NBA Rumors: Los Angeles Clippers would deal Blake Griffin for LeBron James
Largely due to his friendship with Chris Paul, Miami Heat forward LeBron James will likely be interested in joining the Los Angeles Clippers should he decide the Heat are not the team for him once he becomes an unrestricted free agent next week.
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According to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times, Clippers’ president of basketball operations and Doc Rivers would consider moving power forward Blake Griffin if it meant acquiring James.
"Doc Rivers, the Clippers’ president of basketball operations and coach, and his staff are doing their due diligence to make the team better and would consider moving All-Star power forward Blake Griffin along with others in a sign-and-trade deal to get James, according to the officials.The Clippers could consider sending Griffin and Jared Dudley or Griffin and Matt Barnes to Miami to get James.The Clippers wouldn’t mind trading DeAndre Jordan, Jamal Crawford and either Barnes or Dudley to the Heat for James, but the team knows that would most likely be hard to do.One official said James really liked Rivers and was good friends with Clippers point guard Chris Paul.&Another official said James’ wife, Savannah, really loved Los Angeles, and that her preference would be for her husband to play for the Clippers rather than the Lakers if he decided to leave."
Although the Heat don’t want to participate in a sign-and-trade, if James does decide to leave, getting a young all-star like Griffin is an excellent return.
James averaged 27.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 56.7% from the field, 37.9% from three and 75.0% from the charity stripe last season. Griffin put up 24.1 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 52.8% form the field, 27.3% form beyond the arc and 71.5% from the free throw line.