(Jacob Gonzalez/Clippers)
For the sixth year in a row the Los Angeles Clippers have taken their leave of the playoffs before the conference finals. Extenuating circumstances plagued the team the last two seasons with injuries to Paul and Griffin coming at inconvenient points in both series, robbing the team of true closure, but in a grand sense it’s difficult not to see the lack of postseason accomplishment as an indictment of this team’s core and the way the roster has been constructed around them.
It was impressive how the Clippers forced this series to seven games, but as I mentioned in the previous recap game 6 felt like an illusion where the Clippers bench played over their heads and the Jazz missed a bunch of open shots. The truth is the Jazz have had a stranglehold over the tempo of the series since game 3 and the Clipper’s have been exclusively reliant on Chris Paul having an excellent game in order for a chance to win, which he did not have in game 7.
But before we go blaming Paul, who averaged 25-10-5 shooting 50 percent from the field for the series, and before we blame the loss of the series as a whole on the absence of Griffin, it’d be wise to look at the rest of the roster. In an elimination game, perhaps the last of this iteration of the Clippers, Paul Pierce (PAUL PIERCE) played 21 minutes, Austin Rivers played 37, and Jamal Crawford played 32. That’s two wings on the wrong side of 35 and a a player who, while admittedly did grow into his role this season, would be the seventh man on a good team. These are the players that the Clippers, backed against a wall, had available to go down with. Even factoring in Griffin’s injury, this marks an institutional failure on the part of the Clipper’s front office, from Steve Balmer and Doc Rivers down.
This isn’t the first time this has happened either. There’s a reason why the Clippers have consistently fallen apart if any one of their core players go down. It’s why they ended up playing a team as good as the Jazz in the first place, because they couldn’t survive the stretches of time during the regular season when Griffin and Paul were out. During his four year tenure as GM, Rivers has yet to construct a viable bench or identify a two-way wing that fits alongside the starters (apologies to Luc Mbah a Moute’s three point shot which, credit to him, did improve significantly this season but not reliably enough for him to truly stretch the floor the way he needed to).
For the fourth year, the Clippers were content to trot out a team consisting of Paul, Griffin, Jordan, Redick and not much else–believing that to be enough, as long as they all stayed healthy. And for the fourth year in a row, they were not enough and they did not stay healthy.
That was perhaps the most telling part of this series. The Jazz, one of the young teams on the rise in the West, have already eclipsed the Clippers in terms of talent and depth. Even if Griffin had been healthy and the Clippers had managed to get past Utah, was there any scenario where this team took the Warriors to anything but a five game series?
It is truly a shame that this version of the Clippers will likely never have the closure of finishing off their run with all their guys healthy. But that’s life in the NBA. Still, they accomplished a great number of things that seemed unfathomable for this franchise only six years ago and for that they should be lauded and eventually honored. But now, finally, it’s time to move on.
If this is it, then here’s to what was, if nothing else, one hell of a ride.
24-33.
The Clippers are 24-33 in the playoffs during the Chris Paul era.
They’ve averaged 4 playoff wins per year. That’s pathetic.
If people call you the “Point God” you should be godly enough to exceed expectations by elevating your teammates.
24-33 over a 6 year span is a gigantic failure considering the top of this roster.
The “Point God” was on the floor during every ugly playoff collapse:
Game 3 in 2012 against the Spurs. Game 5 in 2013 against Memphis. Game 5 and Game 6 in 2014 against OKC. Game 5 in 2015 against the Spurs. Game 6 and Game 7 in 2015 against Houston. Game 5 and Game 7 against Utah.
And don’t forget Game 7 in 2008 against the Spurs in New Orleans. The “Point God” had a 2-0 lead in that series as well.
I forgot Game 6 in 2012 against Memphis. They were at home with a chance to end the series.
Add it to the list.
So, the “Point God” ran out of gas playing only 37 minutes per game in the 1st round of the playoffs?
That bodes well for the next 5 years. Give that 32 year old man $40M per year!
24-33? Who cares about the playoffs? It’s the joyless regular season wins that matter! Give that 32 year old man $40M per year and build him a statue!
Oh, look, here’s a comment I wrote before the series started. This was on April 13th.
“If I were coaching the Jazz I’d start Joe Johnson alongside Gordon Hayward.
The weak link for the Clippers is size on the perimeter. Starting Johnson forces either Redick or Paul to guard Johnson on the block. We’ve seen Joe Johnson dominate those matchups in the past. The Jazz will scheme for JJ’s floppy action by completely ignoring Luc on the offensive end like he was Tony Allen.
If the Jazz are going to beat the Clippers they need to use their size. The Jazz have matchup advantages if they exploit them. The Clippers (still) have a 4 man team. The Jazz can win with their depth and their size.”
The thing that pisses me off so much is how easy this was to predict. It’s something a 4 year old could do.
I think Doc even admitted he had the wrong people out there.
Pierce playing 22 minutes and scoring 6 points was unfortunate. I’m guessing Rivers wanted to give him a lot of playing time in his last game. Apparently he wanted to be nice to his old friend more than he wanted to the team to win.
