Lucas, Rob, and Shap get together in Part 1 of their two part series going through player grades for your favorite Clippers so far this season, fresh off a strong win heading into the break. Part 1 features Eric Bledsoe, Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard, Terance Mann, Amir Coffey, Brandon Boston Jr., Paul George, Norman Powell, Rodney Hood, Keon Johnson, Xavier Moon, and James Ennis III.

Check out the podcast here! Be sure to rate and review us five stars on whatever platform you listen to us on, and give us feedback in the comments below!

All Star Break Player Grades, Part 1
Shapan Debnath

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the LA Clippers made a massive trade Friday afternoon to acquire Norman Powell and Robert Covington from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, and Keon Johnson. The Clippers are also sending Portland Detroit’s 2025 2nd round pick, acquired with Luke Kennard two offseasons ago.

The obvious centerpiece of this deal is Powell, who is currently putting up an efficient 18.7 points per game for Portland this season on good efficiency (45.6% from the field and 40.6% from deep). He’s averaged 17.8 points on 48/41 splits in 161 games over the last three seasons, so none of that production should be unsustainable moving forward. For a Clippers team starved of offensive talent (currently 26th in the NBA in Offensive Rating, according to basketball-reference), Powell should provide a lift on that side of the floor without creating major issues on the defensive end either. What Norm doesn’t do is create much offense for others: his assist numbers fall drastically short of point guards like Bledsoe or Jackson and are more in line with current Clippers like Luke Kennard, Terance Mann, and Amir Coffey. While Powell is a guard, he’s really more of a (slightly–he’s 6’3″ with a 6’11” wingspan) undersized scoring wing than a playmaker.

In Covington, the Clippers get a short-term look at a once-coveted defensive forward who has fallen off a bit of a cliff recently. Playing somewhere between the small forwar and center positions based on lineup and scheme, he’s still capable of making an impact on the defensive end of the floor (he’s averaging 2.8 steals + blocks in just under 30 minutes per game for Portland this year), but that impact has declined along with his three-point shot, really hurting his ability to add any value on the offensive end of the floor. RoCo is a bit of a wild card in this trade. In theory, he is still a serviceable veteran who can be a good team defender at power forward and give Ty Lue the versatile switchability in a small ball center that he loves. In practice, he’s not as good as the incumbents in that power forward role, Marcus Morris and Nicolas Batum, and stuck behind all three of the Clippers’ traditional centers. I could see him occupying a part-time rotation role as a depth 4/small ball 5 to replace Justise Winslow. I could also see this acquisition maybe making the Clippers feel a bit more secure in their forward depth if they were to trade Marcus Morris this week–something that has been rumored to be on the table. I also wouldn’t be shocked to see Covington’s $13M expiring contract flipped before the trade deadline passes as the Clippers deal with a glut of forwards and now find themselves in need of a backup point guard.

For Portland, the value in this deal is essentially financial. The Blazers are in dire straits as an organization, recently firing former Clippers executive Neil Olshey after an independent investigation found Olshey created a hostile work environment. They’ve struggled with injuries to core players and constant speculation that star Damian Lillard would ask to be traded, and currently sit well below .500. This trade helps the organization get their finances order in two ways: first, by shedding a total of $4M in the exchange, they avoid the NBA’s luxury tax; second, the team moves Norman Powell’s hefty multiyear deal to create flexibility moving forward. Between Powell, Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and breakout star Anfernee Simons, the Blazers had more 6’3″ guys than they knew what to do with. McCollum’s $30M+ deal will also likely be on the move soon, freeing up money for Portland to invest in rebuilding their frontcourt for next season in a last-ditch attempt to be competitive in the Lillard era. Powell signed a 5-year, $90 million dollar deal with the Blazers last summer that will pay him about $17M next year, $18M in 2023-24, $19M in 2024-25, and $20.5M in 2025-26 when he is 32 years old. It’s not a bad contract for a player of Powell’s caliber, especially since it won’t stretch too far into his 30s, but it is understandable why Portland was reluctant to hold on to it if they felt he was redunant with their other options.

Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, and Keon Johnson all could offer some utility to the Blazers, but it’s unlikely that their play is going to make a big difference for the team. Bledsoe is a solid enough backup guard, but Portland is probably already hard at work on a way to repackage him before next Thursday’s deadline. Winslow is a fun and hard-playing but flawed backup who should get some minutes in Portland and have a similar impact to the one he’s been able to have with the Clippers, while Johnson is a developmental prospect who still needs a lot of work to become an NBA player.

