With the trade deadline looming, there was always the possibility of a blockbuster deal taking place and the Los Angeles Clippers provided it on Monday night.In a shock move, the franchise traded superstar Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons in return for Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic and multiple draft picks.The news stunned the NBA world with many taking to social media to express their disbelief at the team's decision to offload one of the best power forwards in the league.It was even more surprising given that fact that Griffin committed to the Clippers by signing a five-year, $171 million deal in free agency just months ago.The organisation put on an extravagant presentation to the five-time All-Star and sold him on how he could retire with the team and become a legend.But the front office has quickly backtracked and decided to part ways with the 28-year-old in a bid to rebuild the roster with young players.According to Marc Stein of the New York Times, however, the Clippers also made this move with the hope of securing a certain free agent in the summer.Per Stein: "The Clippers clearly believe they can make it onto LeBron James’ free-agent short list come July and, according to league sources, will indeed move DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams before the February 8 trade deadline if they can find workable deals to help them in that quest."

Multiple reports have reiterated Stein's claim that Los Angeles is still in the market to try and offload both Jordan and Williams.

Both players can become free agents in the summer and the Clips believe they are the best trade assets they have and can get significant value for them.

But with both Griffin and Chris Paul already departing and Jordan set to follow them out of the door, their chances of attracting LeBron would look extremely slim.

With the added cap space, they'll need to try and secure a number of marquee free agents and hope that James and others, most notably Paul George, will be willing to form the NBA's next superteam in L.A.

The Clippers will continue to dominate the headlines in the coming weeks and it'll be interesting to see what other moves they have up their sleeve ahead of the deadline.