I remember when it happened. Chris Paul got traded to the Clippers. It was six days after a trade to the Lakers was rebuffed by the league’s front office. I remember watching the video of DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin joyously reacting to the news and cheering the forming of Lob City. The new alliance birthed cool t-shirts and an overflowing stream of amateur highlight reels remixed to rap songs. They were no longer back page news in a star-studded town. Paul gave the Clippers relevance and legitimacy for the first time in the franchise’s destitute history. Tinsel Town had a new big-ticket item.
Though in their six years together, the Clippers’ big three couldn’t break through the glass ceiling of the second round. The definition of insanity is repeating the same things and expecting a different result. The Clippers, then, needed to be fitted for a straitjacket. Year after year, they kept rolling out their trio of stars surrounded by shallow rosters with the same obvious holes, filled with quick fixes and retreads. They came so close so many times, they conflated their congruity to title contention with complacency. Young players didn’t get developed, they got shipped out of town for win-now pieces. Lineups got mismanaged, and they never found their best crunch-time five. The Clippers were well past due for a change.
Trading Paul to the Rockets this offseason was supposed to usher in a new outlook for L.A.’s second sons. The mood around the team instantly changed. There was even a whiff of Ewing Theory in the air following Paul’s departure.
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Jettisoning Paul meant Griffin finally fully utilizing his abilities, becoming the point forward we always wanted him to be and for Jordan to absorb an expanded role in the offense. The trade package they received from Houston gave Los Angeles more depth than ever before. Perhaps they still wouldn’t vanquish their second-round demons, but the stagnation of their antecedent failure was aerated. The Clippers were fun again.
However, their luck in 2017 has been harsh, and the injury-riddled Clippers are sinking faster than Jack after Rose pushed him off the door.
Newly imported passing savant, Miloš Teodosić, went down with a foot injury in the home opener and hasn’t played since. Patrick Beverley will miss the rest of the season after having microfracture knee surgery. Danilo Gallinari is doing his best Danilo Gallinari impression, spending more games in street clothes than on the court through the NBA’s opening quarter. If that wasn’t enough, the biggest blow for the Clippers came during a home matchup against the Lakers when Austin Rivers went after a loose ball and fell on Griffin’s knee. Griffin avoided serious damage, but is scheduled to miss the next two months with a sprained MCL.
Jordan is the last pillar standing amongst the charred rubble of Lob City.
With their season in shambles, the question becomes what should the Clippers do now? It’s difficult to picture them surviving in a loaded Western Conference with the motley crew they’re left with. Getting sonned by the Mavericks in one of their latest losses should have been a huge red flag to the front office.
Of their big three, Jordan was the least heralded. He was a lottery talent who fell to the early second round due to his lackluster year at Texas A&M and unimpressive pre-draft workouts. But Jordan improved every single season he’s been in the NBA, becoming the Clippers’ full-time center in his third year, making his first All-Star appearance last season and routinely topping out among the league-leaders in rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage.
Maybe he’s not a guy who can carry a team on his own, but he certainly does his job. You can make the case he’s been L.A.’s most consistent and productive player of this era. Inarguably, he’s been their most durable by far. Since Lob City’s conception in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, Jordan’s played 470 of a possible 476 regular season games, compared to 409 for Paul and 389 for Griffin.
It’s easy to handwave his significance since he’s so offensively-limited, but his importance became obvious after he signed the famed Mavericks offer sheet in 2015. While the escapade and subsequent Twitter shenanigans made for a very entertaining follow, it exemplified what a key piece he was to the Clippers after they banded together, pulling out all the stops to convince him to stay.
Now, though, it’s probably in the best interest for both the Clippers and Jordan to go their separate ways. Jordan’s the perfect complimentary player that could represent the missing cog to a handful of championship contenders. The most obvious among them being the Cavaliers:
The contracts and fits work almost too perfectly.
Jordan would step in as their starting center, pushing Kevin Love back to his natural position and filling Cleveland’s blatant needs of rebounding and rim protection. The Cavaliers are currently 19th in rebound percentage and 25th in blocks per game. While the Clippers always came up short, him going to the Cavaliers would give a boost to their already-decent chances. Jordan has the abilities to be a championship-caliber center.
The deal would also work from Los Angeles’ perspective. Right now, the team is falling apart with no means of internal salvation. Getting reasonably worse and playing for the future is not only prudent, it’s the right move for the Clippers to become relevant again.
Tristan Thompson has been on the shelf for the majority of the year, so he’ll fit right in with his would-be new teammates. Moving to L.A. means he’ll be closer to Khloe Kardashian and their future child. Plus, it gives Kardashian the opportunity to go to games with Kendall Jenner, as they watch their current flames play for the same team — which I’m sure would make for truly enlightening television.
Channing Frye would give the Clippers a healthy, tangible body who can play, as well as a steady veteran presence. He’s also on a team-friendly, expiring contract, making him easy to trade along to a playoff-bound franchise looking for a stretch-big.
Then, the jewel of the deal, plucking that Brooklyn first from Cleveland’s coffer. The Clippers have their own first rounder in this upcoming draft. Pairing that with the Brooklyn pick would give them two possible shots in the top-10. That’s a dream scenario not only for a quick rebuild, but something the fans could get behind, given their dire situation.
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The fall of Lob City was swift, but not totally unpredictable. It was a good run, but all great civilizations eventually meet their doom, whether at the hands of invading hordes, sinking into the sea or trading a cornerstone player and immediately suffering an unforgiving string of injuries. There are plenty of directions you can point to place blame for their demise, but Jordan always did his job. Lob City may have ultimately been a disappointment, but Jordan never was. He’s certainly not playing the fiddle as his once-great basketball civilization burns down around him.