Having lost another year of the Leonard-George era due to injury a season ago, the Clippers enter the 2023-24 season at a pivotal junction in their journey in what is set to be their final season at Crypto.com Arena before debuting their new state-of-the-art Inglewood home. In these previews, we will take a look at each team’s key acquisitions, fantasy stars, and predicted finish.
Key Acquisitions
The Clippers come back with largely the same roster that was eliminated by Phoenix in the opening round of last year’s playoffs.
They lost deadline acquisition Eric Gordon who jetted off to the Suns after tax implications made it difficult for the Clippers to bring the former Sixth Man of the Year back but cashed in on Houston’s fire sale to shore up their frontcourt depth in the form of K.J. Martin.
They also used a first round pick on Missouri’s Kobe Brown and a second rounder on Miami’s Jordan Miller.
Chatter surrounding James Harden’s trade saga refuses to go away with the Clippers long seen as the frontrunner to acquire the former MVP should Philadelphia’s front office adhere to his request.
After opting into his $35.6 million player option, the 34-year-old demanded a trade – his third trade request in less than three years – before launching a tirade the way of 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey whilst at a camp in China calling him a “liar” and declaring that he would never again play for him.
A potential Clippers deal would likely include Norman Powell and Marcus Morris Sr. along with a portion of the team’s limited draft capital and perhaps one of Martin, Brown, Miller, Brandon Boston Jr. or Jason Preston.
Even if Harden refuses to report to Philadelphia, Morey will have no issue holding out until midseason for a package he deems more suitable, as he did with Ben Simmons 18 months ago.
Fantasy Stars
Kawhi Leonard (23rd overall, 10th SG/7th SF) and Paul George (30th overall, 12th SG/11th SF/12th PF) are undoubtedly the Clippers engine and hold the key to their championship aspirations.
Leonard last year averaged 23.8 ppg and 6.5 apg on 62.3 TS% in 52 regular season outings whilst George put up 23.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg, and 5.1 apg on 58.8 TS% in 56 starts.
George, however, was unavailable for the Clippers’ first round playoff exit whilst Leonard lasted just two of the games before tearing his meniscus.
Projected Finish
At their best, the Clippers are on par with many of the West’s top dogs, but health has proven to be a frustrating characteristic of the Leonard-George era.
Leonard has appeared in just 161 of the team’s 309 regular season games since his arrival ahead of the 2019-20 season whilst George has appeared in 189.
Their winning percentage with both on the floor is .703 which drops to .628 in games only Leonard appeared in and .549 in games only George appeared in.
Avoiding the play-in should be realistic goal for the Clips even if Leonard and George again limp their way through the regular season health-wise but, at this point in the timeline, the duo needs to find a way to be healthy for a quartet of playoff series.
