The Harris Trade is Great for Philadelphia, but What About The Clippers?

The Clippers traded Tobias Harris, the team’s best player, to Philadelphia in a package deal that netted Los Angeles five players and four draft picks. The Sixers became the team with the second best fourth option in the NBA, behind only Boogie Cousins with Golden State. In all, Philadelphia got better, but why did the Clippers want to get worse?

The talk around the league is that the Clippers are positioning themselves for the summer of 2019, when they hope to snag a couple of top free agents. The team will have the cap space to entice the players who want to play in Los Angeles, but not with Lebron James, but what kind of team will the Clippers be presenting to the interviewees?

Earlier in the season, the Clippers had one of the best records in the Western Conference, and sat atop many Power Rankings as the best team in the league. Today, they sit as the 8^th seed in the West, but being eighth in the West means that the team is three games out of the fourth spot. However, the trade makes one wonder what the Clippers’ motivation was behind the trade. Were they hoping to get better for the stretch run so that they can improve their playoff position, or are they giving up on the season even though that are currently in the playoff hunt?

When a team trades away its best player during the season, that is usually a sign that the team has given up and is looking toward the offseason, but that usually happens with teams as the bottom of the league, not teams in playoff contention. The Clippers making the Tobias Harris trade is puzzling, but if they land Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson during the summer, then the Clippers will prove to be smarter than the rest of us.

It Looks LIke AEW is About to Make Another Splash

News out of WWE World is that both Dean Ambrose and Hideo Itami have turned down contract extensions with WWE, and are opting to leave the company. Both men are citing dissatisfaction with creative as their reasons for wanting to leave, and while Itami has asked for and received his release; Ambrose is electing to finish his contract. This means that once he is a free agent, Ambrose will be able to sign wherever he wants to without any restrictions. By the end of April, both men will be free of WWE, and All Elite Wrestling will almost certainly take a long look at these two men. 

Both Ambrose (as Jon Moxley), and Hideo (as KENTA), were indy darlings before signing with WWE. While Ambrose ascended all the way to the World Heavyweight Championship, Itami suffered through injuries and poor writing on 205 Live. Currently, both men are unhappy with the creative directions of their characters, and though Ambrose has been offered a seven-figure contract extension, he is choosing to work elsewhere. 

Boasting a roster that already features members of the Bullet Club and So Cal Uncensored from ROH, AEW made a splash with the signings of Adrian (PAC) Neville & Chris Jericho. The company also delayed the announcement of bringing in Kenny Omega, so once it was announced; the company made news all over again. However, the biggest news so far could be announcements that AEW has signed Jon Moxley and KENTA. That would be huge for the company, and AEW might still not be done causing ripples. 

Rumor has it that the four WWE transplants from NJPW (AJ, Nakamura, Gallows & Anderson) are all waiting out their soon-to-be expiring contracts, and will probably not sign new deals with WWE. The fact that AJ, Gallows & Anderson were all Bullet Club members with the Young Bucks increases speculation that these three men could be signing with All Elite. Also, since the members of the Elite have all worked with Nakamura in NJPW, he is another familiar face who could be on AEW’s radar. Signing Ambrose would make a huge splash, but signing these four men also would be almost earth shattering. 

The addition of Ambrose & AJ Styles to All Elite Wrestling, if that were to happen, would signal to every top wrestler in WWE that there now exists somewhere to work that offers another alternative to being a “slave to the machine”. A company that has as much money as WWE, but is run by wrestlers who grew tired of the business’ status quo, has to be an intriguing option for top talent who also are looking for a change.

The ripples are just beginning. 

"Tradable Asset" Does Not Mean "Star"

New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis has expressed his desire to be traded away from the team that originally drafted him, and his public expression has brought with it a $50K fine from the NBA. From all appearances, The Los Angeles Lakers are the frontrunners to land Davis, but even though the Pelicans are not dealing from a position of strength, the Lakers might be willing to trade their youth for the all-star. This, however, might be where doing the deal hits a snag.

The Pelicans are said to be asking for Kyle Kuzma, Ivaca Zubac, Lonzo Ball and a draft pick for Davis. While this would essentially be the Lakers mortgaging their future for a championship run now, LA seems willing to deal. Unfortunately, Lonzo Ball has already indicated that he has no interest in New Orleans, instead suggesting that the Lakers find a third team to include in the deal. Ball feels that he should have some say over his immediate future, but the young man is misguided in his thinking.

Kuzma and Zubac are being required because these players have shown that they can play at a high level in the NBA. Ball is seen as an inconsistent, injury-prone player with some upside. Ball is not seen as a player to be built around, but as a player who could figure it out over time if he finds the right situation. As such, Ball could be traded for, only to be packaged in another deal, thus classifying Ball as a “tradable asset”. Unfortunately, “tradable asset” does not translate to star, and tradable assets cannot make demands.

Ball has the makings of a great player, and he believes in his talent. This is admirable, but currently, he is not as good as his opinion of himself. Lonzo Ball should be happy that the Pelicans want him because they could have asked for Josh Hart, which would say a lot about what the league thinks of Ball as a player. Just ask Brandon Ingram