7 of 7

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Record: 8-14

Net Rating: -2.6 (22nd)

Net Rating Last 10: -7.6 (25th)

Patrick Beverley is done for the season. Milos Teodosic hasn't played since Oct. 21 while dealing with a plantar fascia injury. Danilo Gallinari has been on the shelf since Nov. 5 with a strained left glute.

DeAndre Jordan is being squeezed by a shortage of quality playmakers and perimeter pests. The number of possessions he finishes as the pick-and-roll diver is down almost 35 percent compared to last year, and opponents are shooting better than 67 percent against him at the rim.

Head coach Doc Rivers is subsisting on heavy amounts of Wesley Johnson. Austin Rivers leads the Los Angeles Clippers in total possession time. Only the Nets are sporting a crummier half-court defense, according to Cleaning The Glass.

Oh yeah: And Blake Griffin will miss up to two months with a sprained left MCL.

Someone must tell the Los Angeles Clippers they have to tear this thing down. Or maybe the front office is already taking the hint.

Multiple teams have contacted the Clippers about Jordan's availability, per the Washington Post's Tim Bontemps. Moving him is the most crucial part of any tank job. He should net a nice young player or two and some cap relief, even with his looming free agency.

Would the Bucks do John Henson, Mirza Teletovic and D.J. Wilson for Jordan and Sam Dekker? Could the Clippers extract a protected 2020 or later first-rounder out of them as well? Might the Toronto Raptors build something around OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam and Jonas Valanciunas? The Racine Journal Times' Gery Woelfel heard the Minnesota Timberwolves are in the running for Jordan. Can the Clippers convince Tom Thibodeau to fork over Gorgui Dieng and a 2020 first-rounder if they agree to take back Cole Aldrich?



Capitalizing on Lou Williams' contract-year detonation is imperative as well. At 31, with a payday on the horizon, he won't garner the moon, but a contender might flip a pick or prospect. Knowing the Sixers have max cap space on the brain, Los Angeles should see if they'll give up their own first while offloading Jerryd Bayless in exchange for Williams and expiring filler (Brice Johnson?).

Dumping Johnson, Rivers and even Gallinari and Teodosic equates to bonus tanking but isn't totally necessary. Getting rid of Jordan and Williams puts the Clippers in line for a top-five pick and a chance to re-evaluate remaining vets over the summer—at which time a healthy Beverley is probably enough to grease the wheels of such salary dumps anyway.

Who knows, the Clippers might get lucky: Johnson and/or Rivers could opt out, leaving them with a clear(ish) path to cap space as they usher in the all-Blake-everything era.

Unless otherwise cited, all stats are courtesy of NBA.com or Basketball Reference and current leading into games on Dec. 4.

Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale) and listen to his Hardwood Knocks podcast co-hosted by B/R's Andrew Bailey.