Heard on NBA radio, CP3 is probably going to resign, but BG they’re not sure.
CP3 is 31, would be 36 then at the end of a 5 year.
If CP3 wants to win, he’d probably find a way to sign with the Spurs and give up money.
Seems like Clippers fans are in for 5 more years of CP3, DeAndre and A. Rivers and no support. (Depending if Doc stays or not)
The salary cap has been the biggest problem the last four years.
The time the Clippers should have gone all in for a SG/SF was the last year of Blake’s rookie contract. That was 2012-2013.
That was the year the Clippers spent $16.2M combined on Lamar Odom and Caron Butler.
In 2012-2013 the Clippers still had cap room, Bledsoe, and future 1st round picks to trade for a legit SG/SF.
Doc showed up when Blake’s max contract kicked in. He didn’t have the cap room to sign a good SG/SF and he squandered the rest of the assets.
We should get badges on our profiles for this site for being right about things. I believe I said at the start of the year, the Clippers would get bounced in the 1st round.
Yes, I agree. Especially since we were going so strongly against the grain. Every year it’s the same thing. Every year the Clipper PR people try to puff things up. Every year we say they’re wrong and give clear reasons why they are. Every year they Clippers then prove us correct.
There’s a very good chance that was Ralph Lawler’s last game.
They should cover the Laker banners with a giant portrait of Ralph Lawler until they leave Staples Center.
Once again Clipper fans are showing their lack of intelligence.
ALL of the 1st round picks the Clippers traded away are lottery protected.
That means if the Clippers are shitty they’ll get to use their 1st round picks. How the f**k is this difficult to understand?
Congrats to the “Point God” for keeping his playoff injury streak alive.
He didn’t score a single point after spraining his ankle in the 3rd quarter.
Not only didn’t the “Point God” score but he retreated into the corners on offense and defense.
In an all important Game 7 at home the “Point God” was deferring to Jamal Crawford, Austin Rivers, and Mo Speights.
I’m sure we’ll hear at some point that Chris injured his ankle more severely than he led on, etc.
Rivers was every bit as bad as Paul in game 7. The two played about the same minutes. Rivers in 38 minutes was 4-12 overall and 1-4 from three range and had zero free throws for a total of nine points. He had only one assist. He had a +/- of -9.
In the series he had two bad games and one good game, which is typical of his playoff record since he got here. In these three games he was 9-26 with a total of 2 assists.
So the point you’ve been trying to make that Rivers was good in the playoffs while Paul wasn’t doesn’t stand up at all.
So, you’re comparing a 1st ballot Hall-of-Famer nicknamed the “Point God” with a 24 year old role player coming off a hamstring injury?
Really???
Chris Paul is about to make $40M per year. Austin is making $11M per year.
If the Clippers had more role players like Austin Rivers they’d have a better chance winning in the playoffs.
One of the biggest issues I saw was there were no adjustments being made. They ran the same thing all series long. This allowed the Jazz to control the pace and the Clippers to struggle on offense. I also thought Doc shortened his rotation too much. Doc was out-coached in this series by Quinn Snyder.
I’d be shocked if Blake and Chris left. JJ will probably leave but he’s been zero value in the playoffs multiple years. If he can’t run off screens he can’t create his own shot, the Jazz proved that. I hope they don’t trade for Carmelo, another guy who operates primarily in isolation mode, holding the ball isn’t what we need.
I also doubt it Paul and Griffin leave. The Clippers know they can’t get anybody better to replace them, and the two players know they can’t make as much money if they go somewhere else.
But still, I won’t be surprised if Paul goes to San Antonio and Griffin goes to Boston.
I also agree coach Rivers was out-coached in this series.
I read an interesting stat a few minutes ago at the cnn site, which had an article on Chris Paul. Here’s the quote:
“It’s a heck of a lot better than sinking.
And that’s the only way to look at Paul’s taking the Clippers from laughingstock to playoff regular, ***joining the San Antonio Spurs as the only teams to win at least 50 regular-season games each of the past five years.***
This is one truly great player who has done an incredible amount for one truly not-great organization.”
Those five years are seasons 2-6 for Paul with the Clippers. His first season with the Clippers was a short season but they still had a winning percentage of ..606. The year before Paul arrived they had a winning percentage of .390.
***Those six seasons are the only seasons the Clippers have ever had a winning percentage over .600 in their entire 48 year existence.***
All of that speaks for itself … very clearly.
Paul’s record in the playoffs means two thing:
1. he gets the team to the playoffs always and occasionally advances.
2. the inept GM Rivers has failed miserable at putting a championship team around him that can advance further. The Clippers are worse than they were before Rivers arrived. That is indisputable.
Trying to use Paul’s record in the playoffs as evidence that Paul has failed with the Clippers is maybe the most inane attempt at describing truth that I’ve ever encountered here. It’s completely detached from reality. It’s the kind of fanciful “logic” a schizophrenic who has just had shock therapy and now is on LSD might hallucinate while he’s sitting in a padded cell.
Hahahaha.
So, records in the regular season are indicative of success but records in the playoffs aren’t indicative of failure?
Sure thing, clown.
