NBC Sports’ season preview series focuses on teams at crossroads, franchises that could be this season or not. If that works out, there could be a wrecking ball on the roster next summer. First up is the Los Angeles Clippers.
PLAYA DEL REY, Calif. —Clippers media day had an unexpectedly zen energy. This team is a veteran team with great continuity and played the game calmly, as they had many times before.
The sword that hangs over this series is not talked about and is largely ignored. But it was there.
Welcome to the fifth season of the Kawhi Leonard and Paul George era with the Clippers. Steve spent his Mr. Ballmer’s large sums of money his four years with little success – his one trip to the conference finals. that’s it. No one expected it when the Clippers pulled off the blockbuster trade to acquire George in 2019 (which led to Leonard becoming a free agent). I have no words other than disappointment.
Couple that disappointment with the fact that both Leonard and George can leave as free agents after this season (unless a contract extension is worked out), and it goes without saying that the star roster has a thinning and aging pool of role players. It feels like it’s now a high-stakes game. Clippers season. Either they push their way to the top of the West this postseason, or big changes are coming.
You wouldn’t have known that at media day. There was no sense of despair. There is no atmosphere of “”We need to trade James Harden.” — his name never came up, and he seemed like an afterthought at best.
“Our main focus going into camp is, ‘This is who we are,'” coach Tyronn Lue said. “So we want to focus on that and we want to do our best and that’s what we’re focused on. So I don’t really focus on deals or outside noise.”
What about pressure? Did Lue feel the weight of this being a now-or-never season for this version of the Clippers?
“No, I don’t approach it that way,” Lou said. “I approach it by doing everything the right way and putting myself in a position to succeed. And if I act the right way every day, I can live with the consequences.”
The players also echoed the theme.
“You know every team goes into media day and training camp trying to win a championship, and that’s the goal…” Russell Westbrook said.
“But the idea of winning or losing is not real to me. It’s something like that. [the media] compensate. Like you have to win the championship or lose it, that’s not true. We could have accomplished more, we could have built a brotherhood, we could have learned more about people, and we could have found ways to collectively improve as a team. ”
Another thing everyone agreed on is that the Clippers’ hopes for advancement start with health. That’s all too rare these days for this franchise.
“Just being healthy. We have a chance to finish the season healthy for our players,” was the key to the season for Lue.
Kawhi Leonard missed the entire 2021-22 season due to a torn ACL, but his playing time and workload were reduced last season. Leonard looked healthy by the time the playoffs began and looked dominant in the first two games against the Suns, while Paul George watched from the bench with a shoulder injury. Leonard then tore his meniscus and missed the final three games against Phoenix as the Clippers were eliminated in the first round.
Leonard said he is recovering from another knee surgery and has made a full recovery, but added that he hasn’t done anything different this offseason to stay healthy.he’s not worried about that either NBA new player participation policy —When asked about it, he replied: “What is that policy?”
“I’m not the type to sit around trying to manage the load…” Leonard said. Play the game instead of sitting and watching people play.
“None of the league’s policies are going to help me play more games.”
“We’re not really trying to get around it. If our players are healthy, they’re going to play,” Lue said of the player participation policy. “I know it’s a big problem that our players don’t like to play and things like that, but that’s not true. Our players want to play, but unfortunately We’re getting injured. And just staying healthy…trying to play through certain injuries so that we don’t cause other significant injuries. So I hope our players stay healthy. Well, he’ll play.”
Due to the injury and its recovery, Leonard and George were forced to miss many nights off. Last season, Leonard played in 50 games and George played in 56 games. Fair or not, the Clippers have a reputation as the epitome of load management, and Lue was clearly frustrated with the constantly changing lineups he had to deploy last season.
From top to bottom, much of the conversation surrounding the Clippers this season has focused on the regular season.
“For me, the approach this year is to do everything we can in the regular season and let the playoffs take their course…” Lue said from training camp in Hawaii. If you’re inside, I’ll take you from there. ”
The Clippers have plenty of talent on their roster, even without their legendary bearded lead guard. Westbrook will start at point, Terrence Mann is the up-and-coming wing that every team in trade talks with the Clippers wanted to poach this summer, and they have a solid center in Ivica Zubac, plus There are role players like Bones Hyland, Nicolas Batum, Norman Powell, Mason Plumlee, Amir Coffey, Robert Covington.
“I love our team. The way we build the team right now, we have a lot of pieces and we have a lot of diversity,” Lue later added. Be ready to play with everyone right away. ”
This Leonard and George era changed the Clippers for the better forever. It’s now a legitimate and respected NBA franchise (it’s moving into a shiny new building, the Intuit Dome, near the Rams’ SoFi Stadium next season). The Lob City Clippers started a trend of increasing respectability. This franchise drafted Blake Griffin and traded for Chris Paul to create one of the most entertaining teams in a generation.But Leonard and George chose He’s coming to the Clippers. It is different. That choice, along with Ballmer’s money and a top-to-bottom restructuring of the organization, have made the Clippers a franchise respected by players and their agents. Gone are the days of being laughed at. And if things don’t work out, team president Lawrence Frank’s and front office jobs are not in jeopardy, league officials told NBC Sports. Coach Ballmer wanted his team to take a big swing, and they did, and even if it missed on the court, it was a hit for the organization in a significant way in the long run.
But a big win in the playoffs would end that journey. Even if it doesn’t happen this season, you’ll be lucky to predict what will happen next.
