On July 6th, 2019, the Los Angeles Clippers sent shockwaves through the NBA world when they signed Kawhi Leonard and then traded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, 5 future 1st round picks and 2 pick swaps to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Paul George. It was a seismic night in the NBA and it was the biggest night in the history of the Los Angeles Clippers. Now, 5 years and 0 trips to the Finals later, it is over as Paul George departs for a 4yr/$212 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. How did Los Angeles come up short and why is it over so abruptly?
The Clippers entered 2019-20 as the favorites to win the NBA championship. Kawhi was just coming off of his second ring and second Finals MVP with the Raptors and George was coming off of a top 3 MVP finish and with depth like Patrick Beverly, Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, Ivica Zubac and JaMychal Green also on the roster, the Clippers were loaded. They got off to a good start as well, a Christmas win against the Lakers made them 23-10 and they looked ready to win the championship. At the trade deadline they sent out Moe Harkless and a 2020 first round pick to the New York Knicks for Marcus Morris (who could forget Marcus Morris’ Knicks tenure) and signed Reggie Jackson as a buyout player. When the NBA shutdown due to COVID-19 in March, the Clippers were 44-20 and looking like a juggernaut. In the bubble, they went 5-3 in the 8 games played before the playoffs and were the 2nd seed in the Western Conference at 49-23. In round 1, they took on the Dallas Mavericks and after splitting the first 4 games in the series, the Clippers outlasted Dallas, eliminating the Mavericks in 6 games and advancing to round 2. In round 2, the Clippers faced off against the Denver Nuggets and blitzed out to a 3-1 series lead. In game 5, the Clippers had a 17 point lead late in the third quarter and everything changed right there. They would go on to blow the lead, lose game 5 and then lose game 6. In game 7, the wheels fell off as Paul George threw a 3 pointer off the side of the backboard in what turned into a 15 point loss and one of the all-time collapses in NBA history.
This led to big changes ahead of the 2020-21 season. First, the Clippers fired their head coach, Doc Rivers and promoted Ty Lue from the lead assistant to the head job. Then, they traded Landry Shamet for Luke Kennard, and signed Serge Ibaka and Nic Batum, while letting Harrell sign with the then defending champion Lakers. They entered the season with the 4th shortest odds to win the championship and they looked like a team that could win it. At the trade deadline, they were 29-16 and wanted another ball handler so they traded Lou Williams and 2 future 2nd round picks to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Rajon Rondo. The Clippers ended up winning 47 games and finishing 4th in the Western Conference.
In round 1, they faced off against the Dallas Mavericks once again. After falling behind 2 games to 0, the Clippers battled back and took games 3 and 4 in Dallas to knot the series at 2. After losing game 5 at home, they went back to Dallas facing elimination where Kawhi Leonard delivered one of the signature performances of his career, 45 points and 6 rebounds on shooting splits of .72/.56/1.00 and forced a game 7 back in L.A. where the Clippers would survive 46 Luka Doncic points and knockout the Mavericks in a 126-111 win. In round 2, the Clippers face off with the Utah Jazz. Game 1 was a tough 3 point loss and game 2 was a tough 6 point loss, so while the Clippers were down 2-0, they were not getting run off the court. Then, coach Ty Lue decided to play without a center and L.A. did not look back. After winning games 3 and 4, the series was tied headed back to Utah. However, disaster struck in the game 4 win as Leonard had a partial tear in his ACL and he was out for the rest of the playoffs. The Clippers now needed another guy to step up and Paul George was up for the challenge. 37 points in game 5, put the Clippers up 3-2 and after falling behind by 25 in game 6, the Clippers came all the way back and won the game behind 28 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists from George and 39 points and 7 threes from Terrence Mann and they knocked out the top seeded Jazz in what was humiliating fashion for the Jazz (sorry Jazz fans). In the Western Conference Finals, the Clippers would take on the Phoenix Suns. The Clippers had their chances in the series. They did sort of get a raw deal ahead of game 1, game 6 against Utah was Friday night and then game 1 against Phoenix was Sunday afternoon at noon local time. That is just over 36 hours between games… which seems like not enough. Anyways, after losing game 1, the Clippers had a real shot to win game 2 before George missed 2 free throws and then the famous ‘Vally-Oop’ play happened as Deandre Ayton tapped in a buzzer beating tip in on a perfect pass from Jae Crowder and the Suns went up 2-0. Without Leonard it became too difficult for Los Angeles to overcome. Even with a game 3 win and an epic game 5 from Paul George where he scored 41 points, it was not enough and the Clippers were eliminated in 6 games.
