The Los Angeles Clippers continue to flounder so it shouldn’t come as a surprise if the team makes some personnel changes soon.
In fact, from a report from Yahoo Sports, the Clips had allegedly considered trading some of their players, notably the new face in Lance Stephenson and Josh Smith.
It seems that adding the two high-profile players hasn’t been giving the expected results and the obvious is seen in the NBA Western Conference standings, with the team sporting a 12-9 record.
Now that record could be something that any team would certainly be proud off. However, the fact that you have many high-profile players, the least of which are the Clippers, should merit more than fifth place.
Though the season is still early, it is apparent that head coach Doc Rivers hasn’t gotten the mileage from the two players.
Stephenson was already a risk from day one, someone who lost his fire when he ditched the Indiana Pacers and moved to the Charlotte Hornets. Stephenson didn’t really make any noise though Rivers had hoped he would in LA, as mentioned on CBS Sports last month.
To date, he hasn’t shown a game that makes him stand out, so it remains to be seen if he will stay, bought out or traded.
Then there is Josh Smith who has seen his career pick up a bit with the Houston Rockets. He, of course, had his best years with the Atlanta Hawks, but everything went sour when he joined the Detroit Pistons.
After being picked up by the Rockets last season, Smith proved he could still be effective in more ways than one. And such was what Rivers was hoping he could add for the Clippers coming off the bench, but alas, nothing close to that has happened.
There was, of course, that shouting match that he had with an unnamed LA Clippers coach during one of the team’s losses, which in all tells how the Clippers woes are piling up, as reported on the NY Post.
Right now, both will likely remain with the Clippers seeing that the team is saddled with injuries to key players. As to how long that will be is anyone’s guess though there could be some moves starting Dec. 15 when over 100 players who signed on as free agents in the offseason can be dealt in trades.
So will the Clips eventually trade Stephenson and Smith? If so, where could they possibly land next?
"There is not much of a market for them," one NBA executive said via Yahoo Sports. "They are buyout candidates. Maybe Lance goes back to Indiana, you never know. You won't get back much for them."