Harden lying his ass off saying he didn’t force his way out, btw. Total damage control.

But what about Darius Garland? Honestly, it’s hard to say. I don’t know enough about him and his game, and his spotty health status the past couple of seasons makes him more mysterious. It seems like he was on the rise and turning into a force before D. Mitchell arrived (his first All-Star nod was in 21-22). He maintained his numbers, started getting banged up, and then seemed to hit a high level last year as part of the CLE juggernaut, returning to the All-Star game.

Was he ever great and perfectly complementary to Donovan Mitchell? Probably pretty close, especially as they were so formidable last regular season, but it seems like Harden might be even better.

It would be hard for Garland to be as effective with Zu as Harden was, but if he’s anywhere close, that will be great. Harden had so much usage and so many turnovers, so Garland by comparison should be able to be quicker and effective in different ways. What that will do to Kawhi and running the floor with Collins and Zu and now getting DJJ back should be interesting.

A lot of it will be health. There’s a physical and medical assessment to pass, and it seems like expectations should be low until after the All-Star break. We don’t know what other deals might happen. So I guess we’ll see. Hate to lose all the momentum of 17-5 (which probably should have been 18-4). Not sure what to think about the CLE game tonight, which is just weird, but the Clips beat PHO with this lineup and can compete and win. Nice to have SAC coming up next, but MIN and HOU-HOU is ugly.

Just the way the world turns when you’re a Clipper fan.

Needed the commitment to starting Collins from Day 1, especially after trading away Norm. So that was the first mistake.

Landing Beal and CP3 were major errors. But how could you know? Both players certainly looked good enough on paper, even with all the questions. It was also part of the short term strategy, getting maximum experience, production, and value for two years, and keeping the books completely clean. It was a miserable failure.

And Lopez was probably even worse. Again, it seemed to be a great fit and good step forward. Instead it was a complete nightmare. It has gotten slightly better during the streak of good results, but it was still an ugly transaction.

The big thing is that when you bring guys in you want them to make an immediate impact, to improve the team right away. Dunn and DJJ did that last year. This time the Clippers were 0-4, big name big impact guys who were setbacks, every one.

And will all that, Kawhi’s injury and missing 10 games was probably the biggest factor in the Clippers horrendous start.

As you say, the team has been competing now the way that we thought that they would. But it’s too late for a Harden version. Let’s say the Clips do the Collins deal, but they don’t bite on Beal or CP3 or Lopez. And Collins starts from game 1. I wonder who they might have brought in instead, what the missed opportunities were.

I always believed that Harden would be gone at the trade deadline because of the contract situation. I appreciate that Harden didn’t make it into an ugly divorce.

Although I appreciate the Harden years, I couldn’t stand the stagnant offense. The Clippers will now be able to run, which I think will be good for Kawhi. Garland will make it easier for Kawhi.

We just got a lot younger. That’s another plus.

Lawrence Frank, you did good. We got a young All Star and a draft pick. Fantastic.

I am looking forward to watching Winston Garland’s son play for the Clippers.

It’s all freaking good.