It's TRADE SZN!
In a move not many anticipated, the Clippers dealt Austin Rivers to Washington in exchange for Marcin Gortat.
It's significant for a few reasons:
- Doc (Lawrence Frank) traded his son
- LAC's new rookie backcourt should get immediate minutes
- LAC is (likely) moving on from DeAndre Jordan
- Washington acquired a reliable third guard behind Brad Beal & John Wall
Both teams seem to be establishing some sense of direction: the Wiz wanted a divorce from Gortat (& needed backcourt help) while the Clips are determined to go into 2018-19 w/ a drastically different look.
Is LAC completely rebuilding? That remains to be seen...
For now, both teams are doing a bit of "re-tooling" before an important 2018 summer.
Rivers, 25, avg. a career-high 15.1 ppg a year ago.
Gortat, 34, has career averages of 10.2 ppg & 8.1 rpg.
*and later release