I think Kawhi sets the tone, nobody needs to know his business and his body, and Lawrence Frank follows his lead and the outflow of information gets restricted. It’s just the way it is. The signals from Frank after Kawhi was sent home from Team USA were annoying, in retrospect, and he was trying to protect Kawhi’s privacy and feelings, while also trying to preserve some face for himself and the Clippers. The part that was tricky was that Kevin Durant was nursing an injury and not participating in camp, but they held a spot for him. It seemed like Kawhi didn’t get the same treatment because he would have gummed up LeBron’s minutes and the role they were reserving for KD, while Tatum was in a position where he needed to play his way onto the court as well. Kawhi had to earn his spot, and he wasn’t ready to do that. It was unfortunate that Kawhi wasn’t healthy, but that applies to his status in April and the playoffs. It all makes better sense now. Having the procedure, which isn’t surprising, and cleaning things up as much as possible, is better than skipping it and not getting better and needing it later. Kind of waiting for Dr. Shap to break it all down.

My view is that Batum is a great placeholder starter, and it will be fun to watch that lineup, starting things off. Batum and Harden are going to be great together, with Zu in the mix too. I expect TMann and DJJ to be the other starters, but I’ve been flirting with the idea of Norm (and him being a 20ppg scorer) all summer. After listening to different early previews, I think that DJJ as a point of attack defender should get the nod and he will be a big asset, complementary to TMann, who has to step up, And Harden needs to be the System until Kawhi is able to go. I’m looking forward to seeing that.

Realistically, the “very stubborn inflammation” (per LFrank) was likely never going to be “fixed” by rest alone. So, rather than non news this is guarded good news. The team needs to figure out how to compete without KL anyway so mite as well start now. We’ve got some guys who mite just be getting a real look sooner than they thot would happen–thinkin Jordan, Cam and Kobe.

Anyway, regarding the starting line up, why do we do this every year? Poor Terance Mann. Just give the guy a starting roster spot once please. Norm Powell really doesn’t work in the starting line up and he works so well coming off the bench. Regarding Batum vs DJJ, I’m down to mess around and see what works best, but I ultimately think they’ll end up splitting time with the starters. If DJJ can be a knock down 3 point shooter receiving passes from Harden (that’s where I think his potential/ceiling is this year), maybe he get’s the starting spot and Batum can take some minutes as a small ball center (assuming his body can handle it). Other than that, our line ups feel pretty straight forward.

When Kawhi isn’t playing, it should be Harden, Mann, DJJ, Batum, and Zu. When he is playing swap him for DJJ.

The news on his surgery is almost non-news IMO. We won’t know what Kawhi’s impact is going to be this season until the season is over. Even if he seems okay November through April, there’s no telling what happens after that. I really feel for the guy. It must be painful going through all of these issues.

This also explains why they’re standing pat roster wise until further notice. I like starting Nico at 4 and DJJ at 3 but we need to find a suitable backup at the 4. Maybe Kobe can handle the gig. Gallo is still looking to get on with a team and that might be fun vibes wise if nothing else. He wasn’t too washed last year.