Phoenix Suns: 5 potential Trevor Ariza trades

4. Los Angeles Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers don’t need Trevor Ariza. They’re currently 16-8, situated proudly at third in the Western Conference standings. They’re also third in 3-point efficiency, knocking down 38.1 percent of their looks.

However, even with Tobias Harris, Danilo Gallinari, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell all putting together career years, there’s still a question of how long this can last. The defense is mediocre (14th in defensive rating), Gallo’s health is hardly reliable and the roster is littered with aging vets or inexperienced youngsters.

Maybe Doc Rivers will continue to lead this well-balanced team and the Clippers will shock the rest of the league by sustaining this success with a playoff run, but if they want to safeguard against a possible “coming back down to earth” situation, Ariza is the perfect trade target.

For starters, he can be slotted in as a 2, 3 or a 4, which is valuable for small-ball lineups next to Harris and Gallo. He may not start on this current team, but he could definitely close out games — all without tying up Los Angeles’ cap space for an ambitious free agency period this summer.

The best part is, they’d only have to give up two players that aren’t intrinsic to the team’s success. Boban Marjanovic is having a career year and is beloved by his teammates (especially Tobias Harris), but he’s only averaging 10.8 minutes per game in his 18 appearances.

As for Milos Teodosic, he’s fallen out of the rotation altogether, logging just 8.7 minutes a night in his 11 appearances. The Clippers get a versatile two-way player they can plug in almost anywhere, while the Suns get a cheap, facilitating point guard who will be a restricted free agent in 2019, plus some extra frontcourt depth in the likable Boban (and his expiring contract).