The Los Angeles Clippers are trying to go all-in on a trade with the Boston Celtics for head coach Doc Rivers and players Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, but the biggest hang-up is guard Eric Bledsoe, as the team wants to use him in another deal with Blake Griffin to get Dwight Howard.
According to ESPN.com, the Clippers want to hold onto Bledsoe so that they can use him in a trade with Griffin to the Lakers in a sign and trade deal with Dwight Howard. The report says that the deal depends on what happens with the Boston trade and that they want to get Howard to make sure they keep Chris Paul, as he would like to play with Howard wherever he signs as a free agent. ESPN reporter Marc Stein wrote that the trade would come after July 1, but other reports say the Lakers wouldn't do it.
The scenario seems crazy since the fans and the team love Griffin, but if they get Howard, Rivers, Garnett and Paul, the Clippers would have a championship team. Howard is the biggest factor here, as he has no idea how to make a big decision and he likely won't do it because he likes to make things super complicated, but if that all worked out, he would be coming into a bonafide championship contender.
The deal is tough on both sides and while Yahoo reports that the Lakers won't do it, that easily could change as the summer approaches and things get more restless with Howard, as he is likely not signing with the Lakers anyway. The team wants to give him a max deal and Kobe Bryant wants to re-sign him, but Howard has proven that he has no real idea what he wants to do and after the way things went with the Lakers, he likely will leave. It's amazing that a team with one of the best players of all-time and pedigree of Hall of Fame big men can't sign the best big man in the league, but Howard is who he is, just look at how it all went in Orlando.
The Clippers are trying to reshape their team to contend next season and their biggest priority is keeping Chris Paul, which is why all this is going down anyway. The toughest thing for the Lakers to swallow is losing Howard and getting nothing back, especially if he signs with the Clippers, but the team also would get back a budding superstar in return if they did the deal.
The Lakers would have to go through another slight rebuilding process if they did the trade, but that would leave them in a better position than just losing Howard. Bryant is coming back from a serious injury and while Griffin would look good in purple and gold, the Lakers may not want to try and help their fellow tenants in the Staples Center become champions. This deal has a lot of moving parts and still would be weeks away anyway.
