The 2024-25 NBA season is here! We break down the biggest questions, best and worst case scenarios and fantasy prospects for all 30 teams. Enjoy!
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
2023-24 end
Offseason moves
Additions: Derrick Jones Jr., Nicolas Batum, Kris Dunn, Kevin Porter Jr., Mo Bamba, Cameron Christie
Subtractions: Paul George, Russell Westbrook, Mason Plumlee, Daniel Theis, Brandon Boston Jr.
Complete roster
The Big Question: Which Kawhi Leonard will they get?
Kawhi Leonard hasn’t made the playoffs with the Los Angeles Clippers since 2020, his first season with the team, when he was 28 years old fresh off a second NBA Finals MVP performance.
Looking back, it’s remarkable how well the Toronto Raptors managed his injury during their 2019 title run. He coupled them with what the San Antonio Spurs called “right quadriceps tendinopathy” — a condition that cost him all but nine games of the season 2017-18. He tore his right ACL in the 2021 playoffs, missed the entire 2021-22 campaign and was unable to keep the knee healthy during either of the last two postseasons.
We cannot overstate how much Leonard’s chronic knee problems affected his career. It’s been eight years since this. When healthy, Leonard is one of the best two-way wings the game has ever seen. It’s like he was programmed to dominate on both ends of the floor, complete with the personality to match. He defeated LeBron James’ Miami Heat and Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors en route to two rings.
Except, the program keeps malfunctioning. Even now, Leonard is not healthy. Inflammation in his surgically repaired right knee cost him his roster spot at the Paris Olympics. The Clippers will manage the pain in his knee during training camp, hoping he can start the season on opening night.
“Make sure we stay healthy for those big moments,” Leonard told reporters at media day.
“Big moments” may never come if Leonard can’t carry the Scissors. Paul George is no longer a safety net. He left his hometown team for the chance to compete for a championship on the Philadelphia 76ers. Anyone could interpret that as a vote of no confidence in the Clippers’ own ability to contend.
The Clippers are signing one-time MVP James Harden to a fresh two-year, $70 million contract. He’s 35 years old, hasn’t made an All-Star team in either of the past two seasons and doesn’t seem to think he’s any different as a player, despite playing for a fourth team in four years. For anyone hoping he would relinquish control of the offense, Harden told reporters at media day, via Ben Golliver of The Washington Post“It’s definitely going to involve a lot of me. There was talk when I was in Houston … ‘You can’t win like that.’ You just saw a guy [Luka Dončić] last season make the Finals play the same exact way I played.”
Played. As in past tense. It’s been six years since Harden’s heliocentric brand of basketball has borne a challenger. Only the Clippers seem to agree that this is still a winning strategy. They replaced George with a cast of complementary characters — Derrick Jones Jr., Nicolas Batum and Kris Dunn among them — whose contributions to a championship-caliber team are entirely dependent on their team’s two starters.
How good are the Clippers with Leonard and Harden at the top of the bill? With George last season as well, they looked formidable for about six weeks – until the wheels fell off again after the All-Star break. That was the time to destroy this experiment. But the Clippers are opening a new arena, and they didn’t want to strip the roster down to the studs, so they gave us this rags-to-riches pretender instead.
Best case scenario
The Clippers are nursing Leonard through a relatively healthy season. Harden turns back the clock, operating as an offensive hub, serving Leonard or carrying the load in his absence. Role players line up behind them. Ivica Zubac comes out in full force, protecting the rim on one end and finishing around it on the other. Head coach Tyronn Lue pulls out what he usually does from a roster — more than the sum of its parts — and the Clippers enter the playoffs a spirited first-round opponent (with a second-round ceiling).
If everything falls apart
Leonard’s chronic knee pain never subsides. Harden is trying to do too much, and it’s taking its toll on his aging hamstrings. They lose the rest of the roster, and even Lue can’t convince them there’s anything to play for. The Intuit Dome is empty. They are lottery bound, with the Oklahoma City Thunder holding the rights to their draft pick. And they are looking at the prospects of paying Leonard and Harden an additional $86 million for the 2025-26 campaign, when OKC also has the right to their option.
A fancy spin
Zubac is the sleeper I love in this squad. He is an underrated big man who has built a strong relationship with Harden. Zubac had the 3rd most assists by Harden last year despite his scoring numbers dropping to his lowest numbers since 2011-12 and a majority of those dimes coming from passes near the rim and from 4-to-14 feet, which speaks to Zu’s effectiveness. The Clippers’ frontcourt depth is limited, so he could be one of the better centers available after the ninth round.
Leonard’s knee is already a concern that needs to be managed. Leonard has first-round upside when healthy(ish), but the injury concerns have caused me to drop him to the fourth round in my rankings. — And Titus
schedule
The latest on Leonard prompted winners to write off future odds for the Clippers. For good reason.
