Clippers pivot from '213' era to embrace '1-2 punch'
James Harden and Kawhi Leonard will have to lead from the outset.
The LA Clippers have moved on and will have to embrace life without Paul George, a player they sold the farm for back in 2019 to help the team sign Kawhi Leonard as a free agent in a move that drew plenty of rave reviews.
The post-George era won’t be an easy one, but the Clippers have already begun to retool and tweak the way that their squad is going to look for the upcoming season as they’ve already had deals for free agent forwards Derrick Jones Jr. and Nicolas Batum announced by prominent reporters.
Based on cap math, the Clippers used a large portion of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Jones and the full bi-annual exception on Batum. Combined with the news that the team will re-sign guard James Harden to a two-year, $70 million deal to keep him in Los Angeles and their agreement on free agent guard Kevin Porter Jr. to sign for the league minimum, the Clippers presently sit $1.9 million below the luxury tax and $9.2 million below the first-apron which they are hard-capped at. That’s with 13 players under contract.
But that’s cap stuff. That’s numbers. What about fit?
It’s clear that the Clippers prioritized flexibility this offseason, which was a large reason they let George walk in free agency—the forward will sign with the Philadelphia 76ers when free agency opens on July 6. It ends the ‘213’ era that the team had played up for the last five years, a nod to the area code where the team played its home games. But moving to a new arena in a new city opens you up to new ideas. And thus we sit on the precipice of the Clippers reshaping who they are.
While there is still a hole at backup center following the departure of Mason Plumlee to the Phoenix Suns and the potential loss of Daniel Theis, we can get an idea of what the Clippers are going for.
This is no longer Kawhi Leonard’s, Paul George’s, and James Harden’s team. Gone are ‘213’ and their bluster. It’s down to Harden and Leonard, a proverbial ‘1-2 punch’ that will have to guide the Clippers night in and night out.
The Clippers were happy with Harden’s output this past season as the guard mustered 16.6 points, 8.5 assists, and 5.1 rebounds in 72 games as the team’s lead ball-handler. Leonard put up 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 68 games.
But with the loss of George, it’s allowed the Clippers to hone their offensive process a bit more even if the talent level that left is nearly impossible to replace. The Clippers can’t fundamentally offset the all-around loss of George, but they can recreate him in the aggregate.
Need defense? Derrick Jones Jr. Need intangibles and veteran leadership at the forward position? Nicolas Batum. Need an offensive punch from a three-level scorer who can be used as a spot-up shooter if needed? Norman Powell.
It also puts more onto Harden’s shoulders which is not necessarily a bad thing for the Clippers. Harden was good for them, and allowing him to have greater agency over the offensive workload could benefit all parties as it appears the plan will be to surround Harden and Leonard with multi-faceted hybrid players who can excel at several factors while falling short of the all-around encompassing ability of George.
We might see a spread floor more and better floor balance in general. More Harden-initiated pick-and-rolls with Ivica Zubac, one of the league’s most efficient centers last season, could be a byproduct of this change. Featuring Zubac more will likely be needed, and it’s something the Clippers should lean into.
Without George, the Clippers will have to find creative ways to compete on the floor—whether that’s in the fast break thanks to younger players like Jones and Terance Mann, or on the offensive glass via players willing to cut in from the baseline rather than hover on the perimeter.
This is the new norm for the Clippers. And it begins with the slack being picked up by Harden and Leonard.
For Leonard specifically, the forward was double-teamed a ton this past season, especially in the mid-post when he would get the ball in his sweet spots. George being there didn’t stop that reality. But being surrounded by potentially more willing cutters in the form of Derrick Jones Jr. and Nicolas Batum could theoretically alleviate some of the burden and stop teams from double-teaming Leonard as much. So, too, Leonard could feel an added boost as he sees the ball more in general with George being out of the equation.
Leonard averaged 56.5 touches per 36 minutes last season, his lowest since 2014-15 when he managed 56.3 touches per 36. In essence, Leonard wasn’t used as much as he had been in years past. His highest mark came in 2019-20, when he averaged 71.3 touches per 36. Fifteen more touches, on average, for Leonard is a good thing. Not to mention that James Harden averaged 79.3 touches per 36 minutes with the Clippers in 2023-24. Like Leonard, it was the guard’s lowest mark since 2014-15, as well, when he averaged 75.4 touches per 36.
The ball being in those two’s hands more is not a bad thing. It could be seen as a blessing in disguise, especially when flanked by the necessary talent to aid on both the defensive end—Terance Mann, Derrick Jones Jr., and Nicolas Batum—to take some pressure off the stars and the offensive end—Norman Powell and Ivica Zubac—to limit their true scoring workload when desired.
The Clippers wanted optionality coming into the offseason, and it appears they’ve achieved that thus far. It’ll be up to Harden and Leonard to supply the team with what else they need: two stars who can handle the workload they’ll be tasked with.
And in doing so, it might unlock a more streamlined and organic ‘1-2 punch’ that the team has been searching for ever since Kawhi Leonard agreed to sign with them five years ago.