Los Angeles Clippers: Any Effect From Rajon Rondo Deal?
Rajon Rondo Trade: How does it affect the Clippers?
By now you have probably heard, according to multiple media outlets the Boston Celtics have traded Rajon Rondo to the Dallas Mavericks. So how will this affect the Clippers’ postseason seeding? Will the Clippers make a counter-move? Do they need to?
All of these questions are undoubtedly filtering through coach Doc Rivers and the rest of the Los Angeles Clippers organization. Lets address each of these questions.
How will this affect the Clippers’ seeding?
Currently the Los Angeles Clippers are fifth in the Western Conference, behind Golden State, Memphis, Portland, and Houston. The Clippers have long since left their ugly start behind them, and have been rolling along.
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However, Golden State continues to win, and while I still believe that the Clippers can catch the Warriors, its not a certainty at all.
Memphis, fresh off scoring a huge victory over the San Antonio Spurs, are not going anywhere unless a major injury or two happens. With Marc Gasol healthy, the Grizzlies are a true title contender and one of the best teams in the association.
Portland and Houston, though, are wild cards. Dwight Howard‘s health has been questionable in recent years, and this is a team that has flamed out in the first round the last couple of years. It is hard to imagine the Rockets finally turning the corner after the departure of Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lin, and Omer Asik.
So while the Rockets are still formidable, Los Angeles should pull ahead in the standings by April.
Portland started hot this year, but they did the same last year before slowly succumbing to the power and depth of the West.
It is easy to imagine, even with an entire healthy season from LaMarcus Aldridge, that Portland will fade over time, and while they will remain a tough match-up in the playoffs, they are little threat to claim home-court advantage.
The big question still remains, though, will Dallas’ big move catapult the Mavericks into the top four, potentially pushing out this Clippers team?
Grantland.com’s Zach Lowe had a good breakdown of how the trade affects Dallas, concluding that the trade is quite a gamble for Dallas, and so it is hard to judge right now whether this will lift Big D into the top four, or maybe drop them out of the playoffs altogether.
I am more inclined to believe that this push Dallas forward, causing an already competitive conference to be that much more difficult. However, the Clippers still have a good enough team to grab the home-court, but their margin for error is growing slimmer by the day.
They will need near perfect health and continued strong play from Matt Barnes to navigate the gauntlet ahead of them.
Will the Clippers make a counter-move?
This is tough to say, but we all remember when the Los Angeles Lakers traded for Pau Gasol, and the flurry of moves that came after. The Phoenix Suns traded Shawn Marion, the Dallas Mavericks acquired Jason Kidd. Mike Bibby was traded to the Atlanta Hawks.
Some of the moves worked, some did not, but it was one of the most active trading seasons the NBA has seen.
So perhaps this big move will set off another flurry that will see big names like Joe Johnson, Deron Williams, and more end up on new teams by the February deadline to complete trades. Then again, the NBA is different now than it was then.
A new CBA has made contracts shorter, and trades more risky. Draft picks are valued more than ever, despite the minimal value of a late-round draft choice.
There have been few rumors of a big Clippers deal, and Doc Rivers is not the same aggressive deal maker that Danny Ainge has shown himself to be.
Rivers values continuity and loyalty, and he still smarts over Ainge trading Kendrick Perkins for Jeff Green, a move that Rivers truly believes harmed the Celtics in their quest for a second ring for the big three era.
Do they need to?
This is a much tougher question to answer. I have gone on record pushing for an aggressive move, but that is because I truly believe that Los Angeles cannot win the championship as currently constructed.
The team has two stars in Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, but after that is a collection of cast-offs, bargain bin signees, and a couple of decent role-players in DeAndre Jordan and J.J. Redick.
The Clippers starting five is good, but is it better than the other contenders? Recent playoff history says no, and the other teams have shown improvement through the first part of the year. The west is deeper than ever, and the margin between making the NBA Finals and losing in the first round is razor thin.
There are two different processes here, one way is to stay the course and just keep taking your shots, hoping that one time things will break your way. That is what the Dallas Mavericks have done in the Dirk Nowitzki era, and it did result in one championship and two Finals appearances.
The other way is to go for the big move, put all your eggs into the win now basket, and hope it puts you over the top. This has worked for team’s like Boston, but has failed spectacularly for Phoenix, among others.
So whether the Clippers need to make a move is a matter of opinion, but it is becoming more and more clear that nearly half of the 15 teams in the western conference have championship aspirations this year, which means that there will be plenty of disappointed fans in the western half of the United States.
Whether that strengthens the case for multiple good shots at the finals over a few great shots, I do not know, but come April, there will be a hell of a show, at least in the better half of the nation.