This Might Be the Los Angeles Clippers’ Last Shot… and Their Best One

This Might Be the Los Angeles Clippers’ Last Shot… and Their Best One

Despite going home in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs, the Los Angeles Clippers had a very impressive season because their adversity started way before the NBA season began when they lose Paul George in free agency to the Philadelphia 76ers and they don’t get anything in return that offers the level of production and impact that Paul George brings on both the offensive and the defensive side of the ball. And on top of that, they discover that Kawhi Leonard is going to be out indefinitely to begin the NBA season due to his knee injury. And Kawhi Leonard, he ends up ultimately playing 37 games for the Los Angeles Clippers, less than half of the NBA season, and a huge chunk of those games came with a heavy minutes restriction for Kawhi Leonard. So, when we learned all of this, the Los Angeles Clippers basically losing their best two players, one of them in free agency and the other one due to injury, a lot of people, including myself, I’m not going to lie, we thought the Los Angeles Clippers, we thought they were going to be a struggling team, especially because they were in the Western Conference, but somehow these guys, they go out there, they win 50 games, only losing 32 times. They make the Western Conference playoffs, and they take the Denver Nuggets to seven games. So, like I said, a very impressive season for the Los Angeles Clippers. And we look at the reasons for that. And in my personal opinion, I think there’s three big time reasons for that. Number one is that the Los Angeles Clippers, they have Tyron Lou as their head coach. And he has continuously proved to us that he knows his X’s and O’s, but he has this special rare ability to connect with his players and get the most out of them by motivating them. And it probably has to do with the time he spent in the NBA as a player himself. So you have Tyron Lou. Um you had James Harden who was taking on that lone star role who had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders and he was able to burden him. He was a huge huge reason of the Los Angeles Clippers keeping their playoff hopes alive and making the playoffs last season. So shout out to James Harden. And then last and certainly not least, they got a huge huge effort from their collection of road players last season. We look at Norman Pow who’s currently on the Miami Heat. He had a big-time season last year. The best season of his career in the Los Angeles Clippers. They most definitely needed every single bit of it. We look at the season that Iva Kazubak had last year. Probably the best season of his NBA career as well. And then we look at all those guys that do those little things that matter a lot that people don’t pay attention to. When we look at a player like Chris Dunn, the way he was defending last year for the Los Angeles Clippers, when we look at guys like Derek Derek Jones Jr. So, um, it was a a huge, huge group effort by the Los Angeles Clippers last season. And I think it was very important for them to pin on that type of performance that they did last season cuz, like I said, with all that adversity going on, a lot of people wrote the Los Angeles Clippers off, but they had a 50 they had a 50 win season. You know, that’s hard to do in the NBA. So with them getting 50 wins in the front office seeing that now I don’t know if this was their reason for them putting on the type of show that they put on this this this current offseason but I’m feeling like they seen like wow we we we had all this stuff going against us not going our way and somehow we still won 50 games somehow we take a team like the Denver Nuggets with Jamal Murray and Nola Joic and Aaron Gordon we take these guys to we take these guys to seven games but we don’t feel like this this is nowhere near the best type of roster that we could have put out there for this season or the next couple of seasons. So, let’s take this off season and let’s bolster our roster. And I think that’s exactly what the Los Angeles Clippers have done. Now, my personal opinion, my favorite or I shouldn’t say my favorite, but my my the team that I thought the Los Angeles Clippers that they had the best shot of winning an NBA championship was the first year when they put Paul George and Kawhi Leonard together and they had that combination of Lou Will and Montre Herald off the bench and they also had Pat Bev. I thought that was a really, really good Clippers team. I thought that was the best one on paper until they had put together this roster that they had this season. I think this is the Los Angeles Clippers. I think this is their best shot at getting a championship in terms of when we look at their roster on paper. I think this team is insanely insanely deep and not just in star power, but in their role players as well. So, u we look at this offseason that the Los Angeles Clippers have had. It’s not like they’re just trying to get the biggest names out there. they’re not or like they’re trying to just get the best available players. I feel like they went out there and got guys that are going to help them in the areas where um strengthen them in the areas where they were a little weak at or where they struggled at at times. And we can look at how they started this off seasonason off. I believe the first offseason move or let me not do that cuz I don’t want to be wrong. So, let’s just start with what they did with Brick Lopez bringing him in in free agency. What I like about this for the Los Angeles Clippers is that it gives them a reliable source at that backup big spot. And I know Brick Lopez, I know he’s getting up there in age, but this is a guy that does not miss games. He’s going to he’s going to be out there. He’s going to be play um he’s going to be playing Brick Lopez. He never has no no lingering injuries and he’s very very reliable in terms of his availability. And then also, he just brings something different to the table that I Kazubak brings. So there that’s always a nice thing when you can get that from your backup center. It gives you more options. It gives you more flexibility. But what Brook Lopez brings, he brings elite elite rim protection. He’s still one of the best shot blockers in the NBA. And he’s a big that can stretch the floor. Now, he’s a little bit more of a streaky shooter than a pure shooter. He has to be, you know, he has to get hot to really start knocking them things down, but he is going to stretch the floor and teams are going to respect him out there. And you know, he still has a little, you know, he still remembers from a little bit from his post game from those all those days where he played his best basketball um with the Brooklyn Nets. So, he has that going for him. And then also, if they run into the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs again, they have another, you know, real body that they can throw at Noola Joic. So, it’s not so much stress on