Coming into the 2022-23 NBA season, expectations were sky-high for the Los Angeles Clippers. They were tipped to even dethrone the Golden State Warriors as the top team in the Western Conference but things haven’t gone to plan for them or Golden State for that matter.
The Clippers are the 6th seed in the West with a 31-28 record, largely thanks to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George missing quite a bit of time this season. Kawhi missed his 27th game of this campaign against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night while George has only managed to play in 42 of their 59 games.
The Clippers had eventually become somewhat of an afterthought this season and even though they made some decent moves on deadline day, they saw their rivals make bigger ones this week. George was recently asked about the West getting stronger and he admitted that he has to play better.
At the end of all the Russ talk last night, I asked PG about what he and Kawhi have talked about, especially with West getting serious.
PG: "West is the West… After the trades, we're still not the favorites… We just got to start pulling our weight, myself in particular." pic.twitter.com/QBuM3Hkwuf
— Law Murray ❓ (@LawMurrayTheNU) February 11, 2023
“The West is the West, it’s going to be tough regardless. Before these trades we weren’t the favorites and after the trades, we are still not the favorites. So, it’s going to be tough regardless, we know that. Again it’s just more so us just getting healthy and we just got to start pulling our weight, myself in particular.”
George is averaging 23.3 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 5.2 APG this season while shooting 46.0% from the field, which is solid, but he hasn’t been great recently. His last 6 games have seen him average 21.7 PPG on just 43.2% shooting from the field. The Clippers will need both him and Kawhi to be at their absolute best if they are to compete with the big boys in the West.
Paul George Wants The Clippers To Acquire Russell Westbrook
George openly claimed after the loss to the Bucks that his former teammate Russell Westbrook would be a good addition to the Clippers. They traded away John Wall and Reggie Jackson, so the team doesn’t really have a pure point guard, with new addition Bones Hyland being the only one who plays there.
The Clippers President didn’t seem too keen on the idea though, as he stated they are looking at players who aren’t ball-dominant and can shoot. As for Westbrook himself, he seems willing to play for the Utah Jazz, so a buyout isn’t confirmed just yet.
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