Averaging 50 wins in the regular season and winning 60% of your regular season games is MEANINGLESS if you’re also averaging 4 wins in the playoffs and only winning 40% of your playoff games.
This isn’t on Doc Rivers. Doc won a title, went to the Finals twice, and made multiple trips to the East Finals.
The “Point God” failed this way in New Orleans. The “Point God” failed this way under Vinny Del Negro. The “Point God” is failing under Doc Rivers.
The “Point God” isn’t good enough to be the best player on a championship team.
The “Point God” isn’t even good enough to be the best player on a Western Conference Finalist.
He’s played 12 years in the NBA. He’s about to turn 32. His teams are 34-46 in the playoffs.
This has nothing to do with Benoit Benjamin, Michael Olowokandi, Donald Sterling, or Andy Roeser. This has everything to do with the Chris Paul era.
The Chris Paul era Clippers have failed to meet expectations. Therefore the Chris Paul era Clippers are a failure. 24-33 in the playoffs is failure.
Is Doc Rivers an overrated coach? Yes.
Is Doc Rivers a shitty talent evaluator? Yes.
Has Doc Rivers squandered assets? Yes.
Is Doc the reason CP’s teams are 34-46 in the playoffs? No.
The Chris Paul era Clippers are 15-14 in HOME playoff games.
Let that sink in for a minute.
15-14. At home. In the playoffs. That’s pathetic.
That means they’re 9-19 in road playoff games.
I don’t think people understand how bad of a playoff team the Chris Paul era Clippers have been.
The worst thing about it? They’re consistently bad. It’s who they are.
In LA the “Point God” has been surrounded by:
a Head Coach that won an NBA championship
a 5x All-Star PF that averages 22, 9. and 4
a 1st team All-NBA Center that averages 13 and 13
a 3x 6th man of the year
a 44% shooter from 3 at SG
If you’re the “Point God” shouldn’t you get that collection of talent to the West Finals? If you’re one of the 5 best to ever play your position shouldn’t you elevate your teammates?
If you put that team around LeBron what happens? What about Durant? Leonard? Curry? Harden? Westbrook? Wall?
Would the Clippers have been worse in the playoffs with Mike Conley running PG for the past 6 years? Mike Conley made the West Finals.
In July 2008 Elton Brand left the Clippers.
Clipper fans freaked the f**k out about having to rebuild. They threatened to stop being Clipper fans.
In May 2009 the Clippers won the lottery.
In June 2010 the Clippers could’ve drafted Paul George or Gordon Hayward.
In May 2011 the Clippers won the lottery.
In December 2011 the Clippers traded for Chris Paul.
2 years later the Clippers had an exciting under 22 team. 3 years later the Clippers had a team winning 60% of its games.
And that was with Donald f**king Sterling and Andy f**king Roeser running the franchise.
So, we get to watch Chris Paul’s retirement tour for 5 years then we can look forward to an exciting under 22 team in the year 2024.
And maybe by the year 2026 the Clippers will have enough talent to make the playoffs with a new core.
Isn’t that exciting?
Do people remember the story of Chris and Doc’s first meeting? Doc told Chris he needed to change his approach because he hadn’t won shit.
4 years later and the Clippers are indistinguishable from the last days of Vinny Del Negro.
What exactly did Chris Paul change? The Clippers ran the Alvin Gentry offense for a year and then reverted to the old “Chris Paul offense”…now with floppy action!!!
Chris didn’t change the way he treats his teammates. Chris didn’t change the way he treats the refs. Chris didn’t change his off-season approach. So, what exactly was Chris willing to change to win? Nothing.
Here’s a sneak preview of the Free Agent Press Conference in July.
Doc walks to the mic. In a show of solidarity he’s joined by Steve Ballmer, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan.
Jim Hill: “Doc, what’s going to be different this year?”
Doc: “Well, Jim, we got a D-League team now…”
The End.
Sad, I was more surprised there was a game 7 with jazz. We need a focus on player development. I do not like giving up first rd picks for crap. I want to keep picking up eastern conference 2008 players. Let’s focus on development
I wonder if Doc will convince Paul Pierce to un-retire and take up the last year of his contract.
For Back up pt guard, free agents are (if they don’t sign felton)
Darren Collison
Aaron Brooks
Ty Lawson
For SF, look for Doc to bring one of these players
Thabo Sefolosha
P.J. Tucker
Michael Beasley
Omri Casspi
I think A. Rivers will start next year as SG.
The above changes will make the Clippers a contender. I’m not going to another game to watch this again.
The Clippers could use Pierce’s contract in a trade. His new team would waive him and he’ll sign a one day contract with the Celtics and retire.
Will they trade it? Who knows. But the final year of his contract could still be useful.
If Blake’s going to be sidelined for 12 weeks by his surgery I hope he looks into getting surgery on whatever was bothering him since November.
He didn’t choose surgery to repair his quad. He got an injection. He then got his knee scoped but nothing more. The way he was moving last year indicates there’s an underlying issue that isn’t being addressed.
Doc sounds lost.
He just learned that the team needs length, youth, and two-way players. The team has needed length, youth, and two-way players since 2011.