For the Clippers, this trade could indicate that another move is on the horizion, simply because they gave up a point guard and didn’t get one back. One key ramification here is that LAC managed to create a roster spot in a 3-for-2 trade, which will allow them to promote Amir Coffey from his current two-way contract to the 15-man roster. Two-way contract players are not eligible to play in postseason games, so that is an essential promotion for one of LAC’s key contributors this season. In theory, they could just do that and stand pat, but the current depth chart certainly suggests another move is coming:

In the meantime, the Clippers can get by with Jackson and Powell sharing guard duties while Coffey, Kennard, and Mann pick up the slack at SG and Batum and Covington share backup forward minutes, but by the time the deadline rolls around, it would really behoove the Clippers to have another point guard in the regular rotation. While there are any number of options for trades to accomplish that, the most obvious avenues are either a big deal involving Luke Kennard and/or Marcus Morris, or a simpler deal using the expiring contracts of Covington or Serge Ibaka to bring back a veteran guard. It’s worth noting that if the Clippers’ roster currently feels a bit crowded at the 2, 3, and 4, that’s with them still missing two All-NBA wings. Not all of these guys are going to get to stick around heading into next year. I think there’s a chance that the team views Powell as the long-term starter as a shadow point guard, with George resuming his duties as the team’s lead on-ball offensive creator. That would both alleviate some of the logjam on the wings and, with the assumption that Powell and Jackson are your point guards heading into next season, mean that all you need to do here is a simple deal to flip Covington or Ibaka. I would keep my eyes on guys like Kemba Walker and Dennis Schroder as veterans who should be available on the current trade market and can plug a short-term hole on the second unit with some playmaking.

213Hoops is an independently owned and operated L.A. Clippers blog by Clippers fans, for Clippers fans. If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our Patreon. Subscriptions start at $1 a month and support from readers like you goes a long way towards helping us keep 213Hoops sustainable, growing, and thriving.

Clippers Acquire Norman Powell, Robert Covington for Bledsoe, Winslow, and Johnson
Lucas Hann

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the LA Clippers have traded Patrick Beverley, Rajon Rondo, and Daniel Oturu to the Memphis Grizzlies for Eric Bledsoe:

The move consolidates LA’s guard depth, as Beverley and Rondo were occupying two veteran backup point guard spots in front of 33rd overall pick Jason Preston, who also has a guaranteed contract on the 15-man roster for next season. With Preston and fellow rookies Keon Johnson and Brandon Boston both with guaranteed deals to be on the 15-man roster next year and Kawhi Leonard likely to miss much or all of the season following ACL surgery, roster spots were at a premium for LAC and it didn’t make sense to carry as many guards as they had on the team after their draft and re-signing Reggie Jackson.

With their draft and free agent classes official, the Clippers had 16 guaranteed contracts on the roster, and only sophomore big man Daniel Oturu as a third string option at PF/C. In order to reach their final 15-man roster, it seemed likely that they would need to make a 2-for-1 consolidation guard trade (likely involving Beverley and Rondo) while also cutting Oturu and replacing him with a veteran free agent big. With Oturu’s salary thrown into this Memphis trade, the Clippers now have a more balanced roster and one open spot to use on big man depth:

By adding a depth 4/5 and factoring in the Clippers’ ability to utilize Winslow at power forward and Mann or Johnson at small forward, it becomes much more feasible for the Clippers to put together a respectable 82-game rotation. (Jay Scrubb is on the roster on a two-way contract, whle Amir Coffey has an outstanding qualifying offer and could still end up back with the team, either in the other two-way spot as they sign a min salary depth big to the 15-man roster, or vice versa)

Bledsoe, for his part, is no savior. The former Clipper was a fixture on the Milwaukee Bucks for recent years before being traded after consistently underwhelming playoff performances, and became a scapegoat for the New Orleans Pelicans falling drastically short of expectations last season (he wasn’t good, and certainly seemed to be coasting a bit, but he was far from the team’s only problem). He was named to the All-Defense 1st team in 2019 and 2nd team in 2020 as part of a stellar Milwaukee system, so the Clippers should be at least optimistic that they can get a similar impact on that end of the floor from Bledsoe as they were getting from Beverley.

