In 2011, the Los Angeles Clippers franchise forever changed when it acquired Chris Paul from New Orleans. Since the acquisition, the Clippers have been relevant, but they’ve never made it past the second round of the playoffs. Not to mention, they’ve blown not one but two 3-1 leads in playoff series.
Each rendition of the Clippers seems to follow the same roadmap: acquisitions, expectations and then the eventual collapse. The Clippers have been stuck in mediocrity no matter how talented they look on paper. What can go wrong, has gone wrong. In the past decade, the Clippers have never been a bottom feeder — they’ve always managed to stay right in the stage of mediocrity.
One thing the Clippers don’t want to do is start over. They’ve proven that. The team never really gutted its roster or front office after its devastating playoff losses. Instead, the Clippers are a team of redecoration. Will this iteration of the Clippers be any different?
Now, I’m no fortune teller, but I like history. I like looking at patterns. For example, I’ll never bet against Golden State in a playoff series with their Big Three healthy. I’ll always bet against the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs. I’ll also always bet against the Clippers in pretty much any meaningful game.
When history has proven itself right so many times, why go against the proven pattern? Here’s why these Los Angeles Clippers will be no different.
The Clippers look basically unbeatable on paper right now. Their big three of Kawhi Leonard, John Wall and Paul George, combined with great role-players filling the gaps, make them look quite daunting. However, the Clippers have looked this good on paper before.
This time may be different given that expectations are higher for this iteration. Many analysts and TV personalities are speculating that the Clippers should be the favorite heading into next season. Yet, it might still be premature to hop on this bandwagon.
The No. 1 skill an NBA player must have is availability. Every NBA player has to be able to just get on the court. It’s going to be a real struggle to get these three injury prone and older superstars to play 60-plus games without another setback. Since joining the Clippers, neither Leonard nor George have played over 60 games. To make matters worse, Wall hasn’t played 60-plus games since the 2016-2017 season.
Leonard is also making his slow (very slow) return from a grade-two ACL tear. This is not a full tear of the ACL, but Leonard has still yet to be cleared for five-on-five practice — it’s been about 15 months. He’s one to take a long time coming off any injuries, so who knows when he’s going to come back. But like I said before, I like patterns, repetition. We’ve seen this movie before; I expect no different outcome and I’m going to go out on a limb and say that he will be on the bench in game one next season, watching.
Luckily for the Clippers, they have a basketball savant on their bench. Tyronn Lue is among the best coaches in basketball. Given this, if the Clippers are going to have any type of success this season, it may very well be largely due to him.
And if they falter to meet expectations again, I don’t think anyone should be surprised. In fact, I think it should be expected.
