There were high expectations for the Scissors the last five seasons due to the dynamic duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
That is not the case this season.
George skipped town, leaving the Clippers to join the Philadelphia 76ersand Leonard, who has dealt with injuries during his tenure with the Clippers, will be out indefinitely due to inflammation in his right knee.
So, when the Clippers open the regular season Wednesday night at Intuit Domethe new arena of 2 billion dollars of the franchise, against the Phoenix Suns, NBA critics say that they should do this not waiting to compete for a top six place in the very difficult Western Conference. At best, prognosticators say, the Clippers might be able to compete for one of the playoff spots.
The Clippers heard all the noise and chose to ignore all those who say they shouldn’t have the same high expectations due to an injured Leonard again and the departure of George, the two stars who failed to lead the Clippers to a championship but made them competitive all the time.
“Our expectations are always high – to win,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said “I mean, we have a great group of guys. We have guys who play hard and compete. We got offensive guys and so when we step on the floor we prepare to win and we want to win. With PG gone, with Kawhi out now, we still feel like we have enough and I believe that.”
At one point last season, the Clippers had four stars they expected to lean on in the move to owner Steve Ballmer’s $2 billion, four future Hall of Famers to make them relevant after finishing fourth in the West.
Now they only have one left to start the season – James Harden, who is 35 years old and entering his 16th season.
However, the Clippers will need him to carry much of the offensive load while Leonard recovers from his knee problem.
“Yes, we have to be smart about it. We talked about it, met about it, just making sure we didn’t run him into the ground,” Lue said of Harden. “When you lose a power player like Kawhi to begin with, you can see yourself playing James a lot more minutes than you need to. So, we just have to make sure we keep him healthy and make sure we do the smart thing, and we still working on that right now in terms of minutes and what we’re trying to have to start the season.”
In Lue’s eyes, there will also be pressure on him to keep the team afloat and help navigate the Clippers so they can still reach the heights they’ve reached.
He is considered one of the best coaches in the league, which the Clippers obviously agreed to as they signed him to a five-year extension for $70 million, making Lue one of the highest paid coaches in the association.
“I always feel like every year I want to be better,” Lue said. “I want to get better every year and, yes, I push myself to be good and to be better and to make sure that our team has success. That’s my job.”
In many ways, the Clippers have been down that road before and they proved critics wrong about their level of success by making deep playoff runs, including to the conference finals.
Read more: The Clippers coach has “no timetable” for Kawhi Leonard but expects him to play this season
During the 2021-22 season, when Leonard was fully recovered from a torn ACL in his right knee and George played in only 31 games due to a right elbow injury, the Clippers still posted a 42-40 record, finished eighth in the 2021-22. West and made it to the play-in games.
They lost to Minnesota and then to New Orleans, losing that game after George couldn’t play because he tested positive for COVID.
Fast forward to the 2024-25 season and the same scenario appears to be unfolding.
“People are counting us out and not thinking we’re going to be a competitive team this year,” Norman Powell said. “I think we’ll definitely prove a lot of people wrong and people will join the gang as the season goes on and they see how we play together, the style of play and the talent we have in this team.”
Lue said his starters will be Harden, Powell, Terance Mann, Derrick Jones Jr. and Ivica Zubac.
For Powell, a starting role is what he longed for.
He was one of the league’s top sixth men last season, averaging 13.9 points per game shooting 48.6% from the field, 43.5% from three-point range.
“I’m just thinking about the opportunity to be in focus at night and what that entails. I’m looking forward to it,” Powell said. “I don’t think it’s a bigger burden, so to speak. I think I prepare myself every year for an opportunity to be a guy that the team relies on night in and night out. So, I’m ready for the opportunity. I’m ready to help lead this team however the season calls for.”
Lue has never had a losing season in his four years coaching the Clippers. He took them to the playoffs in three of the four seasons, reaching the Western Conference finals for the first time in franchise history in 2021.
He won an NBA championship as the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018.
Lue knows about winning and the idea that the Clippers won’t win this season is foreign to him.
“It’s not a position I’m comfortable being in, but like I said, we’re going to compete and play hard and be good defensively,” Lue said of their new underdog. “We’re going to win games and that’s going to be our main agenda.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
