From now until the start of the season, Corban Ford will be releasing offseason reviews for all 30 teams. These pieces will lay out the key losses and additions, along with an analysis describing some of the major moves and whether they positioned the team better for success or closer to disaster. With that out of the way, let’s discuss the Los Angeles Clippers.

New Arena, new season, new Clippers? After a rather seismic offseason, the Los Angeles Clippers enter the 2024-2025 season caught between two different contention phases. The question is, are they aware of that change?

Key Losses

Paul George (signed with Philadelphia) 

Key Additions

Mo Bamba, Nicolas Batum, Kris Dunn, Kevin Porter Jr.

The Clippers “213 era” officially ended on July 6th, 2024, as Paul George signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, putting a disappointing ending to a partnership alongside Kawhi Leonard that was predicted to win at least one championship, if not multiple. Instead, the Clippers, while successful in the regular season (233-157 record), have primarily failed once the calendar flipped to May, with five relatively early flameouts (including missing the playoffs entirely in 2021-2022) to only one conference finals appearance (to their credit, the first and only one in their history). Paul George took a lot of flak for the Clippers’ lack of championship success, and rightfully so. However, allow me to ask a rhetorical question. On multiple occasions, George has likened himself the “Robin” to Kawhi Leonard’s “Batman,” but due to Kawhi’s unfortunate injury history, he often went to battle without his leading partner by his side. As a comic book fan, I can share that Robin *rarely* beat the Joker without Batman, and for those that aren’t in the know, I suggest you read “Batman: Death in the Family” for more information. With all that being said, shouldn’t George get less blame than he does? 

The loss of George is even more curious because just before his departure, LA re-signed James Harden to a two-year, $70 million deal. 34 Harden is still a productive player despite the lackluster ending to his season. However, his effectiveness as a go-to player has declined precipitously, and now, without George, even more of the playmaking and scoring responsibility falls on Harden. It will be interesting to see if he can physically hold up to the challenge.

The Clippers did make some solid moves around the margins, though, signing a cadre of role players that should factor in at various points of the season. Derrick Jones Jr was signed fresh off of a career year in Dallas, where he brought stupendous perimeter defense all season long and a much improved outside shot (34% from three in the regular season, 36% in the postseason.) Nicolas Batum returns with his solid leadership, steady outside shooting, and overall heady floor play, even in more limited minutes in his relatively advanced basketball age. Kris Dunn is a dogged defender who will bring high energy on both ends even with a shaky perimeter jumper, and Mo Bamba at least holds the promise of being a two-way big who can protect the rim on one end and space the floor on the other. Kevin Porter Jr was also signed, and honestly, the less said about him, the better, but he had a solid year overseas in Italy and is relatively talented offensively.

Looking Ahead

The Clippers enter the new Intuit Dome with a bit of clarity in regards to how much ownership is genuinely willing to spend moving forward, but also with an uncertain future, as they are clearly no longer contending for a championship, yet should be too good to be considered among the dregs of the Western Conference. A lot of the future for LA depends on Kawhi Leonard, who is now heading into his sixth year with the franchise and has the same injury concerns that existed when he arrived. When healthy, Kawhi is still a top-15 player in the NBA, but those times are so inconsistent that it is hard to project the season he will have moving forward legitimately. Suppose he is mostly healthy this season, and James Harden can stave off a steep decline for at least one more year. In that case, the Clippers should be a scrappy, competitive unit that will make it hard for opposing teams on a regular basis while no longer holding heavy championship expectations (at least externally). Ironically, they have become the sort of team they were in 2019 before signing Leonard and George. Some things can quickly change while remaining the same.