The Clippers Are Making the Lakers Look Stupid

The Clippers Are Making the Lakers Look Stupid

LeBron James is upset because the Lakers are planning for the future. He wants to win now, but they are intentionally worse next year to prep for 2027. That year, LA will have max cap space to build around Luca. But here’s the thing. The Clippers are in the exact same position. When you see their books, look at the wide open salary space for 2027. That summer, the only guaranteed money is a Vita Zubots for 21 million. So, both LA teams can sign elite talent in free agency in 2027. But the Clippers are going for it right now, too. In fact, they might have just had the best off season the entire NBA. No wonder LeBron is so pissed. He’s looking across town like, “We couldn’t have got that talent. Why are we punting on 2 years for 2027?” Well, the answer is something very interesting going on behind the scenes. So, the Clips latest additions are Chris Paul and Bradley Beal. After a buyout with the Suns, he interviewed five teams. The Clippers, Lakers, Heat, Warriors, and Bucks. They all had good pitches, but it was over once Bill got on the phone with James Harden. The beard told Bill, “Yo, I am not the guy from Houston anymore. I don’t care about scoring 30 a night. In fact, I want you to have some of these stats. I’m overloaded. Plus, did you see what I just did with Norm Powell? Dude had a career year at 31 years old as my starting two guard. Going to get paid. That could be you.” So while getting 99 million over the next 5 years from Phoenix, Beiel signed a OnePlus 1 with the Clippers for 11 million bucks. Dude was a burden on the Suns for 50 mil but 5.5 million. And remember when Beal got to the Suns, he was supposed to be oh part of a big three. But on the Clippers, he’s just another piece to an already deep team. The perfect role. And the Suns were so thin and terrible on defense. All of Beiel’s flaws were magnified. But his new team was the number three defense in the NBA. Harden’s going to run the show. Kawhi draws double teams. Beal can cook on offense. Crush pick and roll with Zubats and Brook Lopez. In fact, last year be scored 17 a night on 50% from the field, 40% from three, but his catch and shoot was 41% from deep, which means off ball magic. Side note, this is now an official admission of failure by the Suns. They’ve now gotten rid of Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal in the same offseason, saving 160 million bucks next year. Total waste of their 2022 roster that made the finals. But that’s not all the Clippers did this off season. They also got John Collins for basically free and stole Brook Lopez from the Lakers. Then added Chris Paul. Collins shot even better than Beal off catch and shoot last year. Plus, his speed and athleticism gives LA a new too big look. Lopez might be 37, but it is now the perfect time to become a backup. He goes from playing 32 minutes a night, so much responsibility, to about 15, 20 minutes a game. And Zu has needed a quality backup for a while, especially last year in the Denver series in the playoffs. I mean, Ben Simmons was their number two big at times. Now, they’ve got solid defense the entire game and might have beat the Nuggets last year with Brook Lopez. So to recap, LA gave James Harden a $6 million raise, which left a full mid-level exception. They took that mid-level and Norm Powell turned it into Chris Paul, John Collins, Bradley Beal, and Brook Lopez. How stupid do the Lakers look now? But before we get to how the Clippers pulled this off over the Lakers, how good can they be next season? Because if there is one team that can break this streak of not winning back to back, it is the OKC Thunder. So, I still put them in a tier by themselves. But the other team to really watch in the West is Denver. They had the most underrated off season this year. The Nuggets turned Michael Porter Jr.’s bad contract into Cam Johnson and Bruce Brown getting $30 million cheaper. Now, they’re more flexible and deeper than ever. So, I put OKC in tier one, Denver by themselves in tier two. The Clippers are the number one team there in that third tier. With a little luck, they can make the finals. Obviously, the big risk for them is always health, but even with Kawaii missing over half the season last year, they still won 50 games. By the way, tier three, I have some combination of the Clippers, Lakers, Wolves, Warriors, and Rockets, but Clippers at the top. So, I would say their ceiling is the number two seed in the regular season and the West Finals at least. But how did the Clippers pull this off over the Lakers? Well, like we said, both teams have an eye on 2027. For the Clips, that’s when Kawhai and Harden’s money comes off the books and they can reset as a franchise. For the Lakers, they’ll already have Luca Donuch if he signs this extension. And reports say they want to add a superstar. The big names that summer, Jiannismpo and Nicole Joic. Both will be free agents able to slide right into purple and gold. But here’s the thing. The Lakers already have a top 10 player next to Luca. I mean, say what you want about LeBron James. Last year he was top six in MVP voting. He was second team all NBA. So by definition a top 10 player and they are waiting for Giannis. What makes them think he even wants to go there? Let alone 2 years from now. And to make this happen they had to let Dorian Finny Smith walk for nothing. DFS was so key to LA last year. They were 17 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor. The three and D type player everybody needs. And instead of resigning him, they’re like, “Nah, we’d rather have cap space for Giannis. Thanks.” Okay, buddy. Keep telling yourself that. And are Giannis and Luca even a great fit? Both guys need the ball in their hands. And he didn’t exactly run a great pick and roll with old Damen Lillard the last two seasons. How’s that going to work out? Oh, and Nola Joic. Even if he did change teams. Yeah, right. They’re two of the best creators in the NBA. Better to have complimentary stars, isn’t it? But the Lakers are so obsessed with this whole super team thing, they’re afraid to go allin around the two stars they already have. Luca and LeBron now, just like they’re afraid to go all in around AD and LeBron before. But super teams aren’t even what they used to be. Have the Lakers looked around the league the last like 10 years. The Clippers though understand team building is so much more nuanced than that in the modern NBA. Once they have a top star, they have tried to surround him with deep, versatile players, role guys like Derrick Jones Jr., Ivita Zubots. And when the second apron became a thing, the Clippers immediately adapted. Do you know how hard it must have been for them to just let Paul George go to the Sixers in free agency for nothing? They spent so much to get him just to watch him leave. LA got clowned so hard in the media and the owner, Steve Balmer, had to put out a statement saying, “Oh, it’s best for the team.” But he was right because it turns out this offseason was only possible because PG left. They pivoted to Derrick Jones and Chris Dunn immediately for 35 million less and now they add three more legit guys. If they chose to keep Paul George, all that is out the window and they would get stuck with his bad knees and horrible contract. So this is just a smart front office that doesn’t rely on being LA and the glamour market. Like, do you know how terrible the Lakers would have been the last 10 plus years if they didn’t get lucky because LeBron just wanted to sign with them out of nowhere? Mismanaged and LeBron just happens to choose to be a Laker. Then he uses his connections to add Anthony Davis. This was not some super smart front office. Okay, we saw that again when Rob Panka randomly got a phone call from Nico Harrison like, “Hey, would you like to just basically have my generational superstar?” It’s just a team that’s gotten lucky again and again, but that luck will run out. The Clippers are obviously a much better run franchise, and it was never more obvious than this off season, but LeBron might actually be done as a Laker now. The story behind his beef with the franchise goes really deep. So, I had to look at that and where he might go next.

The Clippers have had a great offseason while their crosstown rivals are taking a different approach. This is a look at how both teams want to win in 2027 but how the “little brother” is going for it now as well.