Comments on: Clippers vs Bulls Preview: A Six-Game Win Streak on the Line

By: John Maclean

John Maclean — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 07:47:54 +0000

My latest wild trade thoughts. Evidently “some team” (probably the Celtics) are offering two firsts for Zu. What if we were to work out a three team deal including the bucks where we forward those two picks plus our own two firsts to the Bucks for Giannis? They would never trade him directly to the Celtics and the Celtics would probably welcome getting him out of their conference. Giannis is 32 now and still great but that’s fair value for him. A direct deal of Zu and our two firsts could be something but I think Milwaukee would be looking at a total rebuild and prefer cap space and picks. OKC and San Antonio have the picks but Gianni’s probably wouldn’t want to go to those places and those would be even less valuable picks than ours and Boston’s.

Kawhi is going to have to prove he’s not crippled again, but imagine how deadly a big three of Freak, Beard and Klaw would be. If healthy not sure playoff seeding would matter.

By: Oodypkt

Oodypkt — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 04:57:42 +0000

Just listen to podcast that Miller joined, the one our poster here have shared.
I think one aspect that both him and Sanders have is the calmness on the court.
They have high BBIQ and then when the game start to slow down for them, they figure it out what to do on the court.
Hope we convert them to the standard contract soon.
They should be on the regular rotation even when we get Kawhi & DJJ back.
Yanic & Christie will get their playing time eventually.
I think we are on the right track for talent acquisition and development. Let’s see.

By: mlslaw1

mlslaw1 — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 03:42:21 +0000

Got some help tonite from ATL — nice going.
As to the Lakes, who’s got Luka? Oh, I know, he’ll mercifully hunt Zu who will always be a lil late on his phony contests. And Brook would be worse. Actually like Batum’s length and smarts on him–

By: zhiv

zhiv — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 20:05:26 +0000

Interesting note on Lopez–I wasn’t seeing the game that way, but I wasn’t completely dialed in, making dinner, etc., and now that you mention it, it really rings true. I still don’t think the Clips’ 4th quarter chances would have been very good, as you note, and they were due to lose a game, given that Kawhi has been out. Lopez has a weird negative gravity, and it has cost the Clips pretty dearly. Maybe there’s something to the idea that he’s better as a starter and 3rd string, but he more toxic somehow as the back up playing 15 minutes. It’s troubling and disappointing.

There are some real issues, hard to navigate. Zu is still just slightly underperforming, as Rob notes in the preview. Getting Kawhi back is the next step, but after that comes Zu finding his soft touch and getting better balance and strength. I actually think it’s a rare case where his defense will follow his offense, and he will be better and make more plays as a defender, and get more rebounds, if he can get his shot calibrated and he gets more attempts.

And then there’s the YKN/Lopez question. It does seem like there should be some YKN 1st half backup minutes, based on how he has looked. Harden and others seem to find him pretty easily for dunks.

It was kind of funny to see how excited and confident Chicago got, after the Clippers failed to land punches. Clips were due for getting something like that–Lopez was a big contributor, but Harden had turnovers and Zu wasn’t sharp enough. We’ll see about Kawhi.

By: mlslaw1

mlslaw1 — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 19:38:55 +0000

The Bulls started off slow but then then their killer instinct kicked in when the 3s started falling; they steamrolled a tired team that missed a lot of shots

By: mlslaw1

mlslaw1 — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 19:37:29 +0000

“and get better on defense”

and on offense as he repeatedly got stripped; my complex and nuanced advice to YCN: hold the ball tighter—

at the least it should be a jump ball and not a strip; really infuriating

By: mlslaw1

mlslaw1 — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 18:07:50 +0000

At the end of the Lake’s radio broadcase last nite, John Ireland proclaimed, based on inside ken, that Kawhi would be back tom nite. Maybe he’s just trying to drum up listeners but he’s a plugged in guy. Tend to believe it. Minutes restriction maybe?

By: Jpo805

Jpo805 — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 17:13:36 +0000

I tend to agree … the Brook Lopez mins really killed the momentum.

Many folks have given Ty credit for playing the young guys but I’ve been rather hesitant to do so. I believe the only reason that some of these young guys are playing (Kobe, Miller & Cam) is because Ty didn’t have a choice due to injuries. In other words, he was forced to do so.

If Bogi, DJJ and Kawhi are all healthy, then Kobe & Miller’s ass would be glued to the bench. And tbh, I would rather see Miller and Kobe play over DJJ and Bogi.

YKN should have played over Lopez last nite and Tyty should have gotten mins as backup PG to give Harden some much needed rest. Not saying that these changes would result in a win but they would have given our veteran star some rest and our a young center valuable mins to learn and get better on defense.

Garbage time mins doesn’t do anything for the young guys. They need to play meaningful mins.

By: khyber jones

khyber jones — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 16:03:54 +0000

If Kawhi is coming back that will be a shot in the arm. Lakers have played very well in their last 2 games so I don’t know that we’ll blow them out like we did last time. However, Kawhi has been the 2nd or 3rd best player in the league over the last month and the other players have gotten valuable experience fighting together and winning together without him on the floor, showing an ability to execute. I think a motivated LAC team with Kawhi at home can win that game vs LAL.

By: John Maclean

John Maclean — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 07:57:56 +0000

Just finally watched tonight’s postgame Clippers Talk. The way people were attacking each other in the chat is like nothing I’ve ever seen before from Clipper fans. This single loss doesn’t mean squat. The Hornets obliterated the Thunder in OKC recently. It happens. What is of great significance to me is that Kawhi is healthy and we beat the mediocre Lakers convincingly on Thursday. If we’re not able to step up and send a message in that one then it means that we aren’t special and if we aren’t special then the trade deadline should become very serious again. We can’t afford to string ourselves along with ups and downs and squeak into the play in. We need to roar into the play in or 6 seed and really be a threat or pushing for that is a waste of time.