Kawhi Leonard wants Clippers' front office to acquire a point guard
As the NBA's Feb. 9 trade deadline approaches, the Los AngelesClippers have repeatedly popped up in in the rumor mill as anaggressive buyer.
Like the Phoenix Suns, the Clippers are reportedly looking toacquire a point guard — with Fred VanVleet, Mike Conley, Kyle Lowryand D'Angelo Russell among the players mentioned astargets.
Lately, the Clippers have been getting creative at point guard,with Paul George and Terance Mann starting in place of ReggieJackson and John Wall (who has been out with an abdominal injury).(Mann's versatility has been on display this season, as he's played46% of his minutes at shooting guard, 34% at small forward, 17% atpoint guard and 4% at power forward, according to Basketball Reference.)
Finding an upgrade at point guard would make life easier forGeorge and Kawhi Leonard — the latter of whom has reportedly talkedto the Clippers' front office about finding a floor general.
"Kawhi Leonard has made it clear to the Clippers front officethat he would welcome a point guard addition, and it’s no surprisethat two of his former teammates on his championship Raptors team,Lowry and VanVleet, are on their short list of targets,"reportsMatt Moore of the ActionNetwork.
The Clippers are 28-25, which is the fourth-best record in theWestern Conference. They boast the NBA's 11th-ranked defense(allowing 110.3 points per 100 possessions) and 19th-ranked offense(scoring 110.8 points per 100 possessions).
The Clippers entered this season as the fourth-oldest team inthe NBA, with an average age of 27.98 years old. Also, the averageClippers player has been in the NBA for 6.56 seasons, making themthe second-most experienced team in the NBA (trailing only theMilwaukee Bucks).
Leonard (31) and George (32) aren't getting any younger, andneither are key role players like Marcus Morris Sr. (33), RobertCovington (32), Nicolas Batum (34), Jackson (32) and Wall (32). Awin-now move or two would make a lot of sense for the Clippersgiven their window.
It remains to be seen if they're willing to part with the assetsit would take to land a notable guard like VanVleet, Lowry, Conleyor Russell.
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