Some pundits across the NBA felt the Los Angeles Clippers could be a dark-horse team in the Western Conference this season. They put together a roster full of big names during the offseason by adding John Collins, Bradley Beal and Chris Paul to a team that already had future Hall of Famers Kawhi Leonard and James Harden.
But just over three weeks into the regular season, they hold a dismal 4-8 record. Granted, Leonard continues to be in and out of the lineup due to his perpetual injury issues, and Beal is now out for the year with a hip injury, but their problems run deeper than health problems.
L.A.’s problems are deep-rooted in its personnel. It ranks in the bottom third in both defense and offense and is 29th in pace and fast-break points per game. According to multiple scouts, the Clippers’ profound lack of speed and fluidity is their biggest problem, and their other issues seem to flow from that deficiency.
A new ESPN article offered up a couple of harsh quotes about how slow-paced the team is, both strategically and in terms of its players.
“They move so slowly, they can’t recover when they turn the ball over or give up a quick transition,” one advance scout said.
Not only do the Clippers rarely fast-break, but they’re vulnerable when their opponents get out and run. They rank 24th in opponents’ fast-break points per game, and they’re dead last in opponents’ points off turnovers per game.
They’re also 29th in turnover percentage, which means that other than the Utah Jazz, who are 30th in that category, they have a higher proportion of their offensive possessions ending with turnovers than any other team.
Having an aged roster is one thing, but if a team has a supporting cast of young, bouncey, viable players around its aging stars, it can mitigate some of the problems that come with extreme mileage. But the Clippers don’t have great depth, and some of their key reserves, such as Paul, Brook Lopez, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nicolas Batum, are up there in age.
One executive feels there is absolutely no hope for them at this point.
“They are cooked,” an East executive said of L.A.’s chances this season after a 3-8 start.
Another scout says that L.A.’s lack of viable players, as well as Leonard’s brittle body, will lead to a lost season.
“Unless you can show me where the fountain of youth is, I don’t see [a path back],” a West scout said. “Kawhi [Leonard] has looked good when he’s played. But you can’t rely on him.”
What makes matters worse for the Clippers is the fact that they traded away the majority of their draft picks for the next several years to get star forward Paul George in 2019 and Harden two years ago. They have nothing to show for it, as they have made just one trip to the Western Conference finals and failed to win a single playoff series over the previous four seasons.
Paul left in 2024 to join the Philadelphia 76ers, and while Harden is playing well right now, he has a long, documented history of playing poorly in big playoff games.
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