IA’s shoulder. So, I’m loving that for the Los Angeles Clippers. I think Brook Lopez, like I said, a service serviceable backup big man. And then also he’s reliable. And then also another area where the Los Angeles Clippers, they kind of struggled on this side of the ball in the regular season and in the playoffs as well. And that’s on the offensive side of the ball. And like we said, a huge um a huge reason for this is that they lost Paul George in free agency. And then also um they they lost Kawhi Leonard for more than half of the season. And then when he when he did come back, it was so much rush that he had to shake off for not playing so long. And then also with the minutes restriction going against him, you know, it took him a while to get back to the flow of things. And Kawhi Leonard, he did get back into the flow of things. And we seen how much of a different team, how much of a different offense it is when Kawhi Leonard is is is um healthy and he’s, you know, playing full force out there. But nonetheless, they went out there and they got some players that are definitely going to strengthen them on the offensive side of the ball, especially in the half court. And the first player I want to talk about in this area is none other than Bradley Bill. And a lot of people um they thought this was some they they thought this move was was nothing by the Los Angeles Clippers. And if you think this move is nothing um you know you’re a little crazy because Bradley Bill he can still hope. And I’m not saying he was you know the perfect player. You know he went he he was an angel with the Phoenix Suns but he wasn’t a bad basketball player. The only thing about Bradley Bill with the Phoenix Suns is that he wasn’t that available. He begging. But um nonetheless, Bradley Bill can still hoop. The biggest the biggest thing for him coming into the season, he has to get available. He has to get healthy for the Los Angeles Clippers. But him as a basketball player, this is going to help the Clippers out tremendously. And I I I actually like the combination of James Harden, Bradley Bill, and Kawhi Leonard more than I like Devin Booker, Bradley Bill, and Kevin Durant. Because look at James Harden at this point in his career. He’s he’s embraced and accepted that that role of being a floor general and a playmaker. So, he actually likes setting guys up. He set up Norman Powell a lot and he set up IVA Kazubak a lot. He sets up Kawhi Leonard a lot. So, I can see him setting up um I can see him setting up Bradley Bill a lot and John Collins who’s a new addition that we’re going to talk about. Um Kawhi Leonard, all these guys. So, I love James Harden in that playmaker role. And then Bradley Bill, I think he’s going to be able to come to the Clippers. We seen what Norman Pow was last year. He’s gonna come into the Clippers and he’s going to be able to just focus on scoring the ball. I think we’re going to get to see the basketball in his hands a lot more, not him just spotting up that much. But we look at his numbers with the Phoenix Suns. He shot um one season he shot over 50% um from the field. The other one he shot 49% from the field. One he shot 43% from three-point line. And one he shot 39% from three-point line. So, he’s still an efficient scorer. It’s not like he forgot how to score the ball. He’s still going to be a very serviceful basketball player. So, I love the additions of I love the free agency pickups of Bradley Bill and Brook Lopez. And they also came across John Collins. Now, this was a three-team deal between the Miami Heat. Ah, it was the Miami Heat. I want to say the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers. And um Norman Pow ended up Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. the Miami Heat. The Los Angeles Clippers and the Utah Jazz. I’m sorry. Um John Collins, he ends up with the Los Angeles Clippers. And Norman Powell, he ends up on the Miami Heat. Now, I really love this addition of John Collins as well because it adds once again another body in the front court, a guy that can play the four or the five spot. Another guy that you can throw on a guy like Jokic so your other bigs can get some um your other bigs can get some rest. And it also it adds flexibility to their to their offensive side of the ball as well. I think they’re going to be able to um run their small ball lineups but a little bit bigger because John Collins, he’s a freak athlete. Um he can knock down an open jump shot. He’s good in the twoman game and he can also put the ball on the floor as well. So I think he’s also going to bolster the Los Angeles Clippers on the offensive side of the ball. They finished 13th um no 14th in the league in offensive rating next season with all of these addiction additions. I expect that number. I expect their rise and I expect their status in that category to rise. So they have the addition of John Collins, a guy that can um run a twoman game, great at rolling around the rim, best part of his game, and he can put the ball on the floor, very athletic, and then also he can knock down an open jump shot. And then last and certainly not least, they add Chris Paul to the mix. Now, I don’t know. I thought the Los Angeles Clippers had a really good team before they added Chris Paul. So, I’m not sure what Chris Paul what his role is going to be for the Los Angeles Clippers, but I know he’s going to bring um veteran presence. He’s going to bring um a great locker room presence. He’s going to bring leadership. And if they do ask him to play, Chris Paul is one of the greatest basketball minds in NBA history. So, I definitely think he’s going to help come in be able to help come in and set the table for some of these guys that can really score the basketball. So that’s why I think the Los Angeles Clippers is the best team that they had on paper, obviously we can’t say the best team that they had until we see them boys get out there and hoop. But the way things are looking up on paper, these boys are very, very loaded. So that’s what I want to talk about with you guys today. If you enjoyed, please leave a like, comment down below um how you feel about this Los Angeles Clippers team, and then subscribe. Subscribe for more weekly content. We do this all the time. And that’s curtains.

The Clippers just added FIVE real pieces to a team that won 50 games.
Chris Paul. Bradley Beal. Brook Lopez. John Collins. A healthy Kawhi.
And yes — James Harden is still here.

Last year, the Clippers battled injuries, strict minute restrictions, and lost Paul George in free agency — and still won 50 games. Now, they’re deeper than ever and fully loaded for what might be their last real shot at a title.

This video breaks down the full roster, the impact of each addition, and why this version of the Clippers might be their best and final chance at a ring.

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Let me know in the comments:
Are the Clippers legit contenders now? Or is it too late?

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