While Bledsoe is a worse three-point shooter than Patrick Beverley, whose spot in the offense and rotation he replaces, he’s a better downhill player, which could be a useful addition to an offense that lacked dribble penetration last year and will need to replace Kawhi Leonard’s offensive creation by committee next season. To make up for Kawhi’s absence, LAC will of course need increased contributions from mainstays like Jackson, George, and Morris as well as steps forward from younger players like Kennard and Mann. While Bledsoe is probably an overall lateral replacement for Beverley, that difference in skillset makes some sense for a Clippers team in a transitional year while they attempt to endure Leonard’s injury. It’s also not an insignificant factor that Bledsoe has been a much healthier player than Patrick Beverley over their respective careers, meaning that LAC is now more likely to get a higher number of minutes and games from their backup point guard after this trade.

In terms of salary cap, the Clippers’ picture didn’t substantially change here. Beverley and Rondo were both expirings, while Eric Bledsoe’s $19.4M contract for the 2022-23 season is only guaranteed for $3.9M (though the team won’t be in a position to gain cap flexibility by cutting him and saving that money). The terms of the deal did work out fortuitously insofar as Beverley and Oturu are enough to bring back Bledsoe’s contract by themselves, meaning the Clippers were able to create an $8.25M trade exception for Rondo’s salary. Due to their luxury tax situation and the trade market, it probably makes more sense for them to just sign a minimum-salary depth guy for the time being and explore opportunities to buy low on a role player in that price range. The exception is good for one year from whenever this trade is officially processed, meaning LAC can look for opportunities to use it at this season’s trade deadline as well as next summer’s draft and in next year’s free agency window.

213Hoops is an independently owned and operated L.A. Clippers blog by Clippers fans, for Clippers fans. If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our Patreon. Subscriptions start at $1 a month and support from readers like you goes a long way towards helping us keep 213Hoops sustainable, growing, and thriving.

Clippers Acquire Eric Bledsoe for Beverley, Rondo, and Oturu
Lucas Hann

We’re back once again. To recap, in Part 1 we talked about the fun upstart Clippers of the early 2000’s, and the Clippers’ 2005-06 playoff run.  And in Part 2 we talked about the painful (but hopeful) rebuilding years, and the long journey back to the playoffs.

It’s Going to be Lob City

2011-12

In the summer of 2011, the league underwent negotiations with the players for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, and by the time that was settled, we were left with a shortened 66-game season beginning in December 2011. But during that off-season, the Clippers made a blockbuster trade: The Clippers traded Gordon, Kaman, Aminu, and a 1st round pick to New Orleans for Chris Paul, arguably the league’s best two-way point guard. Blake and DeAndre were heard celebrating and coined the nickname “Lob City” for this team. (I still haven’t watched the video of Eric Gordon finding out he was traded while hosting a fan-event on a bus, because he is/was one of my favorite Clippers of all time, and I just… can’t.)

The Lakers had attempted to trade for Paul earlier, but with no team owner for New Orleans, the NBA played the role and turned down the trade. So nabbing CP3 was truly a monumental victory for the Clippers. The Clippers also added veterans Caron Butler, Chauncey Billups, Kenyon Martin and Nick Young (at the deadline) that season, giving them tremendous talent and experience. 

Chris Paul was as great as advertised—for me he was even better than advertised—and he took the Clippers to another level. The free-flowing but chaotic brand of basketball that Baron Davis orchestrated was replaced by Chris Paul’s incredibly cerebral and meticulous playing style—and it was far more effective. The Clippers lived up to their nickname and naturally led the league in dunks, including the one where Blake Mozgov’d Kendrick Perkins into oblivion, and for the first time since 1978 they put 2 players on the All Star team. The Clippers finished the 2011-12 season 40-26 (50-win pace) and finally returned to the playoffs! In the 2012 playoffs, the Clippers faced the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies were a tough, physical competitor, and it took what was the second largest comeback in NBA playoff history (thanks Swaggy) to defeat them in 7 games. But then the Clippers ran into a red-hot San Antonio Spurs team that had won 14 straight coming into the series, and were quickly swept as the Clippers were both out-played and out-coached.

