After another promising regular season, the LA Clippers are heading home without a deep postseason run. What does ‘24-25 look like?
This past season marks the fifth year of the Kawhi/PG era, and it has been a disappointing run, to say the least–whether it’s underperforming in the playoffs or having bad luck with injuries. The Clippers have yet to match expectations, even though ‘23-24 looked different. LAC finished #4 in the West (51-31) but then lost to #5 Dallas in the first round.
Looking back at disappointments over the past five years, it’s no secret that Kawhi’s health has played a huge part in explaining the outcome. He has only played one entire postseason once during his stint in LA, but even the memory of that year haunts Clippers fans.
The year was 2020, and LAC was the #2 seed, three games behind the #1 seed Lakers, and signs pointed to a LAC-LAL showdown in the conference finals. The Lakers kept their part of the bargain by making quick work of the Rockets, winning the semi-final series 4-1. For their part, the Clippers were up 3-1 on the Nuggets in the other semi-final match-up, including winning Game 1 by 23 points. But the Clippers lost Games 5 and 6. Then both Kawhi and PG had bad games (Leonard, 14 points on 6/22 shooting, George, 10 points on 4/16 shooting), and Denver took the series, 4-2, winning Game 7 by 15. Painful!
That was then. So what now?
The Clippers are in a challenging position over which they don’t have much control. Russ and George have player options, and James Harden is an unrestricted free agent. Russ seems the most likely to return out of the three, seeing as he’s found a comfortable role the past season and a half. Kawhi signed a 3-year, $153 million extension earlier this year.
But PG and Harden are different stories. The Clippers and PG have been in negotiations throughout the season but have yet to agree on a deal, and there is a great chance that George will test free agency. There are rumors that Philly is pursuing George, and the Sixers will likely let Tobias walk. Harden forced his way to LA, similar to how he got to Philly, but he may now face a situation where he won’t be paid what he believes he deserves.
Possible outcome? The Clippers could enter the 24-25 season without Harden, PG, and perhaps even Russ. If that happens, I don’t know what LAC will do or where the team will go from there.
