Clippers leading the 2023 championship clubhouse

As Kendrick Perkins continues to look at the current NBA landscape, the veteran center becomes perplexed by what he both sees and hears.

The Golden State Warriors, the current NBA Champions, are currently viewed as the team to beat. Considering the trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are now the proud owners of four Larry O’Brien Trophies, paired with the fresh legs of Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, and James Wiseman, oddsmakers are under the assumption that the Warriors winning ways will only continue.

However, while Perkins understands why the Golden State Warriors have protruded to the top of the NBA mountain and are expected to win back-to-back titles, the former NBA big man believes that the Curry led bunch will play second-fiddle to the LA Clippers next season.

“They’re my favorite to win it all,” said Perkins confidently on NBA Today. “I’m saying it today, July the 6th, 2022. A healthy Clippers team is gonna be my favorite to win it all.”

Kendrick Perkins smells an NBA title on the LA Clippers

The analysis of Perkins stems from the supremely stacked roster that the Clippers currently house. In addition to their well-known attractions and star players, Perkins points an impressive finger in the direction of the Clippers’ lesser-known role players in an attempt to bring them to the forefront of everyone’s mind.

“When you think about Kawhi Leonard, when healthy, he’s a top five player in the NBA. Paul George, we know what he’s capable of doing. Reggie ‘Hot Sauce’ Jackson. Most importantly, they have wings, versatile wings, 3 and D guys. When you think about them re-signing Nicolas Batum, a guy that can defend multiple positions, stretching the floor. Covington, a guy who can defend multiple positions and stretch the floor as well, giving those guys spacing. They re-signed big Zubac. You still got Norman Powell over there. A guy who has shown us that he’s capable of averaging 20.”

Despite the superlatives spouted by Perkins, the Clippers struggled this past season. With Leonard reduced to simply cheering from the sidelines as he nursed a torn ACL, the Clippers found themselves on the losing end of several ball games.

Still, even without the services of Leonard, and despite George missing 51 games with torn ligaments in his right elbow, LA battled on a nightly basis, resulting in 42 victories.

Putting their roster aside, Perkins is also heavily impressed with the coaching mind of Ty Lue. Having started his Xs and Os career in Cleveland, Lue successfully led the Cavaliers to back-to-back NBA Finals appearances, closing the deal officially in 2016.

During his Clippers tenure, Lue has been given an untenable hand. In year one, Lue led LA to its first appearance in the Western Conference Finals. This past season, as previously mentioned, Lue nearly secured LA’s postseason berth.

All things considered, although Perkins believes that both conferences are stacked to the gills, the newly turned analyst is fully convinced that while the road to becoming an NBA Champion will be an arduous one, the Clippers will emerge as the cream of the crop.

“You have one of the best coaches in the game of basketball in Ty Lue. I’m looking at this Clippers team and if they’re healthy next year, they should be the favorites going into the season.”