How to blow up the Los Angeles Clippers

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Nov 9, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer prior to a NBA basketball game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

Los Angeles Clippers

Finally, where would the Clippers as a team go — aside from Seattle — in the aftermath of all these defections? New owner Steve Ballmer paid a pretty penny for this franchise and the last thing he wants is for them to go back to being your father’s Clippers.

Even if they lose the four people named above, they will still have DeAndre Jordan under contract for at least one more season (he has a player option of $24 million for the 2018-19 season). Jordan might not be the same caliber of a star as Paul and Griffin, but he is a building block nonetheless. While Austin Rivers and Jamal Crawford might not be the perfect supporting cast for him, it’s at least a place for the team to begin.

Another thing working in the Clippers favor is that they have held onto most of their future picks. They owe a lottery-protected 2019 first round pick to Boston, but if they haven’t given it up after 2020 — and it is lottery-protected every year through 2020 — it becomes a 2022 second round pick instead. With talented big men like DeAndre Ayton, Michael Porter Jr., Mohammed Bamba, Marvin Bagley, Zion Williamson, Cameron Reddish, Moses Brown and Jordan Brown likely available in the 2018 and 2019 drafts, there’s potential for the Clippers to even deal Jordan and acquire young players and picks in exchange.

If the mass exodus predicted above does fall on the Clippers’ head, they are just a few smart moves away from being and the exciting and burgeoning team once again. The best way to make sure those smart moves are made is by bolstering the people in charge of the front office and the sidelines.

Los Angeles should look into replicating the kind of turnover that allowed for the team that ended their season, the Jazz, to become a top tier team again. The Jazz brought in Dennis Lindsey from San Antonio to head their front office and brought the youthful Quin Snyder up from the NBA Developmental League to run the team. How about bringing a tandem like say Oklahoma City’s Troy Weave and Toronto 905’s head coach Jerry Stackhouse to revamp the Clippers? Or what about poaching Bobby Marks from The Vertical for the front office and giving the reigns to an up-and-coming talent like Stephen Silas?

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There are plenty of options open to the Clippers if this was indeed the final run of the Doc-Paul-Griffin-Jordan-Redick era. However, that fate should not be faced with doom and gloom in mind. For the first time in a long time, the Clippers are set up to have a promising future.

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