2012-13

The following summer, the Clippers traded for Lamar Odom and Willie Green, and signed Jamal Crawford, Grant Hill, Matt Barnes, Ronny Turiaf, and Ryan Hollins. This would be one of the greatest Clipper benches ever assembled, which would earn the nickname A Tribe Called Bench (it’s still so awkward and forced but whatever you know you love it). Everyone’s numbers dipped slightly because there was so much wealth to be shared.

Finally, the Clippers were top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. Aside from Chauncey Billups, who went down with a torn Achilles, the Clippers managed to stay mostly healthy and finished with a 56-26 record, a franchise record at the time. Teams just couldn’t handle the initial punch of the Clippers’ starting lineup of CP3, Griffin, Jordan, Butler, and Billups/Green and their deliberately surgical style of play, only for it to be followed up by a hay-maker bench unit of Bledsoe, Crawford, Barnes, Odom, and Turiaf/Hollins and their hyper-aggressive style on both ends of the court. 

For many Clipper fans, this was their favorite season of the Lob City era. The team seemed to be perfectly in tune with one another, the locker room was packed with players’ kids, and the game just looked easy. DeAndre put the league on notice that he was one of its best dunkers, at the unfortunate expense of Brandon Knight. The team even had a stretch where they won 17 straight, including all 16 games in the month of December (only the 3rd time a month has ever been won in NBA history), eliciting this gem from Ty Lawson, as some fans may remember. 

The season had so many memorable moments, and the Clippers won their first division title. But toward the end of the season, the Clippers lost the groove they were in earlier in the season, and ended the season on an 8-8 stretch, as cold as any team in the playoffs. In the first round, the Clippers were once again matched against the Memphis Grizzlies, who they’d beat 3-1 during the season, but after winning the first 2 games of the series at home, the Clippers rattled off 4 straight losses, with Blake only playing 14 minutes in the final game on a bum ankle.

The team entered the off-season with tons of question marks. After peaking in December, what more could this team do to turn the corner and truly ascend to the next level?

2013-14

Well, the Clippers did make one big change: their coach. It was felt that championship caliber leadership was needed, and so the Clippers traded a 1st round pick to the Celtics for coach Doc Rivers. Known to be both a player’s coach and a wizard with out-of-timeout plays, Doc was seen as the key to getting the Clippers a championship. 

This was enough to convince Chris Paul to stay (also the Clippers could offer a lot more money than anyone else), so he was re-signed to a max contract. Additionally, the Clippers decided to take another look at their roster. Bledsoe had a great season and was due for a payday, so they included him and Butler in a trade to Milwaukee that netted the Clippers sharp-shooting J.J. Redick and 3-and-D small forward Jared Dudley. 

The change was immediately noticeable—the starting lineup became one of the strongest in the league. J.J.’s instincts as a shooter lined up perfectly with Chris’ expectations for where he was supposed to be, and the two were frequently in sync to free-up J.J. for wide open shots. Barnes and Dudley split the starting small forward role, and Jamal continued to be dynamite off the bench, winning his second 6th man of the year award. Despite Chris missing 20 games with minor injuries, the Clippers sported the #1 offense in the league, while remaining top 10 on the defensive end, and cruising to a 57-25 record, another new franchise record.  However: t-shirt jerseys.

The 2014 playoffs started with a first round matchup against the Golden State Warriors. The Clippers barely lost game 1, before blowing out the Warriors by 40 in game 2 (a franchise record), and barely escaping with a win in game 3. 

The day after game 3, the earth cracked open and a major shift began. The Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling, arguably the worst owner in sports and one of the most disgusting and toxic humans in the entire world, was recorded making racist comments to his personal assistant. 

In game 4, the Clippers silently protested during pre-game warm-ups, but ultimately got blown out by Steph Curry’s absurdly hot shooting. Then, before game 5, Donald Sterling was formally banned from the NBA.  At game 5, a home game, black t-shirts had been given to all of the fans that read, “We are one” representing the unity between the team and the fans in removing Sterling from our collective lives. I was at the game, and when the sold-out Staples Center chanted in unison, it was something special.

It was a turbulent time for Clipper fans and for the team, and Doc Rivers was instrumental in leading us all through the storm. So when the Clippers finally won in game 7, you could see the weight being lifted off of Doc Rivers’ shoulders as he pumped his fist in the air and shouted, “YES!”