Wait, you’re telling me the best teams in the NBA have length, youth, and multi-dimensional players?
I guess Doc was asleep during the last 4 years when he was trotting out lineups with Chris Paul, J.J. Redick, Jamal Crawford, Austin Rivers, Darren Collison, Jordan Farmar, Raymond Felton, and Willie Green.
I guess Doc forgot that his favorite lineups over the last 4 years consisted of 3 small guards. I guess Doc forgot that Redick and Crawford are 2 of the 5 worst rebounders in the entire NBA.
Did it take that army of scouts you hired last Summer to tell you an NBA team needs lenght, youth, and two-way players? What a f**king joke. What a f**king embarrassment.
Doc said he realized early in the year his team was too small. How f**king blind do you have to be to realize that in November, 2016?
And good thing Doc, Lawrence, Dave, and Gary made moves to address their lack of length during the season.
They didn’t make ONE f**king move. They didn’t make ONE f**king trade. They didn’t call up ONE f**king player from the D-League.
Patrick McCaw would have been a perfect fit. They had two opportunities to draft him last year. Did they? Nope.
Why draft McCaw, Murray, Brogdon, or another guard with length when you can draft a stiff big man with a bad back? But, but, but, he went to North Carolina! I’ve heard of North Carolina!
You’re wrong, Doc.
The Griffin-Gordon-Bledsoe-Jordan team that won 32 games was infinitely more exciting than this garbage f**king product you’ve put on the floor the last 2 years.
And guess what? The Clippers won as many playoff series in 2010 than they did in 2016 and 2017.
Is this garbage f**king product exciting enough to attract a 26 year old player the caliber of Chris Paul? No. No, it isn’t.
I keep seeing Clipper fans clamoring for a Paul George for Blake Griffin trade.
Like most trades it’s wishful thinking. The scenario that makes the most sense is a 3 teamer between LAC, IND, and OKC.
Blake Griffin and $3M cash to OKC (sign and trade)
Paul George to LAC
Victor Oladipo, Doug McDermott, Brice Johnson, and picks to the Pacers
This is dependent on Paul George pulling a Chris Paul and demanding a trade to a short list of teams. Chris Paul was in this exact scenario when he was traded. He had 1 year left before an option year.
Other moves would be made surrounding this trade. The Thunder would have to get rid of Enes Kanter. This would trigger a youth movement for the Pacers. But at least they’d get something for Paul George.
There could be other pieces going to Indiana. And the Thunder would be left looking for wings.
Oladipo was on a poison pill contract this year and his extension doesn’t kick in until July 1st. But at that time he’ll be making $21M next year.
I don’t know how the new CBA will handle this. Will Oladipo be eligible to be traded on July 1st or is there a provision for a buffer until December 15th?
I doubt BG will give up living in Los Angeles to go to Indiana and lose to Lebron James every year. Might as well just lose to the Golden State and stay in LA. He’s gotta agree to a sign and trade
Way to read, man.
Blake would be going home to Oklahoma to play with Westbrook and Adams.
Rivers is woefully inept as a GM. Listening to him make excuses for the Clippers is painful. He is clueless. He doesn’t even know enough to know that he doesn’t know enough.
Ballmer can’t let Rivers be the one who makes the moves this off-season.
Yeah, these quotes I’m seeing are terrible. No responsibility
Look at what LeBron is doing in these playoffs. That’s the way a truly great player handles his business.
You can’t be called the “Point God” when you take quarters off in the playoffs. You can’t be called the “Point God’ when you put up 13 and 9 in a Game 7.
And if you’re thinking…LeBron is 6’8” and CP is 5’11”…you’re right.
The “Point God” isn’t built for 2 months of playoff basketball. Not as your best player. As your 2nd best player? At 32 years old? At $41M per year?
The NBA is the most predictable professional sport.
The playoffs have been horrible as we head toward a 3rd straight year with the same teams in the Finals.
And now is the time Steve Ballmer and Doc Rivers want to spend gigantic sums of money on a 32 year old PG with a terrible playoff record and a 28 year old PF whose body keeps breaking down?
Again, the only plan the Clippers have for winning it all is to hope other playoff teams get injured. What a waste of time and money. It’s gonna be the same shit for the 7th straight year. Exciting, isn’t it?
Steve Nash was incredible in his early 30’s.
But Mike D’Antoni has a job and the “Point God” is unwilling to change.
Phoenix built their roster to fit their identity. After 6 years of the Chris Paul era what exactly is the Clippers identity?
If Chris Paul and Kristaps Porzingis end up on the same team….
do they become the God Squad?
If the clippers rebuild, the ticket sales will plummet.
Although I don’t know how good ticket sales could be if they put the same team out there again. Maybe if they got rid of Doc Rivers there would be some kind of change.
The only Clipper you could trade for Porzingis is Chris Paul.
The trade would have to be Chris Paul for Porzingis, Noah, and every bad Knicks contract.
And then the Clippers could flip DJ for assets or young players. That trade sequence would be a win for the Clippers.
But why would Chris Paul agree to that? He could just take less money to sign with the Knicks and play alongside Porzingis.
Or the Clippers could let Blake walk and build around Porzingis and DJ.
