The Clippers Dilemma (Rated PG-13)
With the news of Doc Rivers being out as Head Coach of the LA Clippers, the Clippers front office still have an issue they must address…
The News of Doc and LA parting ways should surprise no one. To be honest, it should’ve happened seasons ago. But nevertheless it has, and with the Clippers already having staff on hand that could possibly be named the next Coach (Lue, Cassell) I want to focus on the other elephant in the Clippers organization and that’s Paul George.
2019’s off season was nothing short of spectacular with the Lakers acquisition of Anthony Davis, the Nets landing both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, and the Clippers sending shockwaves throughout the league when they were able to sign Kawhi Leonard fresh off a championship run with the Toronto Raptors and then trade for Paul George which to most in the world of sports media, made the Clippers the championship favorites for 2020.
Fast forward a little over a year later in what has been an insane NBA season and the Clippers aren’t even in the playoffs anymore. Eliminated in the second round after blowing a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets, the Clippers are once again back at the drawing board, searching for answers.
When Kawhi made up his decision that he would be coming to LA to be apart of the Clippers, he made sure to inform the LA franchise to bring in another star to solidify bringing him in as well. The Clippers would reach out to Houston about James Harden, to Washington about Bradley Beal, and to Philly about Jimmy Butler who would wind up in Miami. After being turned away, the Clippers would then set their sights on Paul George, who was coming off arguably his greatest season ever as a member of the Thunder.
in 2018-2019 PG averaged a career high 28 PPG on 43/38/83 shooting splits and a career high 2.2 steals, which led to him being a finalist for both MVP and DPOY. That offseason he would have surgery on both shoulders, which of course came after him having another lackluster performance in the playoffs. Kawhi would be able to persuade PG to force a trade to LA a year after Westbrook convinced him to stay in which he was quoted saying at a party Russ put together “We have unfinished business”.
The trade was of course shocking, but the details within the trade was mind boggling….
The Clippers decided to give up literally their ENTIRE future for Paul George in order to get Kawhi as well. What makes it even worse is that both Kawhi and PG can opt out of their contracts after the 2020-2021 season. Yes, PG and Kawhi both choked in game seven against the Nuggets. But “Playoff P” has had trouble in the playoffs since his last year in Indiana. In Paul’s last five elimination games dating back to his last season with the Pacers he’s only averaging 20 PPG on 35/24/51 shooting splits. Not to mention, he only averaged 18.5 PPG in the first round against Dallas and 21.7 PPG in the second round against the Nuggets. This was also the first time in five years that he’s gotten out of the first round in the playoffs.
So with this first season being an absolute failure for this clippers franchise with Kawhi and PG, and with Doc Rivers now out as Head Coach. You have to think that the only player safe from being moved is Kawhi himself. Clippers don’t have a first round pick until 2027, I think it’s pretty simple that moving Paul George is a must for the Clippers this offseason.
