The LA Clippers' re-shaped roster will take some time to get used to. The departures of Paul George and Russell Westbrook forced a complete revamp of this team, and the Clippers will look much different than they have looked for most of the previous five seasons.
Gone is the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George duo as the team's one-two offensive punch. In its place is a more balanced approach that will rely on several new players that still have yet to fully learn Ty Lue's system. While there could be some obvious drawbacks to this, LA will have several factors working in their favor this season as well.
At media day on Monday, Norman Powell went through a few of the things he thinks fans can expect from this Clippers team. Among the most interesting characteristics of the roster he noted were increased athleticism and a younger team overall.
"A really competitive, hard-nosed team," said Powell. "I think that's what to expect. A team that's going to play together, going to give you a full 48, you've got to face us offensively and defensively. We have a bunch of different ways to attack, we have guys who are hungry, we got younger, we got more athletic."
Norm talks about the Clippers becoming younger and more athletic pic.twitter.com/wpdbgFlTNE
— Kelli Johnson (@KelliJohnsonTV) September 30, 2024
Powell: Clippers got younger and more athletic
Norm hits on several good points here, but the bit about being younger and more athletic seems to stand out among the rest. For the last several years and basically since Leonard and George arrived in town, the Clippers had been a relatively veteran-laden squad that had leaned on the experience of its older players.
Sometimes, that looked like sacrificing youth and athleticism for the experience and know-how of more proven players. While this is not the worst strategy possible, it has some obvious drawbacks. Having a well-rounded roster is important, and that is something that the Clippers' front office seemed to succeed in building this summer.
"I think it's a nice balance from top to bottom," Powell said. "Media and outlets like to write us off because we don't have PG anymore, and losing Russ. So it's like we're 12th or something, which is crazy to me. But I think that's what happens. You lose a guy like PG and everything goes up in flames ."
After saying this, Norm goes on to remind everyone that he was part of the 2019-20 Toronto Raptors team that lost Kawhi Leonard and still finished second place in the Eastern Conference. These are all solid observations by Powell, and it is not far fetched at all to think the Clippers could take this re-loaded roster and still do something special with it.