In the second round of the playoffs, the Clippers were able to move past the Sterling drama, and focus on their next opponent: the Oklahoma City Thunder. The series went back and forth, with each team stealing a game on the road, which led us to game 5.

Game 5 was a close contest that went down to the wire. With 49 seconds left, the Clippers led by 7. Durant quickly knocked down a 3, cutting the lead to 4 with 44 seconds left. Jamal Crawford barely missed a layup, the Thunder got the rebound, and Durant scored in transition, cutting the lead to 2 with 18 seconds left. 

FREAK OCCURRENCE ALERT

Chris Paul, known for having one of the best assist-turnover ratios of any point guard in the history of the NBA turned it over at half-court, and the ball got to Reggie Jackson on the break before Matt Barnes prevented the layup by knocking the ball out of bounds.

Or did he? See for yourself.

Video replays had only recently been added for such plays, and the replay clearly showed the ball went off of Reggie Jackson’s hand last. But in a double freak occurrence, the officiating staff decided to award the ball to Oklahoma City. In the end, the Clippers shouldn’t have blown such a large lead—but then again, they didn’t really blow the entire lead, since that was supposed to be our ball.

The Clippers, deflated by the game 5 loss, went on to lose the series in 6 games. Season over.

2014-15

That summer, the Clippers were bought by Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, worth upwards of $51 billion, making him the wealthiest owner in the NBA. But more importantly, this was a man who was incredibly passionate about basketball, having wanted to purchase a team for years. Ballmer owning the team would complete the Clippers’ transformation from a franchise that was the butt of every joke to an upstart franchise destined for greatness.

The Clippers also signed Spencer Hawes, a stretch center, as they felt they needed more flexibility at the center position (spoiler: Manbun Hawes would not provide that flexibility, or really anything). After only one season, the disappointing Jared Dudley experiment was over, costing the Clippers a 1st round pick to dump him—Dudley would later explain he’d been battling nagging injuries all year, while shit-talking the Clippers whenever possible, which the Elmer Fudd-looking forward continues to do to this day. Cool!

The 2014-15 Clippers were still very good, although the formula was becoming a bit stale. Always on that second tier of contending teams, they could never quite find that extra gear. They obtained Austin Rivers via trade halfway through the season; a move which was much maligned at the time, but ultimately turned out to be a solid get. After coasting through the season, and briefly losing Blake to a staph infection, the still-talented Clippers managed a 56-26 record, good enough for the 3-seed, and headed into the playoffs.

In the first round of the 2015 playoffs, the Clippers faced the veteran Spurs once again. This time, the Clippers weren’t out-coached as Doc Rivers held his own against Gregg Popovich. Blake was playing at an MVP-level, averaging an absurd 24 PPG, 13 RPG, and 7 APG, while Chris chipped in averages of 23 PPG, 5 RPG, and 8 APG to carry the Clippers. The series went back and forth, with each team trading wins until a pivotal game 7 at Staples Center. Chris had suffered a hamstring injury during the series, and had been noticeably limping throughout game 7. 

But tied 109-109 with 9 seconds left, the Clippers trusted their final possession to the Point God who had gotten them this far. On essentially one leg, Chris drove past Danny Green, was met by Tim Duncan at the rim, and tossed up a prayer floater, which bounced off-the-glass and fell perfectly through the net with 1 second remaining. I remember video taping this moment, dropping my phone in the stands when the bucket went in, and not really caring what happened after that. It is, to this day, the most incredible shot I’ve ever seen.

In the second round the Clippers faced what was thought to be a much less daunting opponent, the Houston Rockets. Their defense wasn’t nearly as stingy as the Spurs’, and the Clippers seemed to be able to get to their spots much easier. The Clippers quickly stole homecourt advantage in game 1, and then won both home games, taking a 3-1 lead. In game 5, the Clippers took their foot off the gas and were defeated. Still, they appeared poised to close out the series at home in game 6.

Up 87-68 in the third quarter, the Clippers managed to blow a 19-point lead. Now, teams lose 19 point leads all the time, so we shouldn’t write this off as a freak occurrence, right?

