Revisiting the LA Clippers over the last 10 seasons
By Ethan Smith
2017-2018: Blake Signs a Max and Departs, Leaving DJ Alone
The Clippers immediately signed Blake Griffin to a max contract after the departure of Chris Paul and shortly after, Doc Rivers relieved himself of any management duties and focused strictly on coaching, handing over the reigns to Lawerence Frank, Steve Ballmer and Jerry West.
The Clippers of course took a major step back after losing Paul to the Rockets and due to this, the team made the decision to move on from their franchise cornerstone in Griffin and trade him to the Detroit Pistons for Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley, Boban Marjanovic and draft picks.
If you noticed, none of those players currently play for the LA Clippers anymore. The Griffin trade helped fuel many there building blocks for the Clippers that have still impacted the team as I am typing this.
The team was not great in the 2017-2018 season as they finished 42-40 and missed the playoffs for the first time in quite a bit.
Current players Lou Williams, Danilo Gallinari and Montrezl Harrell were just getting comfortable in LA and the Clippers had time to relax during the postseason, get their minds back together and move on from Lob City.
The team moved on officially from Lob City when Deandre Jordan moved to Dallas after the whole getting locked in his house thing. His departure officially marked the end of the Lob City era and a new era of Clippers basketball, one marked by full team inclusion and hard-working rejects who fought hard to get where they are now. Let’s talk about this rag tag group of guys we watched last season to end off the decade.