After trying to trade against Bradley Beal twice in the past, the Clippers finally have their shooting after having signed with the team after a contract repurchase with the Phoenix Suns this week.
“The third time is a charm,” said Clippers president on Saturday, the president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank.
Now Frank said the Clippers “strongly envisaged” a potential meeting with the former great franchise Chris Paul to finish their active summer. Paul, the 20 -year -old veteran, is a free agent. The Clippers want to add more game creation and ball handling, and the former quarter of the Lob City era franchise and the aid leader of all time is a possibility.
“What I would say of Chris is that he is a great player,” said Frank when he was asked if the Clippers would sign Paul afterwards. “It is a large mower. It obviously has some of the qualities that we (seek). And, of course, we consider it strongly, strongly.”
The clippers’ strong offseason also included the addition of the power striker John Collins and the Brook Lopez center and the flexibility creation of the salary cap so that they can be opportunistic in the next two summers to potentially attack the stars.
Beal signed with the Clippers for two years and $ 11 million with a player option, his agent Mark Bartelstein told ESPN on Wednesday. Collins will earn $ 26.5 million in the last season of his contract. James Harden has accepted an $ 81.5 million contract over two years, and the second year has a player option and is partly guaranteed. Lopez has signed an $ 18 million agreement over two years with a team option for the second year.
“We just wanted to set up the best list we could while preserving financial flexibility,” said Frank. “Which includes a path to a maximum space if we choose to follow this route (road). But I think everyone is great, super motivated.”
Frank noted that Harden was training on Saturday a few meters from him in the training center when he was on appeal with journalists. Harden played a role by helping to recruit Beal to the Clippers, even by spending 30 minutes on the phone with Bartelstein, according to Frank.
Beal has an average of 17 points and pulled 38.6% out of 3 in 53 games last season for the Suns. It was the least points that Beal has on average during a season since 2014-2015. Beal has seen its status as a full-time starting change while the Guard has left the bench in 15 games, the first time it was a reserve since the 2015-2016 season.
But the mowers think they will be better suited to Beal. They will obtain a 32 -year -old goalkeeper who collected an average of 21.5 points, 4.3 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 37.6% behind the arc for his career.
Beal will start not only with the shooting goalkeeper, but should also help fill the shooting vacuum and mark left by Norman Powell, who was exchanged in Miami Heat in the agreement that helped the Clippers land Collins.
Beal shooting and score are an ideal adjustment alongside Harden and Kawhi Leonard, and he can help take the burden and distribute the first.
“Not taking a kind of light in Phoenix, but playing with James is a lot different from their situation,” said Frank. “Obviously, Brad was very successful in playing with John Wall (in Washington). He was actually a great success by playing with Russ (Westbrook in Washington). So we can watch these situations.
“I think that some of the fields which, especially at the Washington era, were able to explore with the same level of talent (there), I think we will be able to pull a little more (here). As with his play of Pick-And-Roll, it is different when you have the guys that we have the spy this beautiful balance of defense and offense on the ground.”
After losing in seven games against the Denver Nuggets during the first round of the playoffs, the Clippers think they have reinforced their list around a healthy Leonard to be competitive at the top of the Western Conference.
“With a healthy kawhi to start the season, we felt like us, we are in a better place,” said Frank. “He’s going very well. It is in good health, which is not only a physical thing. It is also a mental and emotional thing to enter into an offseason without undergoing surgery.
“So he feels good, he worked extremely hard. He has aligned trips. He will go to Africa at the end of the month. He continues to work. We will send a coach with him. He is super excited by the list, about the season, and that he will be able to start a training camp.”
