Doc Rivers will likely coach the Clippers next season, but his future with the organization beyond that is sketchy, Jovan Buha of The Athletic opines. The way the 2020/21 season plays out will determine Rivers’ future with the franchise, Buha continues. There will be even more pressure for the Clippers to finally reach the Finals for the first time, Buha adds, and if it doesn’t happen then there could be a mutual parting of ways.
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- The Suns hope their $45MM practice facility will be finished in October, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The courts are still being installed and painted, team officials told Rankin. Team owner Robert Sarver originally targeted August for the completion of the privately-financed facility.
- New Kings GM Monte McNair is expected to retain assistant GM and salary cap expert Ken Catanella, James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area reports. Catanella has been in the Sacramento front office since 2016 following a five-year stint with the Pistons.
- Clippers teammates Montrezl Harrell and Paul George got into a heated verbal exchange during a timeout of Game 2 against Denver, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. George committed a turnover on an attempted half-court pass to Harrell, which was intercepted by Jamal Murray. George told Harrell the pass could have been caught if he made the right play and that made Harrell angry.
Lakers dodged a bullet with pandemic Paul not signing with them.. he isn’t a winner..he’s a title chaser now.. couldn’t win in Indiana so he left, couldn’t win with Russ And now couldn’t win with kawhi. He’s a joke
And the Clippers went out and traded 5 first round picks and 2 swaps for him + 2 good players in Shai and Gallo. Insanity to trade that much for a choker.
In fairness they really traded that to get Kawhi.
Still a dumb move but they wouldn’t have done it if Kawhi would have signed without it.
Yes that’s absolutely correct. Kawhi would have re-signed in Toronto or signed w the Lakers if the Clippers couldn’t get Paul George. Fact.
If PG13 didn’t reup w the Thunder, and signed w the Lakers, it could have been LBJ, AD and PG13 tho.
I doubt pelicans trade ad to the Lakers bc those picks would have been worthless
@Noel1982: Those picks would be worth the same regardless of whether PG was on LAL or not; the ones conveyed in the next yr or 2 would be late 1st rd picks, the ones conveyed later would be unpredictable b/c they’re so far removed…
Total non-sequitur, but remember how bad LAL looked after trading for Nash? Yeah, Nash got hurt & retired w/o contributing much to LAL, but interestingly, but none of those picks turned out to a solid NBA starter… Mikal Bridges is young, & may turn out to be a solid contributor, & arguably a better team might’ve picked better players (Shai was on the board when Bridges was picked), but even so… When you think of the actual players those picks turned into, the trade wasn’t as terrible as people think it was.
Anyway, it’s possible that LAL could’ve gotten AD even if PG had signed w/ them, tho it would’ve been much, much more difficult to do so b/c the salaries wouldn’t have matched up. LAL was only able to trade for AD b/c LAL was under the cap (if my math is correct, LAL had $21M or so outgoing, & $27M+ incoming), but if PG had signed the yr. before, LAL would’ve been over the cap & would’ve needed to include more salaries to make the numbers add up.
Hypothetically, if LAL had signed PG & successfully traded for PG, I think PG would’ve been fine b/c he would’ve been LAL’s 3rd scorer, versus LAC’s 2nd scorer, meaning PG would’ve been taking fewer high leverage shots & been guarded by worse defenders.
I think you meant *signed PG & successfully traded for ‘AD’* at the end… yes agree and I recall, shortly after, HR had a what-if page for that topic.
Probably Lebron did not want PG13. PG13’s history shows that he is recruitable but there is little sign Lebron made a serious effort. Of course he went full for AD, who was worth the max, and has the reputation for it, unlike PG13. There really isn’t room for three max players on a current roster without losing flexibilty, and Lebron was careful about who the second max player was. I assume Pelinka & Earvin J had this all worked out.
There’s a story where kawhi told Toronto that aren’t good enough to repeat.. little did kawhi know that the raptors probably repeat if he would’ve stayed
Shai is gonna be a star.. he was a jerry west pick.. they will regret that trade.. but clips did fleece the rockets for cp3..so it evens out I guess..
I don’t know if “fleeced” is the right word; I think it was a veritable win-win trade.
The Clippers were able to to lay the foundation for their current team by acquiring Montrezl, Beverly, & Lemon Pepper Lou, but let’s say OKC balks at trading PG to the Clips, then where would the Clips be? Kawhi either stays in TOR or signs w/ the Lakers, & the Clips remain mediocre. In that way, the value of that trade completely hinges on that PG deal. W/o that PG trade, the CP3 trade doesn’t work out that well for the Clips.
