With the possible exception of the Bucks, no team left the Orlando campus more disappointed that the Clippers.
Expectations of a championship for the long-downtrodden franchise went through the roof after they signed superstar free agent Kawhi Leonard and made a blockbuster trade for Paul George last summer.
They appeared headed for a Western Conference Finals showdown with the Lakers until they squandered some big leads and a 3-1 series lead to the upstart Nuggets.
The flameout ultimately cost head coach Doc Rivers his job. The front office settled on Rivers’ top assistant and former Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue to replace him.
As long as Leonard and George stay healthy, the Clippers will undoubtedly make the postseason again but the memories of their collapse will linger unless they make amends and reach the Finals.
Beyond their perennial All-Stars, the Clippers have some tough decisions to make regarding their roster. Young center Ivica Zubac and guards Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams and Landry Shamet are the only other rotation players locked into contracts for next seasons. Their prospects for making a significant trade are dim, considering they gave up a bucketful of first rounders to acquire George.
JaMychal Green has a $5MM option on his contract and should he decline it, the Clippers will have to rebuild their frontcourt. Marcus Morris and Montrezl Harrell are headed to unrestricted free agency and the Clippers already have $109MM in salary commitments to nine players.
Harrell won the Sixth Man of the Year award but he had a rather forgettable experience in Orlando. Morris will attract plenty of interest in the free agent market, though he didn’t have as great an impact as the Clippers hoped when they traded for him in February.
The front office will have to prioritize which of those forwards they wish to retain and likely dip into the free agent market to fortify the guard rotation and frontcourt. Depending on whether they have a full mid-level exception or the taxpayers’ MLE, they could be looking at players such as Goran Dragic, D.J. Augustin, Jeff Teague, Serge Ibaka, Derrick Favors, Marc Gasol and Aron Baynes.
That brings us to our topic of the day: What should the Clippers do in free agency? Should they concentrate on re-signing their prominent free agents or pursue other options?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.
Free Agent Market Value
Ibaka 3-year $60 million
Dragic 2-year $35 million
Should Clippers target free agents Ibaka and Dragic?
Starting Salary Assumptions:
Knicks (or Hawks) offer
Harrell $25
Morris $15
JaMycal Green $10
Add 50 million to next year (hard cap)
Can the Clipper sign and trade to acquire VanVleet or Ibaka?
I can’t believe the figures being thrown around for Harrell…I wish we still had room for the big man/post up game in the NBA…but we don’t…anymore the $10m pa for Harrell and you could argue is money down the drain.
Compare to
Kevin Love 32 years old $30M per
Al Horford 34 years old $27M per
Harrell 26 years old $25M per
Age is just a number that don’t matter, see LBJ at 35 he had one of the best seasons of his career!
That doesn’t matter. Firstly those have a winner’s smell. And if there’s no such thing, then they were overs, not market-setters. Your numbers are generally high, because the bidders are so few.
Dude, stop smelling dudes.
Ha chief, couldn ‘t think of the right word, thought of “smells like a winner” , which is bad enough before mangling it. Actually Horford has never been to the finals but it seems like he has!
Love and Horford are awful contracts. Which makes this an awful comparison.
The Clippers blockbuster trade for Paul George is looking like a major win for the Thunder.
Its already a win for the Thunder.
Huge win for the Thunder,
considering SGA put up 19-6-3 in his second season whereas PG put up 21.5-5-4.
Thunder also got Gallonari and a bunch of first round picks
Don’t think they will be the la team ring chasers take less to play for if there are even any or those at all , their exceptions will get them whatever left overs the Lakers, warriors and nets leave them
The clips need to trade George and restock the cupboards. They don’t need him and Leonard simply because they play the same position. Trade him for picks and a good guard.
Flameouts and chokes aside, that CLIPPERS lineup had everything they needed.
People might forget that the CLIPPERS were rolling somehow, before COVID hit.
Harrell’s most likely gone ……… getting Ibaka would be a major coup for them.
They should still try to re-sign Marcus Sr. & Green.
If they can get DJ Augustin on the cheap, then do it.
They lacked a passer and playmaker who could make their teammates better and create for others ! They where a team of iso gunners who all wanted to create their own shot off the dribble including Beverly and harell ! No ball movement makes them easy to stop !
Yes, they lacked that facilitator, something they’ll probably address this offseason.
But this was a team heavy with veterans – the players knew how to make the right play, the right pass.
Lue isn’t the best coach out there, but he was right when he said that team lacked cohesion in the bubble – some came in late, some came in injured.
PG also admitted that the bubble had a mental toll on him somehow.
Worst of all, they ran into a streaking NUGGETS team.
The Rockets also left Orlando just as disappointed as the Clippers, if not more.
Just to you bud. Everyone else expected them to choke.
When you finish the regular season 4th tied with 6th, no one is expecting you to make the conference finals…
It could have been worse. They lacked size and what passed for bigs could have tired of their roles. Maybe they did tire, IDK, I didn’t even want to watch.
Almost as satisfying as winning the championship and seeing the Clippers gag is seeing the Rockets franchise lie in ruins after the Lakers exposed them for what they really are.
Any team that pays Harrell more than 12-15 a year will live to regret it. He can’t defend, rebound or shoot
I wish the Clippers would move out of
SoCal, but that arena they are building looks pretty nice, so I don’t see that happening. I’ll have to settle for them getting the hell out of Staples. I don’t see why that was allowed in the first place.
Here we go
3 team deal
Clippers:Victor Oladipo, Eric Bledsloe
Indiana: Paul George, Marcus Morris (sign-trade)
Bucks: Lou Williams, Pat Beverly, Doug McDermott
Clippers get rid of PG and add a point guard in Bledsloe who is a solid defender and can help facilitate. They also get Oladipo as a PG replacement who can be the co star for Kawhi. These two personalities fit Kawhi a lot better and will make for a better locker room. The big loss is Lou Will off the bench but they should be able to get some help in free agency.