The 2021-22 season was defined by Leonard’s injury for the Clippers. With ‘The Klaw’ missing the entire season, the Clippers were not going to be able to win the championship so it turned into a punt year for the Clippers with a lot of roster turnover. The team traded Patrick Beverly and Rajon Rondo to the Grizzlies for Eric Bledsoe on the offseason who they traded at the trade deadline, along with Justise Winslow and Keon Johnson to the Trail Blazers for Norman Powell and Robert Covington. They also sent Ibaka out the door to the Bucks in a salary saving move for Rodney Hood and Semi Ojeleye. Paul George just played 31 games in the season and the Clippers made the play-in. Where they would lose to the Timberwolves in the 7-8 game (a game George did play in) and then lose to the Pelicans in the 8-9 game (a game George did not play in) and miss the playoffs.
The 2022-23 season was a key one for Los Angeles. Leonard was back and the Clippers were ‘ready for war’ as I put it ahead of the season as they were tied for the 4th shortest odds to win the championship. They got off to a cold start, beginning the season at 14-13 in their first 27 games and 23-24 in their first 47 games. At the trade deadline, Lawrence Frank made some moves again bringing in Mason Plumlee and Eric Gordon and then signing Russell Westbrook after he was bought out by the Utah Jazz. They finished the regular season at 44-38, never really turning into that championship contender that many, myself included, thought they would be. In the first round, they took on the Phoenix Suns led by Devin Booker and newly acquired Kevin Durant. With Paul George missing the entire series due to a right knee injury and Kawhi Leonard missing the last 3 games of the series with a knee injury, the Suns made quick work of the Clippers, knocking them out in 5 games.
The 2023-24 season was a big one for the Clippers. Paul George and Kawhi Leonard both had opt-outs in their contract so there was a chance that it was the last season we would see of the duo. There were James Harden rumors all summer and after the team failed to land Jrue Holiday, they acquired Harden and P.J. Tucker in exchange for Nic Batum, KJ Martin, Robert Covington. Marcus Morris, a 2028 first round pick and 2 pick swaps. The Clippers got off to a rough start in the Harden era, losing the first 5 games Harden played in. Then, Los Angeles got hot going 30-8 over their next 38 games and looking like a real championship contender. Over that time, the Clippers were the best team in the NBA with a net rating of +9.9, according to Cleaning the Glass (which filters out garbage time). Then everything fell apart as in their last 33 games, the Clippers went 17-16 with a net rating of -1.7, 20th in the NBA. They entered the playoffs as the 4th seed where they would match up with the Dallas Mavericks in a series that Kawhi Leonard would play just 2 games in. After winning game 1, the Clippers would lose the next 2 games falling behind 2-1. In game 4 both Harden and George would deliver 33 points to tie the series at 2 but it was not enough as the Clippers lost the next 2 games and lost in the first round, a devastating finish to what looked like a promising season.
In January, the Clippers and Leonard agreed to a 3yr/$150 million contract extension. It was believed that George would sign next and Harden in the summer (Harden was ineligible for a contract extension). However, there was no George extension, as the playoffs started, George was without a deal and as free agency started, George was a free agent. In fact, there was never a deal as George signed a 4yr/$212 million max contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. On his podcast, ‘Podcast P,’ George said that in January the Clippers did not offer him the 3yr/$150 million deal that Kawhi signed. After the season, the Clippers did offer the 3yr/$150 million deal but George felt he was worth the 4th year, or if he was not offered the 4th year, he wanted a no trade clause. The Clippers would not budge so George bolted for Philly. The Clippers put out a statement that said they did not want to sign George to a 4-year deal due to the second apron but that does not make sense. If George had signed a 3-year deal or a 4-year deal his first year salary would have been the same either way and the Clippers would have been in the second apron. There were times that the Clippers looked like championship contenders last season and while it would be a longshot to win with George on the team, at least you have the chance to win it, instead the Clippers will likely just fade away into the Western Conference play-in.
The Clippers took a shot in 2019 when they added Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to the team and they had to take it. The Lakers had just landed LeBron James and Anthony Davis and the Clippers needed to stay relevant in Los Angeles and this allowed them to compete for a championship. No matter how good Gilgeous-Alexander becomes and how many draft picks they traded, adding PG and Kawhi was a good decision, in fact it was the only decision they could make. No matter how much a failure it became, the Clippers decision to acquire Paul George and sign Kawhi Leonard at one in the morning on July 6th, 2019 was the right one.
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