All of these scenarios are far fetched. The most likely scenario is trading for Melo and losing to the Warriors in the 2nd round next year.
Like you said CP3 wouldn’t do that. If CP3 really wants to win, he’ll sign with the Spurs for less money. They are the only good team without a point guard. I’m guessing he wants the money LA will give him more. Especially that extra year when he’s in his upper 30s.
The only way Chris agrees to that trade is if there’s a 3rd star ready to join the Knicks.
It’s possible but that 3rd guy would have to be better than Dwyane Wade.
The PorzinGod is only scheduled to make about $4.5M this season. So we’re short about $25M in salaries for any trade. So no, you couldnt trade Point God for PorzinGod.
Way to read, man.
I said Noah and every other bad Knicks contract. Those include Courtney Lee, Lance Thomas, and Kyle O’Quinn.
Noah is making $17M, Lee is making $11M, Thomas is making $6M, and O’Quinn is making $4M.
That’s a combined $43M when you include Porzinigis.
The Clippers would have the open roster spots to absorb that many players. The Clippers could also include Brice Johnson, Diamond Stone, and David Micheneau to clear even more roster spots.
But, again, your reading comprehension skills are magnificent.
Chris Paul is eligible to make $38M next year.
So, yes, you could trade Chris Paul for Porzingis and bad Knicks contracts.
it’s a bad idea. See above. Those bad contracts would turn into toxic contracts when the luxury tax is added.
Why take on all that bad money from a team that HAS to move assets? I dont think Noah is worth trading for no matter how much heart and soul he has.
There are smarter more realistic deals out there. Noah and the Bad Contracts, while it sounds like a great cover band, was not part of your original post.
Do you have eyes? Can you read?
Then how the f**k can’t you read the second sentence of that comment?
“The trade would have to be Chris Paul for Porzingis, Noah, and every bad Knicks contract.”
You need to match salary for trades to work. Chris Paul can sign a contract for $41M per year. The first year is around $38M. Do the math.
And Chris Paul is the only Clipper with enough trade value to return a 21 year old franchise player like Porzingis.
I do have eyes. I can read. You edited your original post because the Noah part wasnt originally there.
But again, who cares, its a moot point because its a bad idea for cap reasons.
We’re already in the luxury tax, we can retain Blake and CP3 but we’re paying a premium to do so. If we sign and trade CP3 to NY and take on all those bad deals to make up the salary well be paying close to $25M for Noah alone based on luxury tax penalties. Courtney Lee we would pay nearly the same rate JJ Redick wants. And who really wants Lance Thomas? He’s bouncing between the D-League and the NBA like yo-yo, and at $6M+ luxury penalty its just a bad deal all around. O’Quinn has some decent upside, but we’re doing fine on bigs. None of those guys is worth paying a premium for only to find ourselves in cap hell with little room for Free Agents. I am doing the math, you apparently dont understand the math as it relates to taking those salaries on our books as luxury tax payers in trade.
Its a bad deal. Especially since NY is motivated to sell. We dont need to put ourselves into cap hell to bail out Phil Jackson. Phil Jackson is either going to sell Melo for nothing, package him with Porzingis for something, or buy Melo out completely since Melo has a no-trade and all the leverage over where he goes.
But hey, go ahead and make another 100 posts complaining about anything and everything. Because you’re a super fan!
Edit? You can’t edit comments on here, clown.
How many times can one man be wrong about the salary cap? You’re going for a record.
If you’re going to acquire a 21 year old franchise player on a rookie contract the cost is going to be taking on bad contracts. That’s how shit works, clown.
Oh, wait, so now Phil is going to trade Melo for 25 cents on the dollar? Oh, where did I read that before? Oh, it was right here. And what clown argued with me about it? Oh, that’s right, it was you.
Porzingis isn’t Melo. The Knicks aren’t going to trade Porzingis for 25 cents on the dollar. Man, you’re dumb.
If the Clippers traded Chris Paul for Porzingis the team would be rebuilding around Porzingis, dummy. They wouldn’t be paying the luxury tax.
I guess you missed the part where I said the Clippers would trade DJ for assets or young players?
I guess you missed the part where I said the Clippers would let Blake walk or trade him for assets?
Lee, Thomas, and O’Quinn can be dumped for 2nd round picks.
And Noah can be stretched and only be a $7.6M cap hit for the next 7 years. That’s less than the new Mid-Level.
Man, you’re dumb.
Yes, you can edit comments on here clown.
Again, none of that matters. It’s a bad deal because we’d be paying punishing luxury taxes on all those bad contracts and left with a bunch of bigs. There are better deals than to strap ourselves to a safe filled with money and dump us into the ocean.
Phil is in a really bad position. He cant get full value for Carmelo. He cant trade Carmelo to whoever gives him the best deal because of the NT. Basically he has no leverage. He can buy Melo out to be free and clear, or he basically has to take pennies on the dollar in trade to a destination Melo wants to go. Or Phil is left packaging Melo with Porzingis (who doesnt seem very happy in NY) and trying to get the best haul he can.
The best idea I’ve seen has Blake + contracts going to NY for Melo and Porzingis.