FREAK OCCURRENCE ALERT

Wrong. Yeah, this wasn’t just any 19-point comeback (in-fact it was a full 31 point turnaround as the Rockets won game 6 119-107); this was a 19-point comeback led by the unlikeliest of Houston heroes. And given that Houston had built their team based on statistical probabilities, these were heroes that the Rockets would almost never, ever allow to do what they did.

With their primary and most efficient scorer James Harden on the bench, Corey Brewer (27% from deep that season, 28% career 3P%) and Josh Smith (32% from deep that season, 29% career 3P%) shot a combined 5-7 from downtown in the fourth quarter. These were guys that the Clippers game-planned to leave open from the arc, and who would never shoot like that again in such an important game.

And so the Clippers lost game 6, to Corey Freaking Brewer and Josh Freaking Smith, and fell on the road to Houston in game 7. All of that work to get past San Antonio was for nothing. Isn’t being a Clipper fan fun?

2015-16

That summer, the Clippers mixed things up, trading fan favorite Matt Barnes and the underwhelming Spencer Hawes to the Hornets for Lance Stephenson, added Luc Mbah a Moute, Wesley Johnson, Cole Aldrich, Pablo Prigioni, Paul Pierce (oh), and sharpshooting Josh Smith.

Writer’s note: As Citizen DieterDeux pointed out, I completely whiffed and forgot to mention the DeAndre Jordan kidnapping and re-signing saga. So, I would like to formally submit an I-O-U for an article specifically recapping that incredible event.

Surprisingly, Luc Mbah a Moute ended up taking the starting small forward spot away from Lance Stephenson, with Luc’s stellar defense fitting in nicely with the powerhouse foursome of CP3, Blake, DeAndre, and J.J. Redick. Jamal Crawford was still electric off the bench, winning his (at the time) record 3rd Sixth Man of the Year award. Despite cries of nepotism, Austin Rivers was extremely solid and rightfully earned his spot in the rotation. Wes Johnson was pretty mediocre, but if it weren’t for him the Clippers’ official Twitter account would never have tweeted “W3T JOHNSON ” so there’s that. And the Prigioni-Aldrich chemistry was awfully fun, even if we only saw it a few minutes each game.

The Clippers were still very good, top 10 on both ends of the court, but were really playing beneath their potential, only 16-13 heading into a Christmas day matchup against the Lakers. They defeated the Lakers, but unfortunately Blake Griffin suffered a quad injury injured, which would keep him out for an entire month. But the win and Blake’s injury sparked something in the Clippers, as they rallied and strung together a fantastic stretch, winning 11 of their next 13, with Blake due to return in a few days. 

FREAK OCCURRENCE ALERT

During a team dinner in Toronto, the team’s equipment manager (and Blake’s personal friend) teased Griffin that the team seemed better without him. The usually reserved Griffin lost his cool and punched the equipment manager, breaking his hand and drastically delaying his return. 

The Clippers inserted Paul Pierce into the starting lineup as a stretch 4, and while Pierce wasn’t spectacular, having an extra shooter on the floor provided more spacing for Chris Paul to work. And a few weeks later, the Clippers traded Lance Stephenson and a 1st round pick for Jeff Green. The team ended up going 30-15 over the period that Blake was out. Blake returned on April 3rd, and the team closed the season winning 6 of their final 7 games, ending with a 53-29 record, good for the 4th seed.

The 2016 playoffs had the Clippers matched up against the 44-win Portland Trailblazers, with the Clippers expected by most everyone to win. The series started off as expected, with Los Angeles winning both home games. The Blazers managed to take game 3, riding 59 combined points from Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Which brings us to game 4. 

The Clippers trailed the entire game and outside of Chris Paul couldn’t buy a bucket. But the score was close all evening thanks to their stingy defense. Despite shooting only 33% for the half, the Clippers were only trailing by 4 heading into halftime! Then in the 3rd quarter, the unthinkable, but seemingly inevitable, happened—bring on that alert.

FREAK OCCURRENCE ALERT 

Late in the third quarter, after finally being healthy for basically the entire season, Chris Paul got his hand caught in Gerald Henderson’s shorts and fractured his hand. His freaking shorts. What the hell, man? Has this kind of injury ever happened before?? And then to add insult to injury (or rather injury to injury), early in the fourth quarter Blake Griffin re-aggravated his previously injured quad and had to go back to the locker room. He briefly re-entered the game, but after grimacing on a routine jump-shot, he was done for the night. I will never forget this game because I had the unfortunate job of writing the game recap. The next day the Clippers announced that Chris and Blake would be shut down for the rest of the season.

