upgrade from Barnes to Bryant. Worse still, with Redick and Crawford gone, you might be forced to play both Bryant and Barnes in the starting lineup.

A move that would create even more spacing problems than currently exist.

Overall, Bryant just makes too much money for this to make sense. The Clippers would have to give up too much, and that is assuming the Lakers even bite on their offer.

There are some moves out there that might work, but they are smaller in nature. A contract the size of Bryant’s is too hard to acquire. The Mamba might be moved this season, but chances are it will not be to the Clippers.

Next: NBA Awards Watch: MVP, Week 2