The Los Angeles Clippers are swapping former general choice number 27 Mfiondu Kabengele for the Sacramento Kings, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Kings will also receive money from the Clippers, and the two teams will exchange highly protected choices in the second round. The Kings made Kabengele a commercial exception that would expire today.
The motivation for Clippers is transparent. By hiring Serge Ibaka with the exception of an intermediate non-paying level this season, the Clippers have limited themselves to the apron, meaning that they cannot spend more than $ 139,928,000 on player salaries for any reason. Entering Monday, they only had about $ 500,000 in the room under the hard ceiling. This made negotiations with longer terms almost impossible and would have restricted them in the acquisition market. They now have about $ 2.6 million in space to work, along with an extra spot on the list. They now only have 13 players on the team, so they can hire at least two veterans if they don’t make any deals.
The Kings, meanwhile, take a look at a young player who hasn’t had a chance to play much on a rival Clippers team. In two seasons, he recorded just 158 minutes of playing time in 35 appearances. In college, he looked exactly the kind of athletic center and kick blocker that the Kings need. Now, they can give him playing time in the stretch of a lost season and see if he is able to play a role for them in the next season. The Clippers declined their third-year option, however, Kabengele will be a free agent this offseason.
This is not a blockbuster by any stretch of the imagination, but the Clippers are not the type of team that gives up on an earlier choice of the first round for no reason. They probably have plans with that extra flexibility that they created. We’ll see what they’ll do with it in the next few days.