The Los Angeles Clippers hope to keep the star pairing of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard together. Despite not necessarily being championship contenders with the future Hall of Famers working together, it’s the best these Clippers could hope for moving forward.
Unfortunately, that might not end up being the case. George has a player option for next season, one that he’s almost assuredly going to decline to hit NBA free agency.
Recent reports indicate that the Philadelphia 76ers believe that they’ll be able to land George in free agency. If so, that puts the Clippers in a less-than-ideal situation. They’ll need to find another star to go with Leonard. That’s especially true if James Harden leaves in free agency.
According to this note from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, DeMar DeRozan could be a possibility for Los Angeles in a sign-and-trade with the Chicago Bulls.
A team most remain under the first NBA salary tax apron if it wants to acquire a player in a sign-and-trade. Los Angeles would be in this situation with George’s max contract off the books.
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DeRozan would not be a bad fall-back option for the Clippers. He is still among the top-scoring wings in the game. Last season saw the 34-year-old average 24.0 points to go with 4.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists on 48% shooting from the field.
The question here is obvious. What would the Clippers have to entice Chicago in a potential sign-and-trade for DeRozan? They have no future first-round pick to offer up in a trade. That complicates matters.