With their stars all wearing suits, the Clippers lost game 5 by double digits. But in game 6, on the road, the remaining Clippers fought tooth and nail to give the Clippers a fighting chance at a game 7. Austin Rivers, in particular, made a lot of fans that night, as he showed tremendous toughness in leading the team with a 21-8-6 performance after suffering a bloody facial fracture early in the first quarter. But despite all of that effort, the Clippers lost game 6 by 3 points, and the season was over.

2016-17

By this time, the Lob City Clippers were running it back for the 6th straight time. The season started off extremely well, with the Clippers 14 of their first 16 games. It was their best start in franchise history, and it had writers talking about how they’d finally put it all together. But the momentum couldn’t be maintained, as in December Blake sprained his left knee (requiring surgery, which kept him out until mid-January) and Chris strained his hamstring (which kept him out for stretches in December, January, and February). Despite the injuries, the Clippers finished with a 51-31 record for the 4th seed. 

In the 2017 playoffs, the Clippers faced the Jazz in the first round. After dropping game 1 to a buzzer beater by Iso Joe Johnson, the Clippers won games 2 and 3 to regain homecourt advantage. But the win in game 3 came with an unfortunate price tag, as Blake Griffin suffered a season-ending injury to his… big toe. (At this point, an injury doesn’t even warrant a Freak Occurrence Alert.)

So without their second star, the Clippers lost the series in 7 games. Yet another playoff run, ultimately this group’s last, derailed by an injury to Paul and/or Griffin.

To Be Continued

Time for our final break as we wrap up Part 3. In Part 4, the Clippers will press the reset button and set themselves up to create the greatest Clipper team ever assembled.

The 2020 LA Clippers: For the People in the Back, Part 3
Erik Olsgaard

We’re back. To recap, in Part 1 we talked about the fun upstart Clippers of the early 2000’s, and the Clippers’ 2005-06 playoff run. 

Reshuffling the Deck

2007-08

In the summer heading into the 2007-08 season, the Clippers used their lottery pick to draft Al Thornton, a 6’8” athletic forward that was expected to contribute immediately after spending a full 4 years at Florida State and showing he could score in the paint, from the arc, and at the line. Fans hoped that adding Thornton to the core of Brand, Cassell, Maggette, Mobley, Kaman, and Ross would get the Clippers get back to where they were in 2005-06. 

FREAK OCCURRENCE ALERT

Another year, another freak occurrence. Unfortunately, all hope for a successful 2007-08 season was lost when Elton Brand, during a typical August workout session, ruptured his Achilles tendon. With Elton missing almost the entire season and Shaun still out recovering from his knee injury, the Clippers managed only a 23-59 record, relying heavily on the likes of Dan Dikau, Josh Powell, and Brevin Knight.

Still, Clipper fans clung to hope for the future, as Al Thornton turned out to be pretty damn good, averaging 12.7 PPG and 4.5 RPG and setting the Clippers’ rookie scoring record with 39 points in a late March game. Then, when Elton returned for the final 8 games and didn’t look too far removed from his former dominance, we just knew the 2008-09 season was going to be special.

2008-09

In the summer of 2008 the Clippers selected Eric Gordon with the 7th pick, and got a steal with DeAndre Jordan (you might’ve heard of him) in the second round. The Clippers also agreed to a deal with free agent Baron Davis, who was coming off of an amazing campaign leading the We Believe Warriors, and was a good friend of Elton Brand. The pieces were falling back into place!

Then, in a move that shocked Clipper fans and Clipper executives (and Baron Davis), Elton decided to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers (Note: I wouldn’t classify this as a freak occurrence; sometimes, shit happens). The Clips scrambled to fill the gap at power forward, trading initially for Marcus Camby and later for high-scoring Zach Randolph (who was a bit of a question mark during his years in New York).

