The LA Clippers were on the cusp of playing in the NBA Finals last year.
There were a lot of new moving pieces with the Clipper team last year, but now with most of the team coming back, they’ll have a longer offseason and another year to gain chemistry amongst each other.
They have a chance to win the Finals now that Ty Lue has been confirmed as one of the elite coaches in this league. The team was competitive against the Suns in the Western Conference Finals without Kawhi Leonard, and absolutely have what it takes to improve upon that season with the continuity between last year’s and this year’s team.
No. 3 thing that needs to happen for the LA Clippers to win NBA Finals: Acquire more big man depth
The LA Clippers only have two true big men on their roster. It’s Ivica Zubac, Serge Ibaka, and nobody else.
The Clippers were in the bottom half in rebounds per game last year, and need some more depth in that frontcourt. Losing Ibaka last year was tough, and forced the Clippers to go small quite a bit.
When they lost Zubac, it got even tougher. DeMarcus Cousins played well, and the Clippers need another third center to come in just in case a situation like that arises again.
Perhaps the Clippers need to re-sign Cousins. Maybe they need to re-sign both Cousins and Patrick Patterson. Perhaps they need to go after a free agent still out there, like an Aron Baynes or a Bismack Biyombo.
Either way, they need a third center after they just traded Daniel Oturu.