Fansided

Clippers ‘stealth candidate’ for LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony or Kevin Love?

By Bryan Rose

May 3, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General view of the Los Angeles Clippers logo on the court before game seven of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs against the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
May 3, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General view of the Los Angeles Clippers logo on the court before game seven of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs against the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Los Angeles Clippers, despite being one of the NBA’s most woeful franchises for decades have turned the corner into a perennial powerhouse and now that the Sterling family is all but gone thanks to what is likely to be new ownership, there could be some big moves coming.

More from LeBron James

There’s no doubt that Steve Ballmer, the Clippers soon-to-be majority owner is looking to make a big slash and there’s even been talk in NBA circles that they could be looking to obtain a player like LeBron James, Kevin Love or Carmelo Anthony. Of course, those all seem like pipe dreams (namely because they are), but NBA.com’s David Aldridge believes the Clippers are a dark horse candidate for those players though suggests it would cost a pretty penny to acquire them, including DeAndre Jordan.

“A stealth candidate for the LeBrons and Carmelos and Loves. But it will cost them DeAndre Jordan at minimum,” says Aldridge.

The Clippers do have some things going for them. Outside of being in Los Anglees, they have Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, so there’s no doubt they’re going to be a top team in the Western Conference moving forward. Given that, it’s possible that Love, Anthony or James could be intrigued with the idea of playing for the Clippers though such a move would require a sign-and-trade given the Clippers don’t have the available funds to sign any of the three (or in Love’s case, trade for).

Given that, that’s why Aldridge appears to speculate that Jordan would be the main target of a trade, though, they’d obviously have to part with much more – though he wouldn’t exactly be a poor return for a team like the Wolves, Knicks or even Heat if they were assured their star player was leaving.