Kevin Durant Trade Buzz Is the Last Thing the Clippers Need

With the first round of the NBA playoffs wrapping up soon, there will be eight more teams joining the Los Angeles Clippers on the sidelines. There will be introspection from these teams about where it all went wrong and how they can fix it in the offseason. The team in most desperate need of this will be the Houston Rockets.

Going up against the Los Angeles Lakers without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Rockets were considered heavy favorites to advance to the second round. Instead, they lost the first three games of the series in dispiriting fashion and are headed back to LA down 3-1. Since no team has ever mounted a comeback after losing the first three games of the series, it's safe to assume that the Rockets will be a first-round exit.

This will bring up serious questions about Kevin Durant's future with the franchise. In fact, the rumor mill has already begun speculating about his potential new destinations. The Ringer's Michael Pina had a list of teams that would "have varying degrees of interest" in KD, and it included the Clippers. He also mentioned that the Rockets would covet Darius Garland in such a trade.

Clipper Should Have Zero Interest in Trading for Kevin Durant

Not sure who needs to hear this after watching another Durant team fall well below expectations, but the Clippers would be making a massive mistake by chasing KD.

The Clippers just broke up a star duo in their mid-30s with a desire to get younger and more dynamic. Giving up your 26-year-old point guard to acquire 37-year-old Durant makes little to no sense.

Durant had a great regular season in his first season in Houston. He averaged over 36 minutes and played 78 games. He will almost certainly make an All-NBA team. He shot 52% from the field and 41.3% from three. He wasn't able to stay healthy for the playoffs. He missed Game 1 with a knee injury and Games 3 and 4 with an ankle sprain.

While KD has been remarkably healthy over the last couple of years, he will turn 38 before next season and has been playing a ton of minutes. He is due $43.9 million next season and has a player option for $46 million the season after. Giving up any assets of value for a year or two of Durant is certainly risky.

Plus, there is the fact that Durant's teams have consistently had chemistry issues over the years and have punched well below their weight. While he is capable of incredible individual numbers, he isn't necessarily making his teammates better or driving elite offense by himself when he is on the court.

When both players were in their primes, the idea of bringing Leonard and Durant would have been very appealing. Two unstoppable scorers who can also shoot and defend would have been a devastating duo. That is no longer the case. The Clippers can't get back to pursuing aging superstars to chase relevance and a shortcut to contention.

LA has the beginnings of a core after the arrival of Darius Garland. They have Kobe Sanders, Jordan Miller, Yanic Konan Niederhauser, and Bennedict Mathurin, who are on the same timeline. With a solid starting center, the Clippers can be a very competitive team next season as long as Leonard stays.

It's not like the Clippers would be a championship favorite in the loaded Western Conference if they traded for Durant. So, they shouldn't give up any of their future assets for the next shiny thing available on the market. Whether Steve Ballmer and Lawrence Frank agree, however, remains to be seen.

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