LA Clippers Roundtable: LA’s Best Team’s Next Moves
By Logan Rapp
Free Agents
Kimbrell: If we’re a playoff team now, how good are we if we use our cap space well? Some big names have to be thinking that
Rapp: It’ll certainly pique a certain Toronto Raptors player’s interest should they not make it to the Finals.
Kimbrell: Marc Gasol would definitely push us over the edge.
Rapp: Well played.
The one thing that has truly impressed me this season is this front office’s discipline. I’ll be getting an article up soon about that, but this has been an incredibly consistent, leak-proof and confident group.
Chong: They’re just a collection of really smart guys. I was happy when the team began to fill out their front office, but my expectations of what they’d be capable of have been significantly exceeded.
Kimbrell: Which is again in stark contrast to our city-mates. Watching what the Lakers are going through with ownership and front office makes me so happy for Ballmer and everybody in that office.
Chong: Oh boy, it really is like a soap opera over there. Talk about putting things in perspective!
Paul Tooke: Here’s Paul, fashionably late. I’d like to say I’m not too disappointed that we didn’t tank. Though I was definitely expecting it, I’m happy to watch our team in the playoffs.
Rapp: Paul’s late, but worth the wait.
Tooke: Bars.
Identity
Chong: I’ll tell you what, the way that they’ve embraced Patrick Beverley as the voice of the team at events like ‘The Playbook’ have me loving them even more.
Rapp: Thinking about identity, I found a couple of quotes that, when you put it together, paint a pretty solid picture of how the team’s envisioned.
Steve Ballmer, October 2017: “We’re a little grittier. I think it’s OK. I think there is a whole side of L.A. that’s hard-working, tough-minded.”
Patrick Beverley, March 2019: “That’s who we do it for: The people in the back. … The blue-collar people who don’t have a lot given to them. Who work for everything they deserve. And that’s what we’re doing right now. We do it for them.”
Kimbrell: You have to love that kind of long-term team identity building.
Chong: Oh, the identity building that the front office, team, and Ballmer have been doing this year have been so underrated. That media tour that Ballmer went on? I loved it.
Rapp: And Pat Bev couldn’t be more well-suited to that identity. His entire career has been defined by clawing for every scrap he got.
Tooke: I’ve heard people say that it’s cool to be a Clippers fan again. It seems like with all the new faces and success, people are forgetting the terrible injury luck and looking over the fact that we haven’t made it past the second round.
Kimbrell: It’s kind of a Ship of Theseus problem, right? We took a team, replaced ownership, front office, coach, players, even logo. At some point it just feels like a different team
Rapp: Well, let’s also remember that before Ballmer came around, owner Donald Sterling was as incompetent as he was racist. Removing that toxic element alone starts to change the posture of a team.
Chong: Polar opposites, absolutely.
Rapp: But I get you Seth with the Ship of Theseus metaphor. At what point did Lob City end and this new team begin? We know what season it happened during, but exactly that inflection point isn’t as clear.
Tooke: How much of a hand on all the player moves do you think Jerry West has had?
Ethan Smith: Hey, I’m on a plane to NYC, I am obviously late.
Chong: I feel like it had to be after the Blake Griffin trade. Even though DJ was still around, that seemed like the point at which things changed.
Kimbrell: I think so, too. Or at least that’s when we passed the point of no return. Paul, to be honest with you I feel like maybe less than a lot of people think
Rapp: In retrospect, hiring the Logo seemed to hail the end of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul‘s time with the Clippers.
Smith: Would it be safe to say that the Clippers have one of the best front offices in the NBA?
Leo Saldana: They are building to that.
Rapp: One of, definitely. The absolute best? I don’t think you can say that until they bring home a banner.
Chong: I think it’s a tiny bit early to be saying that, but it’s on the horizon.
Saldana: Agree with Matt. They are building on the foundation.
Smith: If we sign Kawhi, I’d say yes.