Who Should the Clippers Trade For?

Normally, we spend lots and lots of time telling our readers what trades are rumored, what trades we think are possible, what trade targets we like.  But now, we're going to do something a little different.  Turning the keys over to you, tell us in the comments what mock trade you like best.  We'll pick some of the most intriguing suggestions and analyze them, crediting  whoever came up with the idea.

Use our numbers, use your brain.

Here's a breakdown of the Clippers' most likely-to-be-traded pieces, what their salaries are, what their appeal is to other teams, and the rules the Clippers must abide by in making trades.  Please follow these rules or else your trade will be illegal under the CBA.  To find the salaries of potential targets, I recommend BasketballInsiders.com--the salary pages there are maintained by Eric Pincus, who is one of the best in the business.

Get to work!

The Clippers currently owe their 2017 pick to Milwaukee.  Due to protections it can possibly roll over through 2019, meaning the first pick the Clippers can trade is either their 2021 first rounder, or the following second rounders: 2016 in any range between 31-55, the right to swap with Brooklyn in 2016 (if the pick is within a range the Clippers own), and all years 2019 and on.  For information on other teams' draft pick assets, check out RealGM's Future Drafts Detailed.

The Clippers are a taxpaying team.  As a taxpayer, they cannot acquire a signed-and-traded player, and they can only take back 125% of outgoing salary, plus $100,000.  For Jamal Crawford's salary of $5,675,000, that means the Clippers can take back $7,193,750.

However, by aggregating Crawford's salary with other players, the Clippers can potentially bring back more salary.  The obvious candidates for such a deal are C.J. Wilcox, Jordan Hamilton, and Lester Hudson.

Hamilton and Hudson both have fully non-guaranteed contracts, meaning that any team could waive them for cap relief.  If either player has utility for their new team, they can also be kept for their friendly $1,015,421 salaries.  The receiving team would have early bird rights on the two veterans next summer.

C.J. Wilcox, the sophomore shooter who didn't get much of an opportunity on the Clippers last season, could also be included in a trade if the Clippers' partner had interest in him as a prospect.  He only makes $1,159,680 in 2016, with two team options and restricted free agency following.  While he doesn't offer the same cap relief in a trade, he could provide more basketball value to a team seeking more than just cap flexibility.

Here is a table of potential packages, and their maximum possible incoming salary.