• Health has been the biggest impediment to success. It is reasonable to think that had Kawhi been healthy vs Dallas, the Clips would be getting ready for Game 1 vs OKC right now. Ballmer/Lue/FO believe this, and I don’t think it’s unreasonable.
• Coaching decisions have had a much bigger impact on the shortcomings of the past few years than people want to admit. The corollary of that is had some coaching decisions been different, this team would produce better results and be more built for the playoffs even with the existing roster.
• The F.O. has made some notable fumbles but the roster we had was top 4 worthy.

What I think needs to be done going forward:

• Health – we can’t expect it and have to re-tool and manage a roster to workaround the inevitable injuries. Frank did that when he got James Harden, but he didn’t go far enough.
• Offensive System – Implement an offensive system that eschews or limits iso play, focuses more on movement, cardio fitness, passing, cutting, hunting 3s and optimal match ups in the first 14 seconds of the shot clock.
• Empower the Rotation – Players like Zubac, Mann, Coffey, Bones, Miller, Brown need to integrated into the rotation better and to be empowered to hunt shots.
• Stop indulging and favoring veterans – We should not allow veterans like Marcus Morris, Russell Westbrook to dictate playing time and rotations. We should not let PG pick key roster members. The notion that Marcus Morris and Russell Westbrook kept people like Zu/Mann/Coffey/Bones from getting quality minutes and roles is unacceptable for a franchise that purports to prioritize winning
• Front office has to stop dancing around the clear roster gaps (e.g.,size/athleticism at the backup PF spot that is playable, and having better players at the end of the roster). The first steps the FO could take are: unload Westbrook and Tucker, both of whom held others back and created locker room friction; get off Norm Powell’s contract while is value is good; let Plumlee go as part of remaking the backup 4/5 spot

Kennard’s biggest fault was his reluctance to shoot. Did he not shoot in volume due to deferring to KL and PG?

If the 4 “future Hall of Famers” come back again, does anyone feel they can compete with OKC, Denver, Celtics, T-Wolves, or Orlando?

If they come back, the Clippers will be old, slow, and very boring.

George is very talented, however, his game doesn’t fit into a team concept. George is an island unto himself when he has the ball. Tunnel vision. George will be what? 34, 35, 36?

Kawhi will be 33, 34, 35. Kawhi is under contract. He has value.

Harden has no value to any other team. Zippo.

Lue will continue to play geriatrics.

Let Tucker go. Pay off his contract. Get rid of him now. If you thought he was a detrimental pain in the ass this year, wait until next year.

Sign and trade, if you can, George for Donovan Mitchell. Sign and trade George to anyone who will give the Clippers a player and a 1st round pick.

If Russ opts in, pay him off and say “bye-bye.”

Right now, I do not trust much being reported. The Clips kept saying they wanted Blake until they didn’t.

That’s the preface to say, the end result really didn’t surprise me, and anyone who thought this team could flip the switch in the playoffs was just praying for a miracle. Mavs I think should’ve been favored in this series, even with a healthy Kawhi. Without a healthy Kawhi, I think they’re lucky to have even won 2 games. This was like getting to the WCF against the Suns without Kawhi. You hoped they could make it competitive, but wasn’t really a shock they couldn’t win it all without Kawhi.

What’s next for this team? I don’t know. You’re kind of stuck with Kawhi, given you signed him to an extension and trading him for pennies on the dollar doesn’t seem like good business. I don’t think the FO is going to let PG or Harden walk for nothing, and I think both still would have value in a trade, so I actually expect both of them to get signed, and at least open up Intuit with the “stars” in place. I think you do have to explore what you can get for those guys in a trade at the deadline, but think their value is waning, so there is some risk there. Basically the rest of the roster is signed, and has almost no trade value. Maybe you can get another bad contract like Jerami Grant, Vucevic, Wiggins, etc. I’m definitely open to a new coach. I think Ty would get snatched up in a second, but it just seems crazy to bring everyone back and hope it changes this time around. I’m kind of where we were last season, make a coaching change or shake up the roster. One thing has to happen. Sure it’s just one season with Harden, and I’d say a reasonably successful one, but it was more like 70 days of success, not a full season.

Recently I’ve been thinking, I’m so lucky in real life that maybe I’m just sucking all the good luck away from my basketball team. I’ll take that trade 10/10 times.

I was wondering if Billy Crystal would be there and of course he is.

https://theathletic.com/5471416/2024/05/05/clippers-nba-offseason-kawhi-leonard-paul-george-western-conference/

Among the low-lights:

“Eight West teams have won a playoff series in the past three years, and the Clippers aren’t one of them…They’re the oldest team in the NBA and stuck as they open Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., later this year. They can’t blow it up because the team would be woeful in the short term while still waiting for a full complement of lottery pick.

Even if the stars, head coach and front office all return, things will be different for the Clippers, at least from an expectations perspective. The past three years were about seeing if this group led by Leonard and George could win, or at least contend. They have proven they cannot.

Intuit Dome will not open with championship aspirations. It is merely a final resting place for this era while the Clippers hope to stay over .500 in an unforgiving conference.”

the qualify of the product became less important

This sounds exactly like the Clippers. Winning basketball games has taken a backseat to flashy names, the new arena, winning headlines against the Lakers, etc.