The 2008-09 Clippers were poised to be at least halfway decent, but thanks to a myriad of injuries to Kaman, Randolph, Camby, and Baron Davis, they ended with a horrible record of 19-63. But as long-time Clipper fans know, if you look hard enough you can always find a silver lining. In this case, the awful record and countless injuries gave the next generation of Clippers plenty of opportunities: Al Thornton became more efficient and proved himself to be one of the best offensive rebounders in the league at his position (but oddly one of the worst defensive rebounders, a paradox which perplexes me to this day). DeAndre Jordan dispelled rumors of the “attitude problems” that caused him to fall to the second round and demonstrated his impressive speed and athleticism. And Eric Gordon was exactly who the Clippers hoped he’d be, averaging 16 PPG on 46-39-85 splits in his rookie season. The future was bright!

Despite a bottom 3 record, it appears winning isn’t everything, as some of my favorite memories are from that season: Mike Taylor’s explosive 35-point night in Madison Square Garden, Steve Novak with one of my favorite game winners in Clippers history, and also Ricky Davis being added to the team, joining fellow Davises Baron and Paul to give the Clippers a franchise record 3 Davises.

Enter Blake Griffin

2009-10

In the 2009 off-season, the most impactful, game-changing moment in Clipper history occurred when the Clippers landed the #1 pick in the NBA draft. 

There’s rarely a pick that’s as much of a “sure thing” as Blake Griffin was, but in that draft, he was the unanimous top choice. This guy could change a franchise. And so the Clippers wasted no time selecting the Oklahoma product who played like an actual Monstar.  

Naturally, Zach Randolph was immediately traded to Memphis (let’s be honest—his real home) to free the position for Blake. The Clippers were ready to take the league by storm with a mix of youth and veteran leadership, but more importantly, they were ready for the future, which seemed extremely bright. 

In the preseason, Blake showed off his tremendous athleticism with Kemp-like highlight dunks and ball-handling that we had never seen from an archetypal power forward before. He was everything fans had hoped for, and more. 

FREAK OCCURRENCE ALERT

Annnd on cue, in the final preseason game, just days before the start of the 2009-10 season, Blake performed one of his typical highlight dunks and landed awkwardly, breaking his kneecap. I specifically remember how quickly an incredibly hyped crowd became instantly deflated. Throughout the season, Blake made multiple attempts to get back onto the court, but there was always a setback, and Blake never suited up that season, thereby delaying his “rookie” season to the following year. 

The Clippers traded away Al Thornton (who never really took that next step everyone had expected) for Antawn Jamison and Drew Gooden, and also added guys like Craig Smith (who still reps Clipper gear to this day), Steve Blake, and Travis Outlaw. But this Clips team was just never more than mediocre, and ended the 2009-10 season with a 29-53 record. Mike Dunleavy Sr. was fired (yay) mid-season, and in the off-season the Clips hired Vinny Del Negro to take over as head coach. 

2010-11

In the 2010-11 season Blake finally got on the court, and he was a sight to behold. He averaged an absurd 22.5 PPG, 12.1 RPG, and 3.8 APG, was selected as an All Star, won the slam dunk competition by jumping over (most of) a car, and easily won the rookie of the year award. He also coined the dunking term “Mozgov”.

Blake’s chemistry with Baron Davis—particularly on the lob—was palpable as well. And he was a great fit with Gordon, as Blake scored most of his points early in the game, and Gordon came on strong later in the game. DeAndre Jordan quickly became Blake’s closest friend on the team, as he officially took over the starting center spot when Kaman (once again) went down with injury. For better or for worse, Coach Vinny Del Negro was a true player’s coach (with a fantastic head of hair)—while he lacked the heavy X’s and O’s (and forehead shine) of Dunleavy, it was a refreshing change. And rookies Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe showed some real potential, both playing full rotation minutes. 

But while the on-court product was fun as hell, the team just wasn’t winning games. So the front office decided to shake things up, and obtained Mo Williams and Jamario Moon from Cleveland for Baron Davis and a 1st round pick—a pick that would ultimately end up becoming Kyrie Irving. Mo was a decent fit (and a far better shooter than Baron), but it just didn’t move the needle. And so the Clippers ended up with a 32-50 record, missing the playoffs yet again. However, in a few months, things were going to change for the better, and the Clippers would never be the same again.

To Be Continued

And with that we’ll take a break, as we’ve reached the midpoint of our journey. In Part 3, we’ll see the Clippers finally return to the playoffs with the Lob City Era.

The 2020 LA Clippers: For the People in the Back, Part 2
Erik Olsgaard