Among the daunting obelisks of the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Clippers know their opportunity to strike lies down the road.
Basking in the limelight of Southern California must have been nice. The Lob City Clippers were a perennial second-tier contender while the Lakers flopped around in the waning/post-Kobe years, rattling off five-straight losing seasons.
But with LeBron James putting the mantle on his broad shoulders by donning the purple and gold, and the Lob City era dead and buried, the Clippers fall back to being LA’s second fiddle.
It was fun while it lasted. They produced their share of indelible moments and the best seasons for an otherwise moribund franchise, but their time in the sun ultimately won’t be remembered for anything more than that.
Unless something crazy or catastrophic happens this year, the Clippers will be watching the postseason from the comfort of their own couches. And that might be okay…for now. Assuming they don’t make the playoffs in either of the next two seasons, they’ll have all their own first round draft picks.
They’re now under the guidance of Jerry West, the master constructor of the Golden State dynasty. Of course, once the Warriors lured Kevin Durant, a basketball mind like West no longer had the challenge to defeat. With him at the switches, that means practicing financial prudence and not getting locked into any questionable contracts. Last season, he shipped out the Clippers’ biggest star because he felt the team was “stuck” with Blake Griffin and his massive freshly-inked extension.
While that ‘all-business’ mentality could be hard for the sentimental of heart, the Clippers are in an unquestionably better position than they were a year ago. West doesn’t get out of bed for anything less than a title contender and won’t settle for team toiling in mediocrity.
As currently constructed, the Clippers have a lot of solid pieces but lack major star talent. They’ll likely end up in the late lottery again like last year, but they’re building a culture of tough, physical, and (hopefully) winning basketball.
Patrick Beverly — who is, in fact, half pitbull — and Avery Bradley both return to form the best defensive backcourt in the league. They brought in the Polish Hammer, Marcin Gortat by shipping out Austin Rivers, which opens up more minutes at guard for the rookies and reinforces their center rotation with the human version of a chain link fence.
When asked about extending his offensive game to the 3-point line, Gortat proclaimed some pure balladry:
“This summer, I’m going to work on my tan. I’m going to work on my 6-pack. Get my biceps definition a bit better. You can’t improve 3-point shooting. You can’t improve your shot, specifically for me. I truly believe I’m a solid, good shooter up to 15, 17 feet. But I’m not going to shoot 3s. No, I’m not going to do that. I want to go into the paint. Body people. Be physical. Get scratches. Bleed.”
The Clippers won’t be the best team in the league, but with Gortat dropping quotes like Clubber Lang, they definitely won’t be fun to play against.
With the foundation of toughness laid, this season will all be about figuring out the future.
Tobias Harris is their offensive focal point and is going into the final year on his contract. He’s already a seven-year veteran, but only enters his age-26 season and what should be his prime years. The front office will need to access whether or not Harris is in their plans going forward or if they’ll flip him for assets at the deadline.
The other huge part of 2018-19 will be nurturing their duo of first-round picks, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jerome Robinson. They were drafted as two guys with the upside to be more than just the expected role players at the back-end of the lottery.
West didn’t pick them hoping to hit a pair of singles, he swings with his eye on the fences. He’s looking for players who could one day start on a championship team. Incubating their talent and development by putting them in positions to excel will be tantamount to the Clippers coming away with a successful season.
They’re rebuilding from the middle, which is always difficult. So far though, the Clippers have been smart in their moves and have a clear vision.
Of course, if all else fails, they have the biggest up-and-coming star in Hollywood.