I never registered with Disqus. So, no, I can’t edit my comments. But, good job being wrong once again.
Man, you’re dense. A trade for Porzingis would signal rebuilding and getting under the cap. It’s not difficult for the Clippers to get under the cap if they decide to rebuild.
Blake has very little trade value and he needs to agree to any trade. Why would Blake agree to a NY trade to play with Courtney Lee when he can go to OKC to play with Westbrook?
Porzingis has more value than Blake. He has more value than DJ. Only Chris Paul has a high enough trade value to net you Porzingis.
The reason the Clippers would trade for Melo is because he wouldn’t cost them Blake or DJ. The Knicks aren’t going to give away Porzingis. Phil Jackson didn’t have a lobotomy.
Dude, if we traded CP3 for Porzingis on a S&T we need to take back $30M in salary leaving NO CAP and us in a TAX PAYING situation and sitting on bad contracts that were signed last year. You’re the one being dense here. We wouldnt get under cap unless we bought all those contracts out. The only reason we could sign CP3 over cap in order to trade him is because of bird rights.
Blake has very little trade value? Ok, that’s a subjective comment you cant back up. He is still a top 10 player in the NBA. The only reason Blake would agree to a deal is because, again, of bird rights offering more money and more years on an extension. That’s our only leverage being able to use CP and Blake in a sign and trade…we can offer more money and more years. We can do the same with JJ.
Phil needs to deal with the Melo situation. He’s already going to have to sell at a loss and to a team Melo approves a trade to, and if he really wants anything valuable in return, he’s going to have to include Porzingis to increase his leverage in any trade.
You are right though, both CP3 and Blake could choose not to re-sign and sign for less money wherever they want. So we cant even begin to entertain your CP3 for Porzingis trade based on your argument they could leave. But we can offer more money per year and an additional year by signing and trading them. That can work to our advantage in trying to secure a sign and trade. Phil didnt get a lobotomy, but he doesnt have leverage either and painted himself into a corner with his public comments about Melo. Melo actually holds the cards at this moment. Truthfully if I was Phil I would just buy Melo out. The Knicks dont want to give Porzingis away, but if they can get a top 10 NBA player in return and get rid of Melo, they HAVE to look at it. At that point you’re talking an additional player (JJ?) and maybe some picks before its not such a bad looking trade if youre looking at a rebuild.
Here’s the truth: We cant sign and trade CP or Blake unless they approve it. They can walk free and clear if they want. So CP3 and Blake actually have no trade value at this moment because they opted out and are UFA.
The best hope is trading the two Rivers to Orlando and getting something substantial in return. That would be a good starting point.
I personally would like the Clippers to re-sign both Griffin and Paul because I don’t think they can get better players to replace them. But I do understand the arguments against this.
They might be able to trade Jordan for something beneficial.
Hopefully they can unload Crawford but I doubt it.
One thing is certain: GM Rivers obviously s not competent to be the one that starts rearranging things. The first step has to be getting a new GM. Then the rest will follow. It Ballmer doesn’t get a new GM, everything that follows will be Ballmer’s fault.
No, you only trade Doc because he’ll trade Orland’s best player for his son.
Doc trades Nikola Vucevic for A. Rivers. Then the Clippers trade DeAndre for a good SF.
CP3
BG
SF – from DeAndre Trade
Vucevic
Shooting guard, I suppose they could keep Reddick or get someone else who can just play defense.
That would be something different.
Yea, I like that.
The Raptors acquired P.J. Tucker to defend LeBron James.
LeBron averaged 36p, 8r, and 5a on 57% from the field and 48% from 3.
The Clippers signed Luc Mbah a Moute to defend guys like Gordon Hayward.
Hayward averaged** 27p, 8r, and 3a on 47% from the field and 45% from 3.
**Hayward’s averages are based on the 6 healthy games he played.
Clippers announcers were talking about how he played great defense against Hayward. I believe the Clippers were putting A Rivers on him at the end.
I heard on the bill simmons podcast someone say, they’ve never seen anyone get a charge going backwards running away from the basket. That was Luke. This below really confuses me, BG goes out and he ends up with less minutes.
Game 7 – 14 min
Game 6 – 28 min
game 5 – 36min
game 4 – 33 min
game 3 – 36 min
game 2 – 37 min
game 1 – 35 min
Now look at the drop off with 6 and 7. That’s with BG out.
This is don’t understand. Did Doc just figure out he’s not that good?
He averaged 22 minutes a game in the regular season and suddenly he’s getting 35+? And Doc just figured out he shouldn’t have done that in Game 7? I don’t understand it
The Jazz were ignoring Luc on the offensive end. That was causing even more problems for the Clippers with Blake out.
Add in the fact that Luc wasn’t slowing down Hayward all that much and that’s why Luc got fewer minutes.
This isn’t rocket science. Doc will always go with offense and floor spacing. That’s why he loves 3 guard lineups. That’s why he played Pierce and Crawford more.
DeAndre Jordan probably has some good trade value now. It would be good if the Clippers could take advantage of that.
