The Clippers will enter the offseason earlier than expected after losing the final game in their series against the Blazers on Friday night. The team lost Chris Paul and Blake Griffin to injury during Game 4 of the series and Los Angeles was unable to win another game without two of its stars on the floor.
The arrival of the offseason carries questions for the Clippers. The front office has to figure out if Paul, Griffin and DeAndre Jordan can be the foundation of a championship team and they were hoping to get another postseason to gather more data. Instead, the franchise got three games of postseason play, two of which it won, to evaluate its core and that brings us to tonight’s question. Should the Clippers break up the Paul-Griffin-Jordan trio?
Let us know what you would do if you were sitting in Doc Rivers‘ chair. Which player(s) should be moved? Would you give this core another year and if so, what minor changes would you make? Take to the comments section to share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say!
Any trade should only be following a head coaching change. Doc is a great coach but his reluctance to bring in and develop younger players just doesn’t fit with where this team is at. They have a great point guard and a great front court, but lack a true wing defender that can also be palatable at the offensive end. With their cap situation the way it is, the only way they can get that player is through the draft. They wont win a championship as constructed and with Doc as a head coach, they might need to retool for a year or two.
Interesting. I wonder how other coaches would use Griffin and Jordan.
Trade blake griffin for melo and get a nicolas batum if possible
The Melo-Griffin trade is intriguing. Batum would be a nice addition. I’m just not sure how they get him.
As a clippers fan I don’t get why anyone would want that trade… Melos to old to give up a player like Blake for
Re build the big 3
Some want the Clippers to come back as is. Paul had a freak hand injury in Game 4. Griffin tried to play through the quad injury in hopes of making amends for the off-season distraction that happened in January.
Others want the team to be blown up. Clips have lost in the playoffs five years in a row. Each of their opponents – Spurs, Grizzlies, Warriors, Thunder, Rockets – have at least a conference finals visit at the expense of the Clippers. Should the Blazers beat the Warriors, Portland could become the sixth on that list.
I will answer your question in two parts.
Chris Paul: in my opinion, he’s a cursed player: good in the regular season, falters in the playoffs, whether the fault is his or with the teammates, the coach, or the franchise. His only win of significance came with Team USA and all those other superstars. There was a report that LeBron James would like to finish his career under The Brotherhood plan Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris. Paul’s only hope may be The Brotherhood. Where the Brotherhood resides all depends on the Cav’s ability to win a title this season.
Rebuild: the Clippers hold the distinction for being the team with the longest playoff victory drought of 30 years (1976 vs. 76ers as the Buffalo Braves to 2006 vs. Nuggets as L.A. Clippers) and the longest playoff appearance drought of 14 years (1977 to 1991) in league history. Blow up the core, the Clippers could be stuck in lottery hell for the rest of their existence. They could end up like the MLB’s Montreal Expos, who had a one-season wonder in 1981, then faded away into contraction in the early 2000’s.
I’ve asked myself this question in a philosophical sense: “If the Clipper’s fate is always the 2nd round, curse or no curse, why fight it?” If all they do is help their opponent break through to newer ground, are the Clippers better off just staying out of the playoffs completely? Think about this: the Grizzlies have never made a conference finals appearance until 2013, the year they beat the Clippers in the playoffs.
The last resort is keeping the team together. Doc Rivers has a favorites problem. He goes for guys who played for him before, guys who defeated his Big 3 Celtics, and his own son. He hopes that love, friendship and family values could lead the Clippers to a championship, but when you have teams like the Warriors, Spurs and Thunder, you need power as well.
The best they can get with Paul-Griffin-Jordan is the 2nd round. Griffin is their no. 1 pick who resuscitated the franchise with his highlight reel plays. Jordan is Griffin’s best friend as well as the last homegrown Clipper on the roster. If they want a conference finals visit, Clips could be forced to give up somebody they truly love. Because love is such a big deal, Doc might be unable to pull the trigger.
Trade cp for kyrie to have a longer future or trade blake to the lakers for their 2nd pick most likely and randle.
As a Laker fan, no thanks on that trade. Blake sucks on and off the court.
I don’t think they should break up the core. If you look at a team like San Antonia or the Warriors theyre so good cuz they’ve had continuity. Just cuz they failed a few postseasons doesn’t warrant a breakup. It took a long time before the Mavs won their first championship and I believe that the Clippers need to be patient.
