The Clippers are looking to make a deep playoff run, and now reportedly were looking to secure a perimeter defensive stopper for that stretch run.
Pro Basketball Talk is reporting that the Clippers owner vetoed a deal that would have sent Caron Butler to Washington to Trevor Ariza.
Reports suggest Donald Sterling vetoed a deal that was in place.
L.A. and Washington had a done deal Wednesday night that would have sent forward Trevor Ariza to the Clippers in exchange for Caron Butler, giving L.A. a long, defensive-oriented body to throw at the likes of Kevin Durant in the playoffs. (Butler, who still has an offseason home in the D.C. area, and who was loved by the locals, didn’t have a problem returning to a non-Arenas Wizards locker room. He’d have been welcomed back as a much-needed offensive option, according to sources.)
But sources indicated that Clippers owner Donald Sterling nixed the deal Thursday morning, not wanting to gamble on the team’s chemistry being affected in any way down the stretch.
Ariza is definitely a better defender, but really offers nothing on the offensive end. It actually was a good decision by Sterling who usually doesn’t make good choices.
It would really have been a dumb trade. Ariza’s more effective on a guard or forward he has a size advantage on. There’s nothing he could really do to stop the likes of KD.