Indy bring back PG and don’t risk losing Oladipo in free agency. They also add Marcus Morris which makes up for losing McDermott and a first.
They have very good flexibility and versatility.
Brogdon A. Holiday Lamb J. Holiday PG13 Warren Morris Sabonis Turner
Lastly the Bucks swap out Bledsloe and get back a good haul. Pat Beverly is a dog defensively, Lou Williams will light it up off the bench which is an area the Bucks struggle. Plus Doug McBuckets a knock down threes point shooter aswell.
Giannis gets some depth on the Bucks and this makes them a argueably the title favourites
That’s horrid for the clips
How? Bledsloe is an upgrade over Beverly and Oladipo for PG is pretty even really, plus with Harrell, Morris and Lou Will leaving they would create some cap space to get a centre.
I’m thinking bring back JaMychal Green @5mil and get a centre like Marc Gasol, Tristan Thompson or Derrick Favours.
What really made the clips fall apart was the locker room. Lou Will at the strippers, Pat Bev busy talking smack to Lillard, Harrell up happy with his role, then PG13 just disappeared.
If they didn’t choke against the Nuggets they go through to the Lakers, in a tough series and whoever wins that really wins the comp.
Bledsloe and Oladipos personalities would suit Kawhi a lot more. Bledsloe is what LaWhi wants in a point cause he can defend and facilitate. And Oladipo doesn’t run away in the big moments, he’s a clutch shooter.
George, Morris, Lou Williams and Beverly for Oladipo and Bledsoe? Come on…
Yeah Morris is a unrestricted FA, Lou Will is 34, and PG I believe is still lost cause that man disappeared haunts the Nuggets and hasn’t been seen since.
What made the clippers fail this year was the locker room. Bev Lou Will and Harrell then PG going missing. You clear out the outspoken distractions and bring in some quality players which fit around your star you will be better.
Pacer fans have gotten used to disdaining PGeorge… him & MarcusM are not Pritchard types, who is invested in Dipo.
A new coach is already a major improvement.
It’s probably an improvement, because I have always felt that D’Antoni is heavily overrated. But the biggest improvement won’t happen until Harden is gone. His style of play, though impressive on offense in the regular season, is generally selfish and not conducive to winning in the playoffs. Especially when he regularly disappears in big games. The fact that Westbrook can’t shoot and loses his head easily does not help, either. Both need a very cerebral and dominant head coach to turn that stuff around and I don’t think that is among the options.
I thought you were responding to posts about the Rockets. I may have been off on that. In my defense, I hadn’t had any coffee yet.
Yeah I have no idea where you got Rockets from lol… but now that you mention it I do agree. Rockets never really had a championship caliber roster. Harden alone isn’t enough.
One reason to pick Lue was to take advantage of his year of observation. I would assume his opinion will be taken, since the point anymore is not to collect talent— the EOY has already done that— but in organizing it, which means reducing the talent… though if they succeed, it won’t look like a reduction! (Three forms of punctuation in one sentence; how about three more?).
I would prefer old & new separated cleanly by another team that is looking for an identity and has the means to get LouW and PatB (trade, $21.3mil) and Montrezl (FA)… PG & C. This would help facilitate getting the Clips a floor-leader guard. Supposedly Kawhi wants a lead guard, so he can’t complain if they get one.
1) Charlotte: Up to abt $22 for Harrell, though I think less, and send Terry Rozier or perhaps DevonteG + CodyZ for Lou+Pat. A painless upgrade for CHA although the GM said not to expect big moves.
2) WAS: sends John Wall for Lou + Pat + McGruder + Green (if agreed, probably requiring an upgrade from $5mil from CHA, or an S&T to $10mil+ which would not require McGruder to be included… if legal); and Harrell signed limited to about $15mil. This would please everyone in Washington except maybe Leonsis. It seems to fit for LAC even with 3 maxxes but trading PG13 would be a good idea and would save some face with PG.
3) Knicks… posted before… pick a PG +salary, I would say Payton + Gibson among other choices + and the #8, for Lou + Pat and a high limit for Harrell. Rose will want to make a smash move. But none of the PGs may be desired, depends… Payton would be easy for Lue to work with.
4) PHX Rubio + Chiek Diallo ($18.8) for Lou + Pat ($21.3) with Harrell limited to abt $18mil. Suns supposedly want to trade Rubio and Booker would like keeping up with them.
5) SAC Deaaron Fox + Cory Joseph ($20.7) for Lou + Pat with abt $9mil left for Harrell;
OR Fox+HBarnes ($30.3) for Lou+Pat+McGruder ($26.3) with abt $15mil for Harrell. That makes everyone happy.
Pels, Wolves, but not great fits
Figures subject to errors and forehead-slapping technical blocks
Turns out to be more good options than I thought, and with motivated trade partners, and motivated Montrezl & Kawhi, makes a trade for a PG likely to happen. Rozier, Rubio, Fox, Peyton+#8, and Wall+more work to be done, options.
Pal no one is trading Graham, Wall, Rubio or Fox for any of the many scrubs from LAC… there is a reason they failed, well out in R2WC is what I forecasted all year long, the team ain’t very good, at all, no depth, no experience, no skill, simply no good at all!
One comment had paul George going back to indy……NFW. We say good riddance. Our team is fun to watch without his ball hogging, last second choke jobs.
Morris should be let go. He added nothing to Clippers except for dirty fouls. Harrell is good bench player….he is likely to be overpaid and leave. Rivers used him incorrectly.
PG13 is NOT being traded, unless he demands it or KL requires it. They’re joined at the hip for the next year.