An early summer 2024 thread

[Captain Ballmer]

If Paul George would sign for 3 years/$100mm I'm pretty sure there'd be a list of teams out the door for that, whether it be teams with cap space now or teams that would make space for such a contract. Statistically there's been little falloff, you're probably going to get 22 and 6 for the next 2 years at pretty high efficiency. Definitely not a 1A but a #2 or #3 depending on the situation.

He's still effective going to the rim, but not pure iso's where he gets the ball, sizes up the D (which allows the D to get set as well), then try to beat his man and then 1 or 2 other guys at the rim. When he gets the ball off secondary action and drives quick, he is still really good at using his size and long arms to finish at the rim.

One of his big strengths right now is simply that he's going to be available, which is why he's going to get more than $30M per year. With Maxey's low cap hold, this is their one big chance to make a big acquisition that is going to set their table for the next 3-4 years. Ironically trading for Harden enables the Sixers to make a go at PG and will drive up his price. He is absolutely going to get no less money or years than Kawhi IMO for this reason, wherever he ends up. If Sixers can't pull a trade for someone else, Embiid/Maxey/PG would be a pretty damn good core.

This Kyrie got 3 year/126 Million extension form Mavs last season when he was 31 years old. 42 piece a year.

PG is 34 years old, clearly outplayed by him. If there are max offers for him, I would say it's agents talk.

Best option for Clippers, he take his 48,7 million option this year and get his extension like 2 year 70 million from his new team. Total makes approximately 3 year 120. Clips might get some thing for him in return like Cp3 to Houston deal in 2017. Everyone happy. Obviously this is a play If Sixers is the decoy, otherwise they are in delusion in making to Finals with him making around 50 per year.

[jengmann3]

Apologies if this has already been covered. Just need to vent it out.

I was pretty disappointed when Stephen A and others said that Kawhi should retire last year. I still think it's a pretty harsh statement. But this is the 4th straight postseason that he has not been able to complete, and the 3rd straight one where he missed a majority of the games. It's not his fault, though I'm not sure if it's a pain tolerance thing, as I still think he didn't look that bad in Game 2. The fact that he had a great stretch during the season and the front office gave him such a lucrative extension is mind boggling. I don't like counting ppl's money and I'm happy for him, but in a salary cap league it's really tough. I dont want him to retire, he's been one of my favorite players in the league. But I don't know how the Clippers continue to build around him. I think it's somewhat insanity. If he was making like 20M and he wasn't a primary option it would be unfortunate but still manageable. So I don't blame PG at all, nor Harden for the loss this series. I'd still want them to come back. Russ was pretty awful, but I think he rushed back from injury. I still wouldn't mind seeing him leave. But I get why ppl get frustrated with sports in general. You get invested in a team, voluntarily spend countless hours watching (that you don't get back btw), looking at articles, posting on forums, and then they can disappoint u. The players may not really be that invested. It's the cost-benefit analysis that I struggle with.lol. I may be done tbh. Until next season.lol.

[Quake Griffin]

The Kawhi era is an abysmal failure. It started as a failure and is ending as a failure.

Put Clipper fans out of their misery.
Rebuild this roster from the ground up

And if that means, opening night in Ingleworld has to have them there, fine. Trade these guys off after our “grand” opening.

[MartinToVaught]

So I don't blame PG at all, nor Harden for the loss this series.

They were both no-shows for the last two games, and most of the series really, and are both expecting max contracts without giving us even half the impact of a max player. They absolutely should get blame with or without Kawhi.

[og15]

The Kawhi era is an abysmal failure. It started as a failure and is ending as a failure.

Put Clipper fans out of their misery.
Rebuild this roster from the ground up

And if that means, opening night in Ingleworld has to have them there, fine. Trade these guys off after our “grand” opening.

It's not realistic. Clippers can't make all the trades necessary in summer to set up that situation. Clippers have some draft picks, but don't control their draft picks due to swaps, so any lottery pick is going to OKC and Clippers would get the worse of the picks.

Clippers best bet is re-signing Harden and George and then waiting for a solid enough trade to recoup assets from Kawhi, Harden and George, yes, all three. History has shown that these "untradeable" contracts end up being quite tradeable.

That's the only way they can actually get a rebuild going, but just not signing guys would be a disaster.

