The Clippers’ brand new arena, the Intuit Dome, opened this week. They were hoping that by the time the building was ready, they’d have a title in hand or at least a championship-caliber club to entertain their fans.
Those plans haven’t panned out. The Clippers have been bounced in the opening round of the playoffs the past two seasons and lost one of their superstars in free agency this summer.
Paul George‘s departure to Philadelphia left the Clippers scrambling to piece together a contending club. The front office didn’t replace George with another star player.
Instead, they signed a younger forward in Derrick Jones Jr., who has been utilized mainly as a defensive stopper since he entered the league in 2016. Jones appeared in 76 regular-season games, including 66 starts, for Dallas last season. However, he was a relative afterthought on the offensive end, attempting only 6.5 shots per game in 23.5 minutes. His modest 8.6 PPG scoring average was still a career best, mainly due to the fact he got more playing time than in any previous season.
Kawhi Leonard‘s three-year extension kicks in this season but there are major questions regarding his long-term health. He dealt with right knee inflammation late in the regular season and missed four of the Clippers’ playoff games against Dallas. Leonard was replaced on the Team USA roster just prior to the Olympics due to lingering concerns about his knee.
The team’s other star, James Harden, was retained on a two-year deal. Harden averaged 16.6 points last season, his lowest figure since he was a sixth man with Oklahoma City early in his career. He will probably have to take a bigger scoring load to make up for the loss of George.
Los Angeles added some veteran frontcourt depth by signing Mohamed Bamba and Nicolas Batum. They also acquired Kris Dunn in a sign-and-trade to fortify the backcourt.
Their most eye-opening move was signing Kevin Porter Jr. in free agency. The talented but troubled young guard could be a facing a league suspension over a past domestic violence case. He may be the team’s most significant addition if all goes well — in his last season with Houston, he averaged 19.2 points and 5.7 assists per game.
That brings us to our topic of the day: Where you feel the Clippers rank in the Western Conference? Can they still be considered a playoff team or do you feel they might end up on the outside looking in?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.
I honestly like them better now than I did before. Unpopular opinion, but if Kawhi is healthy, and Porter is around, they’ll be better than they were with Paul George. Jones is gonna be really good with this team.
> “If Kawhi is healthy”.
Clipper World faces 3 more seasons of TORTURE, as it repeats that every day. (Just like the last 5 seasons.)
SPOILER ALERT: he’ll be healthy for a while and play like a Top 5 player…until the INEVITABLE injury. Next season, same story.
Kings and Grizzlies are top 6 seeds
Jazz, Blazers and Spurs are tank teams
My prediction
9th Warriors (unable to make a good trade)
10th Lakers (If AD miss 20 games)
11th Clippers (If Kawhi miss 25 games)
12th Rockets – GM is unable to make a star trade.
The dumpster fire continues. Said all along that group would never win – and now they lost the only guy that cared.
LAC had the worst off season of any non-tanking team. The loss of PG-13 could have been mitigated if they dropped Harden along with him. But, as is, they’re still working with what is largely a paralyzed roster, minus one potential difference maker.
They had to keep Harden, most people don’t like him and whatever as he’s always done what’s best for his situation but he’s still one of the best playmakers in the game. They don’t control any of their own picks until 2030! What were they going to do after extending Leonard, walk him out there with a bunch of scrubs?
They “had to” keep him relative to what goal? They’re not a real contender without PG13, with or without Harden.
I guess you believe that since they’re not tanking (as they can’t), then it has to be all about win-right-now, and they have to reup any name talent they can even one in decline and a poor on-court fit. Sad, but I guess there’s no real team building in your world. It’s either blow it up or reup it all.
Granted, team building isn’t easy in today’s talent starved player market, but I think they repurposed both the PG13 and Harden monies they had at least had a chance for quick reset that would have made them a bit more interesting in the event KL is ever healthy in the postseason.
Toad , not necessarily arguing for this, but don’t you think the Clippers must also consider a plan that doesn’t depend on Kahwi?
His body has broken down so predictably every season, and given that he’s now 33 years old, it seems, literally, INSANE to expect that a plan based on him would succeed.
As Kawhi goes, so do the Clippers. Nothing changing here. Should have gotten rid of Harden but Kawhi can cook with him at least.
They are better in contrast to the Lakers. They never played as a unit last year somebody was always so called hurt. I think new life will help them this year. Harden needs to score this year he has a hard head plus he is hard to coach but if he drops 20 a night they are fine.
The clips look to be out of playoffs to me..not so much that they are bad… just another 10 or so teams ahead of them. Phoenix going to be better this year, as are Kings, Grizz and Rockets…so difficult..any team with not deep squads who get a couple of injuries could be in some bother
Pels should be good to watch also
All for another L. They failed to replace PG with Derozen. Nobody trusts Kawhi anymore and Harden only stayed cause clippers had the money to pay him.
should have offered pg13 naming rights to their new state-of-the-art arena
Clippers aren’t doing anything special this season…
A fully healthy season from Kawhi and they’ll be in the play in…