There’s only one “Mann” standing between James Harden and a trade to the Clippers. No, it’s not Daryl Morey.
What’s holding up the L.A. Clippers and their pursuit of James Harden is the team’s unwillingness to include Terance Mann in a trade. The Sixers want an unprotected pick, a pick swap, matching salaries — and Mann, the Clippers’ 6-foot-5 wing who turned 27 years old Wednesday. The Clippers don’t want to give him up.
Mann averaged 8.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists last year, shooting 38.9 percent from three-point range. He started 36 games, but his minutes dropped to 23.1 per game as head coach Tyronn Lue gave Mann inconsistent playing time. Even now, Lue hasn’t committed to Mann starting, or even being one of the finalists to start.
The Sixers aren’t planning to give Mann playing time either. Reportedly, Philadelphia already has “trades lined up in which it would receive a first-round pick in exchange for Mann.” While the Clippers have been trying to acquire more draft capital for a deal, Morey reportedly only wants the Clippers’ own picks. It appears that Morey wants to bet on the Clippers being bad in the future, making their picks more valuable.
Morey called the Clippers “unserious” for refusing to include Mann in the deal, but arguably it’s equally unserious of the Sixers to demand Mann. Again, this is a player who averaged fewer than nine points last year, and who the 76ers want to trade.
Mann is a perfectly fine NBA player, but not really a prospect at age 27. But it’s typical of the stalemate between the Sixers and Clippers that their trade is being held up over a guy who likely won’t play much for either team next year.
