Kennard, Hyland, James, SGA Hartenstein and even PG. Ex Clippers be cookin’ in these playoffs. Kinda makes you wonder what our coach and FO have been doing. It’s ok for folks to admit that they’ve fallen short. In fact, I think it would be healthy for Clipper Nation and Clipper organization to look at the evidence before them and stop giving the benefit of the doubt.

We have some really good young players on this roster, who may have more talent than the ones mentioned above (except for James/SGA). We don’t want to see our franchise give up on those guys and repeat past mistakes.

Luke is still who we knew he was. Sure it’s great the Lakers finally found someone that didn’t have their 3P% tank as soon as he put on the purple and gold, but let’s not pretend Luke was a scrub for the Clippers. He was legitimately good for the Clippers, but towards the end of his tenure here, it was just hard to justify getting him playing time due to defensive deficiencies. He had these games at or near 30 pts for the Clippers during the course of the regular season, especially when was called on to play big minutes. He has to put up points for this Laker team missing Luka and Austin, so I think it’s a matter of circumstance, not coaching, that let him kind of have this breakout game.

All that being said, the Eric Gordon trade remains one of the worst trades in recent Clipper memory, and I would’ve loved to hang on to Luke. Clips did get a lot of 2nd round picks (I think Cam Christie was one, but forget what they did with the rest), so got some value back on a Luke contract that was a little crazy. I do think it was a little bit of a salary dump given EJ’s non-guaranteed deal.

JJ has done a remarkable job with Luke and I’ve noted how natural he looks in a Laker uniform. JJ lets Luke play make but urges him to take more shots. I think a big difference btwn a Kawhi/PG and a Lebron/Luka is the latter have higher basketball IQ. JJ doesn’t need to constantly explain to Lebron/Luka why it’s good for them if Luke is getting 10-12 quality shots per game or has the opportunity to create a few more for others.

I felt the same way about Rui and I can remember you stumping for him. Even Vandy was better than any PF we’ve had for years.

I go hot and cold on LF but he’s been navigating a tightrope for years and not totally awful because we’re in a position to vector out of this mess if he proceeds accordingly.

Maximize Kawhi trade and look for some abandoned prospects to see what happens. This is why I’m not quick to just dump Benn—-if the price is right.

Ty cannot be a part of this movement though. Let’s keep up the charge because believe it or not I think they actually do process how we fans feel.