For anybody who doesn’t want to trade him because he’s now a part of the big three and made the all star team etc, it’s good to keep this in mind: The Clippers actually were a little bit better of a team than they are now when he was coming off the bench and wasn’t playing much.
He has good stats, especially rebounding and shot blocking, and that is why he should have trade value. But he has serious limitations, especially but not only his almost complete inability to score on his own. That was a serious problem for the Clippers when Griffin went down, because it meant no center and no forward could score on their own, and that put huge pressure on the guards. Jordan’s scoring is almost all dunks on put-backs and lobs from Paul, who is excellent at creating those opportunities for him.
Clipper fans want the team to trade for Paul George or Kristaps Porzingis and I write comments about what would be realistic.
And then clowns comment. This isn’t a video game. If you’re going to play around with trades at least make them realistic. And at least understand the salary cap.
Trade speculation is fun. But use your brain.Think through all the ramifications of the trade. For example, if the Clippers traded for Porzinigis they would be rebuilding. Therefore they’d dump salary to get under the cap.
And then they’d make a free agent run at Paul George in 2018.
Porzinigis is going to make 4.5 million, no salary cap issue. I’m going to post above about him
There would be no free cap because it would be absorbed by the bad contracts they take back in return. Bad contracts that were recently signed and will cost more because we are currently tax payers. So Noah’s contract would cost us close to $30M with luxury taxes.
Do you not understand the stretch provision?
Noah could be stretched at the cost of $7.6M per year for 7 years. That costs less than the new Mid-Level. The Mid-Level exception next year will be around $8M.
DJ could be moved to a team with cap space for draft picks. Jamal is in the final guaranteed year of his contract and that makes him more tradable. Courtney Lee is a 40% three point shooter. His contract is tradable.
Just because you acquire contracts that would put you into the tax it doesn’t stop you from making moves to get under the tax. The luxury tax is determined at the end of the year and not at the beginning of the year.
I do understand the stretch provision and putting $7.6M on the books for the 7 years is a bad idea. I cant believe you are advocating for it. But youll go to the death to defend bad ideas.
You wouldn’t pay Joakim Noah less than the Mid-Level exception for the next 7 years in return for the rights to Kristaps Porzingis for the next 7 years?
Are you out of your f**king mind?
Porzingis is 7’3” and 21 years old. If he stays healthy he’ll be getting his shot off and protecting the rim well into his 30s.
So, yes. I’d pay Noah to have Porzingis and his bird rights for the next decade.
Quick math question, cap expert.
What’s $4.5M plus $7.6M?
Oh, that’s right, it’s less than Jamal Crawford made this year.
Who cares. $7.6M of dead money is still dead money for 7 years.
It’s called rebuilding, clown. And it’s called speculation.
In this rebuilding scenario the Clippers have a 21 year old freak to build around plus the opportunity to offer Paul George a MAX contract in 2018.
Plus the Clippers would get back their 1st round picks in they become a lottery team. And they would acquire picks and assets for a player like DJ.
But, sure, let’s run back the same f**king core for 5 more years and rebuild in 2022.
We dont need a full rebuild, clown. We can rebuild around Blake and DJ I assume your magical plan includes letting Blake walk for nothing. So now we’re losing 2 top 10 NBA players, and sitting on nearly $8M in dead money for 7 years and have to make another 5 or 6 trades to bring some balance back to the squad for your multi-year rebuild that hedges on future draft picks.
Its a bad idea. But of course, you’re stubborn, you’re belligerent and you will never ever admit to being wrong or that you have a bad idea. All of this to chase a trade with a NY team that has little to no leverage in negotiations.
Paul George grew up a Clippers fan.He wants to live in LA.
The Clippers could offer him a MAX contract and the chance to play with another star in Porzingis.
The Clippers would have 2 top 10 player in 2018 rather than a 32 year old PG who keeps running out of gas and a 28 year old PF who keeps having surgeries.
$7.6M in a salary cap over $100M?
Hahahaha.
It’s less than a Mid-Level exception.
It’s the cost of a Wes Johnson.
Oh, no!!!!!!!!!
That’s a 6th or 7th man salary. That’s huge. For 7 years. Almost an entire decade.
Your plan just keeps getting worse dude. Put the shovel down and quit trying to justify it.
Okay, come up with a better rebuilding scenario than the Clippers possibly having a core of Paul George and Kristaps Porzingis in 2018.
Go ahead, clown.
Clipper fans are clamoring for a Paul George or Porzingis trade. I’m giving you a path to acquire them both. Come up with a better and more realistic one, clown.
This isn’t a video game. Trades sometimes hurt. And the cost of Noah would be the ugly part of the trade. But you accept that limited amount of ugly to rebuild quickly.
Sign and Trade CP3 to Indy for Paul George.
Flip Austin to Minny for Rubio.
Sign Rose/D-Will to hedge up the point.
Done.
Chris Paul would never agree to go to Indy, clown.
Chris Paul MIGHT agree to go to NY to play with Melo and another star.
Man, you really don’t understand this shit, do you?
The Knicks could have Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, cap space for another star, Willy Hernangomez, and the 7th pick in the draft.
And they’d still be in the Eastern Conference.
