4 reasons Stephen A Smith's "blockbuster trade" makes sense

When I've first heard of the trade that Smith suggested as "already being talked about in NBA circles," my immediate reaction was to spurt the coffee I was drinking at that moment all over my laptop. That didn't happen because it was instant coffee and it tasted like mud but because Smith's proposal -or the proposal he heard of in NBA circles- was just ridiculous. Or so I thought. It just got me thinking: Yes, the Clippers are in panic mode right now and don't want CP3 to leave, but would they seriously consider this deal? Do they regret turning down the trade deadline deal so much that they decided to offer their All-Star player as a nice gesture in that trade? Could trading Griffin, Bledsoe and Butler for KG, Pierce and Doc become the trade of the decade, if not the century? Or perhaps more importantly, has someone been burning a giant pile of marijuana in close proximity of the Clippers HQ? (It's LA, after all, anything is possible. Terry P could tell us more on that.)

But then I started thinking real hard, like, imagine Willem Dafoe in Boondock Saints, and I realized there were in fact multiple reasons why such a deal would make sense. It all comes down to some outside-the-box thinking, which we know the beloved Clippers owner Donald Sterling and Co. has always been capable of. That trade indeed has the potential to be discussed in NBA circus.
You can see a total of 6 NBA circles in this picture (one is covered by a tail).
1. Clippers need a cheap backup PG, and Doc is the answer: Yes, Bledsoe is a great player with a lot of upside. His stats were really impressive when he played for Chris Paul during regular season as he battled injury. However, Bledsoe's contract is not a cheap one as he's making an immense sum of 2.5 millions this year and has a qualifying offer of 3.75 mil the year after. We know that the market for backup PGs is really dry, so you need to either find a talent from overseas or look real hard at the domestic options. Dig down deep. Deeeeeeeep. And you got Doc Rivers, who was one of the best in his time.

Many people will dismiss the idea as ridiculous, but you know that there is a team out there with one 40-year-old oft injured PG, one 35-year-old-rookie PG and one fat dude running the show that is in the Second Round of the Playoffs. Doc is the perfect combination of Kidd, Prigioni and Felton: He's experienced, can play/coach through injuries and is slightly overweight, but probably still fitter than Felton. That would be a great pickup for the Clippers.

2. The Clippers are moving to the Eastern Conference: Fact: The EC playoff series are getting way lower ratings than their Western counterparts. (Raise your hand if you watched 5 minutes of the Hawks-Pacers series.) Abominable fact: The Heat has dominated this side of the league. Fact: There is some talent scattered around, but the right combination of athleticism and experience is nowhere to be found.

Fact: The Clippers have busted out early and it doesn't look like they will survive in Western Conference. Fact: The city of Los Angeles already has one beloved team, and seeing them achieve less than their local rivals is not something the NBA could tolerate.

Now put two and two together (well, technically three and two as I have listed five facts, but because two a.. anyway you get the idea) The Clippers will relocate to a city in the East Coast (maybe Virginia Beach? They might have failed to allure the Maloofs, but apparently no one on earth can do that), and to be able to compete in the grit-and-balls style basketball played over here, they'll need veterans like KG and Pierce. That's the only reason one team would give up young stars for players with a couple of years left in them.

Maybe it's this version of Blake that we're trading for.
3. Kia wants to enter Boston market: Kia, the official car sponsor of NBA and Blake Griffin, is going through difficult times. No, there hasn't been new findings about the alleged fixing of 2011 Slam Dunk Contest, that is history now. The bad news is that Kia reported a 35 percent slump in Q1 profit a couple of weeks ago, and when their competitors like Ford and Toyota are reporting increased sales, it is obvious that they need to enter a new market. Well, here's a no-brainer: relocate your basketball star to a new city. If you have driven around in Boston, you know that you should prefer a car with as much low fuel consumption as possible, and the world record holder for that should sell like crazy in Boston with a little push from Griffin.

4. The trade doesn't work on ESPN Trade Machine: Well, you might say that it is proof that this deal won't happen, but I say the opposite. First of all, Pierce's contract situation is weird, so I'm sure they can find a way around it. Secondly, that a trade doesn't work on TM does not mean that it isn't being discussed. See, earlier this season, there was a reported blockbuster trade between the Kings, the Lakers and the Celtics that started a fire on Twitter despite the fact that it was utterly implausible. Did it happen? No. But I'm sure it was discussed and it came this close to happening. Also, you know what's one way to make that trade work? Add DeAndre Jordan to the mix so that the Clippers give up one young star, one young All-Star, one player who could be of great value with a better contract in two years and one useful rotation player for two expensive All-Stars over 35. It has just made waaaay more sense. Holy crap (see picture).

So yes, let's give Stephen A. Smith some credit with this scoop. It's a trade that makes so much sense that Donald Sterling would get a statue next to the great Bill Russell's as an appreciation of his genius. Actually, make that statues of everyone in the Clippers front office.


-Follow me on Twitter @semioticusCL!