Despite a disappointing first-round playoff exit that saw Paul George (right knee sprain) and Kawhi Leonard (torn right meniscus) sidelined with injuries, the Clippers remain committed to their star duo, a person with knowledge of the situation tells Mark Medina of Sportsnaut.com.
As Medina writes, both players have missed significant time due to injuries since the Clippers acquired them in the 2019 offseason, but they are under contract through at least 2023/24, with player options for ’24/25. The Clippers still believe George and Leonard are in the prime of their careers and are “enamored” with their ability to play both ends of the court.
Here’s more on the Clippers:
- Leonard is still exploring his options with team doctors to determine whether or not he’ll need surgery for his meniscus tear, according to Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times, who reports that the process could take a while. Greif points out that the Clippers will have a challenging offseason because they’re projected to be well over the luxury tax again and three of their veteran forwards (Marcus Morris, Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington) had inconsistent seasons, making them difficult to trade.
- Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times believes the Clippers should trade Leonard or George, or perhaps even both, arguing that their inability to stay on the court has made them more detrimental than beneficial. Plaschke considers the Clippers legitimate contenders when both players are healthy and praises the organization as a whole, in particular owner Steve Ballmer, but thinks all of that is ultimately irrelevant when Leonard and George simply don’t play enough games for it to matter.
- Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca makes the opposite case, arguing that the Clippers should stick with Leonard because he is perhaps the most dominant postseason performer in the world when healthy. Grange believes Leonard’s desire to win championships is undeniable, pointing to Toronto’s title run in 2019 as evidence.
- George, who turns 33 next week, believes he can be productive for several more seasons, writes Law Murray of The Athletic. “I think I got a lot of good years in me, I know Kawhi thinks he’s got a lot of good years in him,” George said before Game 5. “I mean, I’m not going to put any pressure on that anytime soon. The only thing I can do is continue to just work on my game, work on myself and just try to be available as much as possible. … It hurts to not play and watch the guys put it all in the line and not be able to do the same. It’s very frustrating, and it sucks. It really does suck.”
- In another article for The Athletic, Murray writes that guard Russell Westbrook made a positive impact on many people within the organization during his few months with the Clippers. His strong playoff showing may convince a rival team to offer him more money in free agency than the Clippers are able to, so retaining him might be difficult unless he’s willing to take a discount, says Murray.
Westbrook is a legend if he is a team leader
Freedom is the key for him to succeed
I recognized him as a triple double super superstar
Ryan Russilo talks about this but okay, PG, Kawhi not staying healthy. Trade them. For who? You need superstars to win (Knicks please prove me wrong!) If a team is looking to deal a superstar, you have to ask why. So who are you trading Kawhi for that is also winning you a chip?
Kawhi will push off the surgery then require surgery later and miss the entire season.
This
PG13 will suffer another setback next season but be ready for the playoffs only to come down with a different injury.
Lol wash and repeat.
Maybe they can’t make the playoffs at all…
Would be good for the thunder
Well, they do still get a lot of minutes on 2k.
And they bring a lot of revenue to the Flippers with merchandise and tickets.
So yeah, they’ll continue making a lot of money and eating up the cap space over there.
A real GM would trade them both for young assets while they still have value.
Westbrick will lead the Clippers in scoring for the 23-24 season averaging 24-8-11 on 42% and 28% shooting.
That it came from a person with knowledge of the situation is assuring. I wouldn’t want to wonder if it was just the mumblings of one of Medina’s usual soucres.
The way the Clippers handled their depth in this series was confusing. They had guys like Covington basically in case Paul George and/or Kawhi got hurt, which they did, but then they didnt use their wing depth…
On paper, I had the Clippers beating Phoenix in a matchup, but it was close, so injuries that big are significant, and utilizing your depth/advantages in a matchup are significantly important to the outcome
I don’t know what to do with the Clippers moving forward but I know the one thing they shouldn’t do this offseason is talk any kind of ext with KI/PG
This could upset them, it could lead to them walking (after next year) or even grumble for a trade, but you face those consequences head on iif your the LAC instead of cowering to it
The Clippers are “enamored” with irrelevance. Kawhi is done and, at this point, George is at best a third-string superstar, even when healthy. If they stick to them, they are going to waste two years more.
Westbrook goes 3-18 and he is deemed a success. Oh how low have we set the bar
Implant chooses one game out of 5 to point out shooting stats and ignores the other 4 games when Westbrook shot very well.
Oh how low he has set the bar.
Well there was also 3 for 19 in game one so that’s only three games I ignored. However I didn’t ignore the previous year and a half. No team that rosters him and plays him big minutes will win a championship
Irrelevant when the team was dealing with multiple injuries to star players.
Westbrook has always been a high floor, limited ceiling type of guy. But that’s exactly what you need when Kawhi and PG13 are out. Without him, they would’ve been far worse off.
Hopefully Westbrook can get a championship before he retires. After watching him drag a Wizards team that was nowhere near capable (outside of Beal) to the playoffs he at least deserves one lol.
I think Clippers should find away to keep Westbrook maybe Kahwi And PG can take pay cut to keep Westbrook or West should take one
Personally I’d be more enamored with stars that could play on the court at all.
That’s just me though.
Paul George is a laughingstock
Well, they do still get a lot of minutes on 2k.
And they bring a lot of revenue to the Flippers with merchandise and tickets.
So yeah, they’ll continue making a lot of money and eating up the cap space over there.
A real GM would trade them both for young assets while they still have value.