What did HOU get out of the CP3 trade? They won 65 games that yr. (10 more than the yr. before), finished w/ the best record in the NBA, made it to the Conference Finals, & were a game (or CP3 injury) away from beating the eventual NBA champs in the conference finals. HOU was up 3-2 on a loaded GSW team before CP3 got hurt, so arguably, HOU was a CP3 injury away from winning a title. CP3 also had a very underrated year that year. Yes, his overall numbers were down, but advanced stats say that he 1 of the top 4 guards in the NBA that year, & deserved to be on 1 of the All-NBA Teams, ahead of Steph, Oladipo, DeRozen, & Westbrook.
Ultimately, the value of the trade is largely dependent on secondary factors (CP3’s injury, & OKC’s willingness to trade PG). As is, the trade probably worked out better for the Clips only b/c of the moves that happened afterward (PG trade/Kawhi signing), but it’s not a fleecing.
How a bout a sign and trade with raptors getting Harrell, Williams and Beverley for Lowry
Picks or a 3rd team to take Beverley can be added like maybe Beverley to Chicago and sato to clips
Those three guys are already what they are; they would change what Ujiri built. Of course the Raps would have kept Kawhi, but he was a quiet hired gunner.
Lakers 1 is correct….PG is a choker joker. Indiana fans don’t miss him….we are better without him. He kept shooting and missing. Lou williams is clutch…but how many shots did he get in game 7 second half??? Not enough. Clippers have a problem…chemistry problem.
PG is a choker was correct. KD should of gone to Clippers to join Lenard.
Kawhi wanted ball George. More of a sidekick than Kevin Durant would have been.
I think that’s 100.. kawhi didn’t want to be second fiddle.. is pg really a star?
PG13 is one of the top defenders in the entire NBA. Crazy to lay all the blame on him.
Not true Paul George was the last option for Kawhi. Kd ,Kyrie and Butler were ahead on the list.
Paul George is not a team player but a I player. Obviously he thinks the NBA revolves around him.
KD? The Clippers should never have even considered KD, & the Nets were foolish for signing him to that massive contract. He’s going to be 32 yrs old next week, & he demanded a full max contract last yr., even tho he was going to miss the entire 1st yr. of the contract (at $37M+) w/ a ruptured Achilles tendon, which is a brutal injury.
Of all the NBA players who have suffered that injury, not one in the last 30 years has ever come back to their previous form. Yeah, KD supporters can say that comps like Brand, Cousins, & Okur don’t apply b/c this injury affects bigs more than lighter players like KD. They can say comps like Kobe & Chauncy don’t fit b/c they were 4 or more yrs older than KD. The best comp in terms of age & position might be Rudy Gay & Wesley Matthews, & neither were the same again. The most optimistic comp is Dominque Wilkins, who tore his Achilles at age 32 in 1992, & came back & made 2 more All-Star teams. But even ‘Nique had to change his game; he became more of a jump shooter, less of the Human Highlight Reel, than he was before the injury.
KD will still be good b/c that jump shot isn’t going away, but he’s not going to be as explosive or as quick as he was before. He certainly won’t be worth the $120M that he’s owed the next 3 yrs…
KD will be a lot better off if he doesn’t do what he did coming back for GSW, trying to force his offense with changes of direction in the middle. Like Wilkins, just shoot jumpers. He will still be hard to stop.
Durant & Irving are like George & Kawhi and James & Love, packages. BOGO expensive!
I believed Domonique Wilkins is the only player that came back from that injury and played well..
How about Lou Will and Pat Beverly for Eric Bledsloe and the 24th pick in the draft.
Obviously both team needs a shake up.
Clippers get Bledsloe a quieter player but still a great defender and probably a better play maker and would suit Kawhi in the locker room more. Plus they get a first round pick which they need.
Bucks get Beverly more of an outspoken leader and on the court who is a slightly better defender and probably a better shooter from deep. Plus they get Lou Will who even at an old age puts up crazy numbers off the bench and would give the team some offence with Giannis off the floor.
Then hope the clippers can resign Marcus Morris and let Harrell go and also sign Marc Gasol
Use free agency and the draft to fill out the roster
1. Bledsloe.
2. PG. Shamet
3. Kawhi. McGruder. Mann
4. Morris.
5. Gasol. Zubac
A lot of trades look good nowadays; that and a slim FA market and the effect of the restart is why I think there will be more trades this offseason.
This sort of trade will finish what Kawhi started— out with the old, in with the new. But it would work.
They would also have Jy.Green & Reggie Jackson, though like Harrell they could get more minutes elsewhere.
Resigning Green would make sense but he probably could get a bigger role and money elsewhere same with Reggie
After blowing 3-1 leads in the second round of the playoffs twice in 5 years it’s hard to believe any coach could keep his job, even Doc Rivers.
Balmer is the only reason Doc stays. Rookie owner.