Hear me out. After losing PG to Philly, the Clippers desperately need a third ‘star’ to run with Kawhi and Harden. The contract lengths match up, and if this team ultimately fails (which, let’s be real, it will) then they can switch to a rebuild at the start of the 27/28 season with Kawhi, LaVine and Harden off the books. They won’t have their FRP unprotected until 2030, but who know at that point, there might be some free agents who want to go to LA.

Predicted 10-man lineup: Harden/ KPJ, LaVine/ Mann, Kawhi/ Batum DJJ/ Brown, Zubac/ Bamba.

As for the Bulls; the rebuild is officially here. After trading Caruso and DeMar, and letting Drummond go, LaVine and Vucevic are the last dominos to fall. This trade gives a floor spacing 6 man in Powell who will fit nicely with the newly acquired Giddey. Bones can be a nice backup 1 with the uncertainty surrounding Lonzo, and Tucker and Coffey as salary fillers.

Predicted 10-man lineup: Giddey/ Hyland, White/ Powell, Buzelis/ Dosunmu, Williams/ Craig, Vucevic/ Smith