Comments on: Lauri Markkanen, Jazz light up Clippers, 126-103

By: lying dog-faced pony soldier

lying dog-faced pony soldier — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 00:43:18 +0000

Clippers do have a great organization IMO and one of the best (definitely the wealthiest) owners in American sports. Suddenly making a U-turn and going on a crazy title run, though, seems like magical thinking. But Kawhi proved he could carry a good team to the promised land with Toronto, so who knows?

By: jbugs

jbugs — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 19:51:40 +0000

That’s crazy. There have been plenty of teams that really only picked up in the last half of the season that went to the Finals. Last year’s Celtics, the bubble Heat are two very recent examples.

While this clippers team hasn’t looked good, that can definitely change over night. Even if you want to point to our difficult schedule and say our battle is up the steepest hill, we on paper are still the best team in the league; if we were to start playing like it, it would look like us conquering this really tough schedule in a resounding way.

This team’s problems are totally solvable. I’m still convinced we have one of the best organizations in the league and that we will adjust.

By: Lucas Hann

Lucas Hann — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 18:48:55 +0000

The prospect of winning a championship this year is, mathematically speaking, pretty over. Could the Clippers go on a historic run the types of which the league has never seen before? Sure, maybe! But I don’t think that going from who they are now to the 2023 champions is going to hinge on giving up the 2028 1st for Mike Conley, it’s gonna have to be leadership from 213.

By: jbugs

jbugs — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 17:30:44 +0000

C’mon Lucas. Are you already in that mode? It’s been a depressing season to be sure, but this is far from over.

By: jbugs

jbugs — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 17:28:50 +0000

TBD on whether or not it actually looks better. They barely made it to the finals last year and that was coming out of the east playing against teams that were missing players. We’ve had terrible luck by comparison. I would take us over them in a series still.

By: jbugs

jbugs — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 17:20:02 +0000

We trade PG. He is the inferior player, he’s a year older than Leonard and he doesn’t have a great track record under pressure (definitely not when compared to Leonard). He would be a solid star, but he isn’t looking great as the second.

By: jbugs

jbugs — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 17:16:10 +0000

When everyone looks like they are buyers, it’s the best time to be a seller. One or more of these teams are going to commit to selling to take advantage of the arms race you’re pointing out. Utah seems like the ideal candidate as they know they likely aren’t going deep with this roster and they can remain competent even after selling on some key players.

Also, transactions aren’t always buyers trading for players from sellers. Minnesota should be feeling a lot of pressure to make a move. They went all in on Gobert this past summer and ended up getting worse as a team. They can’t afford to lose seasons of Ant’s career. They should absolutely be considering moving one of KAT or Gobert or they risk facing more pressure/drama in the near future. Some are saying they need a locker room guy. I personally think it’s a roster construction issue and most saw this a mile away right after the trade.

Also, now might be a great time for Portland to finally trade Lillard. It would end up being a win/win if they did. As much as Lillard has been a great franchise player, I have to imagine he wants to compete for a title. Portland would be doing him a favor by trading him to a contending team where he would be the third star. It would also allow Portland to shut the door on this era and start building the next.

By: jbugs

jbugs — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 17:03:10 +0000

Thanks for taking another perspective! I can’t imagine there isn’t some sort of strategy to what we’ve seen so far this year. The Clippers didn’t become dumb over night after being smart for 5 years.

By: khyber jones

khyber jones — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 15:17:26 +0000

I don’t think the price for Clarkson, Conley or Olynyk would be cheap, which suggests to me that Utah wants to be a net buyer and are happy to keep them if teams don’t meet their price. I’d agree that the Lakers are questionable buyers, but they should be, as I think with a healthy AD they could rip through the Western Conference playoffs because of the constant rim pressure that Lebron and Russ get. Add a credible 3/D player to that group and they’re in business.

By: JCplusULTRA

JCplusULTRA — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 13:54:24 +0000

A trade for PG13 that could work would be with NO for Ingram and Hayes. That would bump up NO to win it all this year while the Clippers get a younger but less talented wing and backup C on an expiring contract.

Another would be PG13 and Zu to the Griz for Jackson and Adams. Griz get a bump to win it all this year and the Clippers get their small ball C of the future and an expiring starting C.