[Quake Griffin]

The Kawhi era is an abysmal failure. It started as a failure and is ending as a failure.

Put Clipper fans out of their misery.
Rebuild this roster from the ground up

And if that means, opening night in Ingleworld has to have them there, fine. Trade these guys off after our “grand” opening.

It's not realistic. Clippers can't make all the trades necessary in summer to set up that situation. Clippers have some draft picks, but don't control their draft picks due to swaps, so any lottery pick is going to OKC and Clippers would get the worse of the picks.

Clippers best bet is re-signing Harden and George and then waiting for a solid enough trade to recoup assets from Kawhi, Harden and George, yes, all three. History has shown that these "untradeable" contracts end up being quite tradeable.

That's the only way they can actually get a rebuild going, but just not signing guys would be a disaster.

Sure thing.

IDC if it’s done that way.
Just get the ball rolling on an exit plan.

If the entire plan is simply “run it back,” that is awful.

[Ballings7]

Gotta make some changes and allow certain people to go.

I don't see Kawhi going anywhere, but still lean towards PG not being here.

If not PG or Harden, they'll still need another third guy.

Russ' may end up staying if he can't get on elsewhere, but can see someone else wanting him in a fresh environment, and maybe even getting moved again if he does.

Would like to see Bones get a chance and really solidfiy himself at backup PG.

Keep T-Mann, Keep Powell, barring something really good.

Harden I think is going to stay and would b surprised if he leaves. I also kind of don't think he has a choice unless he went to Miami maybe and they accepted him (which I doubt would happen).

Need more size and agility upfront past Zubac.

I would keep Theis as a backup big.

Will be interesting to see how stubborn the org. is and if they can see through the lines of what the issues are, and whats feasible to fix.

[wco81]

Doesn't make sense to extend KL but not the others. PG may not be good enough to carry a team in the playoffs but if he walks for nothing, how would the Clippers be better off?

They got Harden relatively cheap but again, he's a potential trade asset. Or maybe not.

Only teams which need a PG and where he would be no more than the #3 option.

[KL2]

Any team willing to trade for Leonard will want to feel him out about playing for them. All Leonard or his representative has to say is that he’ll retire before playing there.

Any team thinking about trading for Harden would be wondering if he’ll quit on the team if it goes south in any way.

PG wants the max and nothing less it seems. The team wants him to take less like Leonard did and I assume Harden will as well. As of now it seems they’re willing to let PG make the call. Who blinks first?

[LamarWho]

Must go this offseason: Russ, PJ Tucker, Plumlee

Put our young players in the rotation instead of playing them 2 games a month.

PG and Harden: I am meh on these 2, but hate to lose PG for nothing. So hopefully some S&T where we can get some young assets.

[Bobbymcgee]

Re-sign PG and Harden since they already re-signed Leonard.

Let Plumlee, Thiess Boston, Diabate, and Moon go as free agents.

Look to extend Zubac, Mann, and maybe Coffey.

Look to trade Westbrook and Tucker if they opt in.

I am guessing Kai Jones will be the backup center next season.

[TrueLAfan]

I am guessing Kai Jones will be the backup center next season.

I think he's going to be given every chance for that. And I'm cool with it. When I look at Kai Jones, I see a grade B Jonathan Isaac. Isaac was/is better but has been dragged down by injuries ... So Isaac is kinda a grade B version of himself at this point. Like Jones, Isaac has had some questionable social media (and general media) moments. And it took Isaac a while to find himself, partly because of those injuries. So the upper ceiling range for Kai is pretty clear.

[madmaxmedia]

At this point, Ballmer might be the biggest problem. His bravado about never rebuilding, never building through the draft and just trying to buy titles is going to keep this franchise stuck in eternal mediocrity until he either changes his mind or sells the team.

Better than the Suns owner but yeah same problem. I think owners with big pockets can underestimate how the CBA can constrain a roster. It feels like a rubber band effect, you can stretch it for awhile but then at one point it is gonna snap back at you.

TBH if Kawhi was simply healthier, we could have rode this core out for another 2-3 years and then started a rebuild after. Then trading for Harden helped the team short-term, but pushed out the reset date another 2 years. At the time I figured one 1st and one swap wasn't that bad, better than giving up two 1sts. But in actually that swap will probably be just as impactful. The difference between say pick #5 and pick #25 is greater than the difference between pick #25 and no pick at all.