The assumption we’re all making is CP3 wants a full bird right max. You think he wants to go the dysfunctional hell that is NY to get 2-3 years with Carmelo?
Indy at least has Pritchard at the helm now and besides they have Thad Young, Monta Ellis and Miles Turner. That team actually has a pretty decent roster.
A side hack to this would be signing and trading CP3 to Minny for Rubio, LaVine and Wiggins. Minny is sitting on free cap and can absorb the contract difference.
Come on, man. You’re just trolling to troll.
Nobody is dumb enough to think CP3 would go to Indy to play on a Pacers team without Paul George.
Melo is CP’s best friend in the NBA. And it’s New York f**king City.
I would go to Indy. They are a classy organization and have the 18th pick to add to Young, Ellis and Turner. Oh yea, they also have Lance Stephenson back.
They have PG’s replacement at SF already.
It makes more sense than your convoluted and expensive trade scenario to NY that comes with a 7 year hangover.
The Pacers have gone to the playoffs more than the Knicks since they came into the NBA. They have a better team. They have a better front office. The Knicks are in turmoil and Melo only has a 2 year window. They have a lot of ground to cover with the rest of their roster to be in contention. If CP3 wants to win a ring with Melo, then he should demand a trade or a buyout so he can come here to LAC and we should bring back the band. He’d be a fit for the current team. Then all we have to do is make some smaller lateral trades instead of a big trade and stretching a bunch over 7 years.
For the record, you’re the troll here posting thousands of messages where you end up replying to yourself.
Your opinion that he would never go to Indy is simply an opinion.
I understand this shit better than you. Thats why my solution is more elegant, fiscally sound and less complicated than yours.
No, I think you’re out of your fucking mind for even suggesting it. Not only do we have to sit on nearly $8M in a cap hold for the next 7 years, we then have to find a bunch of other trades to try and rebalance the roster because we’d be crammed with bigs and still left with the same problems we currently have: no wing.
This is of course, after we’ve packaged and shipped away a top 10 player to get a prospect. Oh and we lose our starting point guard.
I think Porzingis is a good player, but thats just a suicidal move with 7 years of a financial hangover at which point Porzingis might have already left in free agency because theres no room to add talent around him.
Dramond said Porzinigis wasn’t hacked an he wants to go to the Clippers.
Now he’s the only person on the Knicks roster the Knicks want to keep. The Knicks would probably be fine with him boycotting and sitting out next year. And from the Knicks point of view, it’s a “We’ll get this sorted out and next year it’ll be all good and he’ll want to play with us”.
Maybe it’s possible the Clippers could trade DeAndre for him and Noah’s contract, cus the Noah contract is just so terrible. There’s just way, the Knicks are going to move Porzinigis though
Nobody seriously believes the Clippers are on the verge of acquiring Porzingis or on the verge of acquiring Paul George.
This is all speculation. And I’m simply playing along with the speculation.
Porzingis is one of the most unique players in the NBA. At 21 years old his trade value is extremely high. His trade value is so high it would cost the Clippers Chris Paul and they’d have to take on Noah’s contract.
It’d be great if the Clippers could sign and trade Blake for Porzingis. But that’s video game shit. Same goes for DJ.
Clipper fans have gotten excited about two names over the last few months: Paul George and Kristaps Porzingis.
I laid out a scenario to acquire both of them without acting like the NBA is a video game.
Paul George grew up a Clippers fan. He wants to live in LA. If the Clippers could offer him a MAX contract they’d have a great shot at signing him.
Well, what if they also had Kristaps Porzingis to pair him with?
6 years.
24-33 in the playoffs.
The West finals should be interesting. Chris Paul likely will be watching it and thinking he should give serious consideration to signing with San Antonio.
The overriding question for the Clippers is who will they get as GM. All the player speculation, especially about Porzingis, is interesting, but none of that matters unless the Clippers get a competent GM first. No way should Rivers be allowed to make any of the many key decisions that must be made this off-season. If Ballmer lets that happen, then he’s shirking his responsibility as owner.
Sounds like Doc isn’t going anywhere. I don’t see too many rumors that he’s leaving.
The Clippers don’t have many options anyway, there’s not much a good GM will help.
I suppose a lot will depend on CP3 and BG. If they both go, Doc will also probably leave. If BG stays and CP3 goes, Doc might also leave because BG is an injury risk and the Clippers might not make the playoffs.
Six years of the Chris Paul era.
24-33 in the playoffs.
313-163 record in the regular season.
24-33 record in the playoffs.
Only one of those records matter.
The front office, the coaching staff, and the players tell us to judge them by what they do in the playoffs.
24 wins in 6 years is what they did in the playoffs.
The Thunder have 40 playoff wins over the last 6 years.
The Pacers have 30 playoff wins over the last 6 years.
The Grizzlies have 22 playoff wins over the last 6 years.
The Celtics have 22 playoff wins over the last 6 years.
The Chris Paul era Clippers have 6 fewer playoff wins than the Paul George era Pacers.
The Chris Paul era Clippers have been eliminated by such legendary teams as the 2017 Jazz, the 2016 Blazers, the 2015 Rockets, and the 2013 Grizzlies.