With outlets available, some costly, to help James Harden at the trade deadline, the LA Clippers need to find the best one and run with it. This is the most significant must-fix the Clippers have on their plate, as Tyronn Lue’s offensive rating is sky high with Harden on the court, and below 100 without him, which is abysmal.
Though the Clippers’ 1B, Kawhi Leonard, is scoring, the offense is stagnant and dry without Harden. There is no juice, burst, or spark. It is typically just the ball going to Leonard down the court, and him deciding which play to make, which is Harden’s strong suit, not his.
In all honesty, this problem needs to be solved before the deadline. If it occurs on February 5th or goes unsolved, the Clippers’ regular season will be at an unsalvageable point, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder into their biggest jump for joy since winning the 2025 NBA championship.
The LA Clippers need reliable backcourt help next to James Harden
The unfathomable, questionable idea that Lawrence Frank and Tyronn Lue came to when they sent Chris Paul home just made a backcourt staff that was already short, even shorter. Now, Paul and Bradley Beal have been removed from the picture, pushing the LA Clippers’ regular season one step closer to elimination from the playoff standings.
Furthermore, Frank has a great deal of trust in Kris Dunn and Kobe Sanders to run the point guard rotations. This is senseless, as LA needs playmakers. Dunn is a ‘three-and-D’ guard, and Sanders is a rookie who is forced to quickly train, much faster than most youngsters, on how to help a championship roster.
They will inevitably make mistakes outside their comfort zones, and the people in charge are the ones who deserve the blame. It was way out of line to take away a healthy Paul from a team that is overusing Harden.
At the deadline, or preferably before, the Clippers cannot settle for a role-playing guard that just defends, shoots three-pointers, or is fantastic at protecting the ball to take position next to Harden. They need someone to keep the offense moving at a high rate and fast pace while he sits.
Acquiring Derrick White, or a player with the same play-style, would be a dream the Clippers would never want to wake up from. This would uplift all of LA’s advanced metrics and even boost those that do not need attention, since they are already high.