[madmaxmedia]

It's such a shame that Russ is literally all thumbs around the rim now. I think I could live with the terrible jumper if he was at least a good finisher, because he's still really good at getting to the cup but just has no touch whatsoever.

[madmaxmedia]

The Kawhi era is an abysmal failure. It started as a failure and is ending as a failure.

Put Clipper fans out of their misery.
Rebuild this roster from the ground up

And if that means, opening night in Ingleworld has to have them there, fine. Trade these guys off after our “grand” opening.

It's not realistic. Clippers can't make all the trades necessary in summer to set up that situation. Clippers have some draft picks, but don't control their draft picks due to swaps, so any lottery pick is going to OKC and Clippers would get the worse of the picks.

Clippers best bet is re-signing Harden and George and then waiting for a solid enough trade to recoup assets from Kawhi, Harden and George, yes, all three. History has shown that these "untradeable" contracts end up being quite tradeable.

That's the only way they can actually get a rebuild going, but just not signing guys would be a disaster.

Sure thing.

IDC if it’s done that way.
Just get the ball rolling on an exit plan.

If the entire plan is simply “run it back,” that is awful.

They will have to say they're running it back at first, in order to sign those guys and sell some tickets at the new place. But then hopefully be working behind the scenes to see what they can get back in a tear down. Not sure when we will be able to trade them, I guess a couple of months into the season?

[Quake Griffin]

It’s amazing to me we drafted Shai and had a chance to draft Michael Porter Jr.

We gave it all up because of MPJ’s back (apparently the Jerome Robinson juice was worth the squeeze) and to make sure we signed Little Mo with the Gimpy Leg.

Sign these guys and deal them at the next trade deadline.

[MartinToVaught]

Better than the Suns owner but yeah same problem.

Ishbia at least has the excuse that he's new to this. Ballmer has owned this team for a decade and is repeating the same mistakes he made with Lob City. Screwing up the exact same way a second time is a sign of a bad owner.

[madmaxmedia]

Better than the Suns owner but yeah same problem.

Ishbia at least has the excuse that he's new to this. Ballmer has owned this team for a decade and is repeating the same mistakes he made with Lob City. Screwing up the exact same way a second time is a sign of a bad owner.

I'd say they both doubled down and lost- Clippers with Harden and Suns with Beal.

[Clemenza]

Better than the Suns owner but yeah same problem.

Ishbia at least has the excuse that he's new to this. Ballmer has owned this team for a decade and is repeating the same mistakes he made with Lob City. Screwing up the exact same way a second time is a sign of a bad owner.

I'd say they both doubled down and lost- Clippers with Harden and Suns with Beal.

Harden wasn't that bad of a move at all plus he plays the point for us which is something we desperately needed. Suns owe Beal $150 million over the next three years and he's the exact same player as Booker. And the too needed a pg in the worst way possible.

[nickhx2]

It's such a shame that Russ is literally all thumbs around the rim now. I think I could live with the terrible jumper if he was at least a good finisher, because he's still really good at getting to the cup but just has no touch whatsoever.

there was a point in game 4 (i think?) that he boffoed an alley oop from harden that, in the past, you could never imagine him screwing up in a million years, and that was when i was like "i think this guy is toast."

because if you can't do that, and you can't shoot, and you are just ok at the rest of the things, what are you really doing overall? it was one thing when we had everyone healthy and our defense was at its peak. but without that...

yeah, i mean, i wasn't surprised to see the report about him being unhappy as soon as the playoffs were over, and my guess is both sides will be mutually happy to move on from each other. we tried, he tried, and things didn't work out for multiple reasons.

i'm gonna guess that the team will also be all too happy to let bones run the 2nd unit, with aspirations as the de facto star of the show as harden/kawhi (and maybe PG) rest and age. and he'll be all too happy to show that he's a real player, as well. i prefer not to predict things because i don't see it as anything except ego-boosting, but i'll just say i won't be surprised if bones shows out next year, nor would i be surprised to see critics going "wElL whY diDn't wE plAY hIm AlL alOng?!?!"