The Clippers made an offseason push with a win-now perspective, adding a pair of former All-Stars in the backcourt and a pair of veterans up front, plus a promising 6-foot-11 rookie center.
The two areas of concern for the Clippers as they again take aim for the playoffs — and the hopes of advancing past the first round for the first time since their trip to the Western Conference finals in 2021 — are age and chemistry. When they open the season Wednesday against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City, the Clippers likely will have the oldest team in the league with an average age of 33.2 years. By contrast, the Oklahoma City Thunder won the title last season at an average age of 24.7 years.
Can coach Tyronn Lue fit all the pieces of the puzzle together?
“It’s going to take us 15 to 20 games into the season to really understand our rotations, our chemistry, how we want to play, who fits,” Lue said after the Clippers’ first preseason game.
Then there’s the annual concern about the health of Kawhi Leonard, a six-time All-Star and two-time NBA Finals MVP, who has not played in at least 70 games in a regular season since 2016-17. While he starts his 14th season healthy, he played in only 37 games last season, missing the first 34 because of lingering knee problems. He did play the entire seven-game playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, averaging 25.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists.
Off the court, the Clippers, owner Steve Ballmer and Leonard are the focus of an investigation by an independent law firm that is trying to determine for the NBA whether the team violated league rules by funneling extra money to their star through a separate company in which the Clippers’ owner was an investor. Ballmer and Leonard deny there was such a deal.
On the court, James Harden, an 11-time All-Star and former league MVP, again will be the catalyst for the offense alongside Leonard. Harden averaged 22.8 points, 8.7 assists and 5.8 rebounds last season. He was one of only four players — along with Cade Cunningham, LeBron James and Nikola Jokic — averaging more than 22 points and eight rebounds per game while shooting 35% or better from three-point range.
Harden and Leonard led the Clippers to a fifth-place finish in the Western Conference last season thanks in part to winning 18 of their final 21 regular-season games.
This season the Clippers’ rebuilt roster will feature three-time All-Star Bradley Beal as a starter after two injury-riddled seasons with Phoenix and 40-year-old Chris Paul — the former Clipper, 12-time All-Star and bona fide Hall of Famer — in a backup role. The team acquired Brook Lopez (free agency), John Collins (trade) and Yanic Konan Niederhauser (draft) to fortify the frontcourt anchored by 7-foot Ivica Zubac, who averaged 16.8 points and 12.6 rebounds last season while shooting 62.8%.
One key will be how Beal fits into the lineup as a scorer and facilitator. Lue believes he’ll return to form after shaking off injuries.
“Players of this caliber are very rare, and they’re hard to come by,” Lue said this summer when the team signed Beal after the Suns bought out his contract. “You can put him in so many different spots and he’ll find ways to score. … He can create his own or he can play off the ball. He’s a great cutter. He’s also a great playmaker who is going to make everybody else better.”
Gone are guards Norman Powell, who had a breakout season and was part of the trade to acquire Collins, Amir Coffey (free agency), Ben Simmons (free agency) and Patty Mills (retired) as well as center Drew Eubanks (waived).
Yet the Clippers will have plenty of depth offensively and defensively in versatile forwards Derrick Jones Jr. and Nicolas Batum plus guards Kris Dunn and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Lue mentioned that his club will have multiple veterans coming off the bench who have been starters.
“It feels good to have a lot of different options, combinations,” Lue said. “Every night could be different, every night is going to be different.
“But we have time. We just got to keep getting better.”
Associated Press, basketball-reference.com and nba.com contributed to this report.
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