The Clippers Cannot Carelessly Trade Lou Williams

Lou Williams brings a value that is hard to match

Lou Williams has been the subject of numerous trade rumors, but haphazardly trading him would be an absolute mistake.

Year after year, Lou Williams' name seems to be associated with trade rumors, and year after year he always produces. Right now, it would just be impossible to get the same value Lou Williams brings for his contract. Williams is only earning $8 million a year and is a player that brings genuine leadership to the Clippers. Obviously, he's finally starting to get on the tail-end of his career, but Williams brings more than that. Performance-wise, he's still averaging 11/3/2 on 43/39/86. He's still averaging 5 points a game in the fourth quarter, good for 40th in the league.

As Ivica Zubac has been given a bench role, he's looked to Lou Williams for mentorship. Players need a steadying voice to help them accept a bench role. A big reason for the Clippers' recent bench success is because of that increased chemistry between Zubac and Williams.

"I'm just in a space where I want Zu to be great," Williams said. "I want to push him. I want to challenge him to be the best player he can be."

Lou Williams is a player who has said numerous times that he wants to retire on the LA Clippers. He's willing to do whatever the Clippers need in order to win a championship. Whether it's reducing his role, being more of a mentor, or taking players out to dinner. There are qualities players like he and Patrick Beverley have that are simply hard to replace. The Clippers have to avoid the same trap the Indiana Pacers fell for when they traded Danny Granger for Evan Turner. They may have traded for a superior player, but they lost an emotional leader in the locker room and never really recovered.

The only thing the Clippers should trade Lou Williams for is something that would absolutely bring in a championship. Otherwise, it's simply not worth throwing his name in the loop for.

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