The LA Clippers were right. You were wrong.
Turns out, the team did do the right things this past offseason.
You were wrong.
OK. Maybe not you specifically. But the proverbial you.
The you who went on national television, or sensationalistic television shows, or made content about how much the LA Clippers did all the wrong things this past offseason and how screwed they were.
The you who went out there and posted that the Clippers were just going to hand Cooper Flagg over to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The you who belly laughed at the thought of James Harden being a rising tide that could lift all boats.
And especially the you who thought the Clippers fumbled by not keeping Paul George this past offseason after not acquiescing to his demands of a four-year max contract following his spectacular flameout last postseason. And also the you that said they very much messed up not trading him to Golden State for a myriad of high-priced players that would have impacted the Clippers’ ability to retool.
Then there’s the you who set the Clippers with an over/under win total of 35.5, and the you who projected them to win 42.4 games, and the you who thought “Kawhi Leonard’s albatross contract” would enter into basketball lexicon, and the you who thought James Harden had the worst contract given out this past offseason, and also the you who didn’t have this team finishing in the Top 10 in their own conference.
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But rather than list out the full litany of wrongs, we should also acknowledge the rights.
It turns out, the LA Clippers knew what they were doing by not caving in and giving a 34-year-old coming off a playoff series where he had three games under 35% shooting and scored four points in the second half of an elimination game a four-year max contract.
They were right to pivot to an era that featured more James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, and due to the absence of George, more Ivica Zubac and Norman Powell.
They were right to fill in the margins around their best players with guys like Derrick Jones Jr. and Kris Dunn, two defensive stalwarts that knew how to fit around star-level talent rather than attempt to drawf them.
They were right to extend Ivica Zubac before he took an immense leap this season.
They were even right to extend Terance Mann in the offseason, which allowed them to acquire Bogdan Bogdanovic, a crucial bench piece, at the trade deadline.
They were right to give Harden greater agency over the offense.
They were right to lean into a defensive identity, which saw them finish third in defense this season, by bringing aboard Jeff Van Gundy.
They were right to duck under the luxury tax at the deadline, which will allow them to use the non-taxpayer mid-level exception this offseason, and acquire vibes legend Patty Mills.
And, while there’s an odd section of the fanbase that probably still disagrees, they were 100% right to lock up Tyronn Lue to a new contract in the summer.
A lot of internal rights and outward wrongs led to the season you just saw: a 50-win escapade that had plenty of ups and downs but ended on an incredible high.
In truth, it almost doesn’t matter what happens in the postseason with this Clippers squad. Seriously. They could flame out in four games and the season will still have been an unmitigated success considering everything that was surrounding them coming into the season.
You hear the trope all the time: “No one believed in us.”
But, in their defense, no one did. And they told you that all year.
At media day, Norman Powell uttered the phrase, “Addition by subtraction.” It was a reference to the team losing Paul George and other players being able to get the opportunity to rise from the ashes of George’s departure and show what they can do with an increased level of trust. Powell even turned it into a hoodie. Guess what? He. Was. Right.
It was a team full of “right.” Right place. Right time. Right year. Right attitude. Right energy. Right buy-in. Right guys. From the top down.
So, yeah, while this can feel like a bit victory lap before the “real season” begins, it’s one that they should take. From the front office down to the last player on the team, and everyone in between—the medical staff who got Kawhi Leonard back on the floor, the coaching staff who had to deal with absences from Tyronn Lue and Jeff Van Gundy this year, etc. It’s everyone.
And that’s how a successful team and organization is built to be sustainable. It can’t disappear when one or two players leave. It has to survive and thrive regardless of that.
That’s what the story of the 2024-25 LA Clippers will ultimately be: perseverance.
Well, that and they were right. They were always right.
Nobody believed in them and now everyone seems to be picking them against Denver
While most people haven’t verbalized it, I think a lot of the criticism people have is for decisions from last season that led to Paul George leaving in free agency. There’s fair arguments that perhaps they should’ve pivoted earlier and traded George if they were so far apart in negotiations. They telegraphed exactly what kind of deal they wanted him to take with the Kawhi extension, which was done a month ahead of last year’s trade deadline. The uncertainty around George’s future also recontextualizes the Harden trade. If George wasn’t a sure thing to return, why double down on this era and further mortgage their future for this window?
I feel like this is a better encapsulation of frustrations or criticisms people may have over the George situation. The Clippers weren’t perfect by any means with their decision making. But they were absolutely right to pivot away from George once they reached that crossroads and did exactly what they did.