That’s the problem: Clippers are impatient. They want that championship so bad. They’ve been losers for so long, and they’re just tired of going through all the disappointments and pain and suffering. They’d do anything to get any semblance of love or respect.
A lot of folks on Twitter were very skeptical of David Stern vetoing the Chris Paul trade that would have made him a Laker after the lockout ended. They thought the Clippers made a deal with the devil. But in hindsight, it was that shrewd move that made the Clippers truly relevant.
Just not relevant enough…
I agree with all comments. My opinion get rid of Blake. Yes he resuscitated the franchise, but he was a draft pick who sat out an entire year. He also was payed over $100mm to resuscitate. But the truth is he’s a very good player, not a great player, maybe not even hall of fame. They are playing through him as the first option when he slows down the pace to a crawl. When he missed 47 games, the Clippers played faster and better. He should be more of a defender and rebounder, but after his vicious dunks left a couple of years ago his offense devolved to an almost exclusive slow release 20 footer. I’m grateful for everything Blake has done, but CP3 (a pass first point guard) should not be your best player. He needs legit superstars to play with him. The 1-2 punch of Cp3 and Blake is not enough. You can not replace Cp3’s leadership but you can replace Blake’s 20 footer. Trade him now, while he still has “superstar value” to get a great return and legit superstar. If Durant is leaving anyway, bring Blake back to his hometown. If Paul Goerge is unhappy, or Melo, Cousins, etc, get some real value, and keep Paul for the next 5 years, get the right backup point guard for CP3 to mentor an pass the torch after his next contract. Last but not least, get a true (athletic) 2 or 3. No more pure defenders only or shooters only, we need versatile shooters who can create foul trouble AND defend.
They should have won a championship by now with the amount of talent they have, with the big three and coach, but they haven’t. They aren’t gonna get better by staying the same. They need to change something because even if they’re great they just aren’t better then the Spurs or warriors.
Each of the trio takes up too much cap space making it really hard for them to add players.
They should trade DJ, because considering the way he played this season, and his health, his trade value should be at the highest of his career. Get some picks / young bigs in return. The cap space can be use to sign a SF they have been looking for.
Griffin and Paul is those kind of talent that is very hard to find. However, DJ’s spot on the can be filled by other young athletic bigs. We have seen how DJ’s defense improved when Doc joined the clips, and how CP3 has made jordan look so much better on offense. I’m sure they can do it to other young bigs who is a better free throw shooter than DJ.
It will be hard to let DJ go, but will he really be that good without CP3?
Keep the trio. Doc shud leave. Doc and his stubborn “rotations” monumentally catastrophic. Young blood is the new norm in Head Coaching today.
I don’t think there is really any reason they should break the trio up. All three play well together, and the injuries Paul and Griffin got were really just freak injuries and there wasn’t anything they could do to stop it. Only reason they should break it up is if they trade one of them to get more cap space to sign more free agents.
unless the owner shakes up the front office, it will be more of the same under Rivers except next year Griffin and Paul will have expiring contracts and the Clippers cupboard will bare. Hasn’t Rivers already showed what he is or not capable of so no sense waste time dreaming unless the owner makes the first move.
doc rivers should give up. at long last. after three seasons. charlotte might be a good landing. ditto for cp. it’s his seventh year of discontent. should be thinking about an assistant coaching position. jamal may still grab a championship, with miami or maybe cleveland.
I feel like alot of people commenting here aren’t really paying enough attention to what the Clippers have had to work with each season. Doc has had virtually zero wiggle room with cap space ever since he arrived. People said there would be no way he could put even a decent bench together for this season and he somehow put together a bench that nearly beat OKC by themselves and beat a Jazz team that was in a must-win situation. Doc is not to blame. Blake Griffin IS a GREAT player, take a look at his numbers and he’s right there. He was the best player in the playoffs last year, period. CP3 is arguably the greatest floor general of all time, and his numbers actually help strength that argument. DJ and JJ are perfect fits with Clippers, no tinkering needed there. I think LAC actually had a top 3 team this year, but injuries kept them from really getting going. It’s a shame. They deserve so much more respect. Most teams would have given up and split up a few years ago. I hope they keep chasing. Things won’t improve if they split up.
Join the discussion