As a team with such a limited history of playoff success, you would think that the Clippers would play with some extra intensity for their Game 5 playoff match at home against the Dallas Mavericks. But after they dropped a complete dud on Wednesday (losing to the Mavericks in an ugly blowout), Stephen A. Smith called on the front office to initiate some major changes.
“It was a catastrophe. … I want wholesale changes in Los Angeles. Steve Ballmer just needs to blow it up,” said Smith. “Enough is enough…. at some point in time you can’t be about trying to compete with the Los Angeles Lakers. Laker Nation is Laker Nation they have their fanbase and what have you but the bottom line is you’re not gonna beat them. You’ve got to establish your own and to establish your own you need reliable players.”
.@stephenasmith GOES OFF on the Clippers' Game 5 performance 😯
"It was a catastrophe. … I want wholesale changes in Los Angeles." pic.twitter.com/HBHNeYghrY
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 2, 2024
The Clippers impressed a lot of people during the regular season when they went 51-31 with the trio of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and James Harden. During one point this season, they climbed to a top-three spot in the West and looked to be on par with the Nuggets as one of the teams to beat.
But, as is usually the case with the Clippers, they were unable to sustain that level of play. The Clips fell apart down the stretch of the season and now they are getting exposed in the playoffs down 3-2 to a Mavericks team that is red-hot behind the play of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. After years of trying and failing to make a run, it seems like the window is closing for this steam and it might be better to pull the plug now than to drag this out until the end.
If they do lose in the first round this year, we can expect changes in some form this summer. Whether it’s the departure of Paul George or even a potential trade involving Kawhi Leonard, who is unavailable once again for his team as he deals with an ongoing health problem, something has to give for this franchise and many would agree that it’s long overdue.
The Last Dance For Kawhi Leonard And Paul George?
Paul George and Kawhi were a package deal back in 2019, and they both agreed to run the show together from the very start. For Kawhi, despite his poor attendance record for games, he’s still the Clippers’ most valuable player with averages of 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game this season as one of the league’s top wing defenders.
Paul George, meanwhile, also had a pretty solid campaign. Through 74 games, he averaged 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game on 47% shooting. he was often the best player on the floor for the Clippers this season and he will enter the offseason as one of the summer’s hottest free agents.
After five seasons together in Los Angeles, the Clippers have only advanced past the second round once, and they weren’t close to beating the Suns, who won in six games in that series.
With such a large sample size of failure for this Clippers’ regime. it’s hard to imagine that they run it back as presently constructed. They will consider every option available this offseason as they re-evaluate their likeliest path to a Larry O’Brien trophy.
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