Next Season, It Will Be Championship-or-Bust for These Clippers

The end was inevitable.

A breakup might not be.

The Clippers’ season wrapped Wednesday, courtesy of a 136–130 loss to the Suns. Devin Booker had 41 points … through three quarters. He finished with 47. Kevin Durant had 31. Chris Paul, the Point God the Clips shipped out six years ago, had 15 points and seven assists. A 19–3 L.A. run in the fourth quarter made things interesting before Phoenix tightened up in the last two minutes and slammed the door to close out the first-round series, 4–1.

“It was tough for us to slow them down,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “We just ran up against a really good opponent.”

For the fourth straight season, the Kawhi Leonard/Paul George-led Clippers ended the season without a trip to the Finals. That’s largely because for the third-straight season, Los Angeles finished it without at least one of its two superstars in the lineup. George’s year ended in March when he wrenched his knee against Oklahoma City. Leonard made it through the first two games of the Suns series before his knee forced him to shut it down.

“It’s super frustrating,” George told reporters before the game Tuesday. “To put so much into the season, put so much into this group and the organization, to put so much into making a team that could compete and again, year after year, just getting zapped by injuries, it’s frustrating.”

It’s easy to see why the Clippers believe in the Leonard-George partnership. George averaged 23.8 points this season. He shot 37.1% from three-point range. Leonard was one of the NBA’s best players after the All-Star break, averaging 27.1 points while shooting 47% from deep. Both remain elite defenders. But George missed 31 games this season. Leonard sat for 33. L.A. was 24–14 when Leonard and George played together, but 20–24 when they didn’t.

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“That wasn’t the reason I came here,” George said. “I know it wasn’t the reason [Kawhi] came here. We obviously had big plans to win and do something special for Clipper Nation. But I’m a big believer of everything happens for a reason, and you just pick up the pieces and try to make a hand out of what you dealt with.”

Frankly, the Clippers may not have another choice. Leonard will be 32 next season. George is a week away from turning 33. Both are under contract for $45 million next season with player options for the final year. Neither has proven he can stay on the floor. No one in the NBA is untradable, but it’s unlikely L.A. could move Leonard or George and hope to get equal value in return.

They will be back, but who will support them? The Clippers, who shook up the roster before the trade deadline, have seven players making between $11 and $21 million, movable contracts by today’s NBA standards. Norman Powell was one of the NBA’s top sixth men last season and excelled in an enhanced role in the playoffs. He’ll be back. Terance Mann is a useful part of the lineup. Bones Hyland is a cheap one. The Clippers also have the 30th pick in the draft to work with.

Then, there is Russell Westbrook. The Suns series doubled as a Westbrook appreciation week. Durant, who has had his conflicts with Westbrook, said Westbrook’s stint with the Clippers “is showing everybody who he really is.” Paul said Westbrook’s critics “are the people who don't know basketball and don't know what it's like to compete.”

It will be interesting to see what happens with Westbrook. There is no question he salvaged his career with the Clippers. He was steadier. More efficient. He energized the locker room. After an ugly start, the on-court chemistry with Leonard and George improved dramatically. But Westbrook is 34. He made plays in Game 1, but was 3-for-19 from the floor. In Game 5, he was 3-for-18. And as well as Westbrook fits with this L.A. team, he may want more money than the Clippers could be willing to pay him.

“He’s played himself back into the Russ that he was, that we all knew that he still has,” George said. “Definitely going to be some decisions [for Westbrook]. I definitely vouched for him to be here. I’m definitely vouching for him to come back.”

Ultimately, the Clippers’ fate is tied to Leonard and George. “The biggest thing is health,” Powell said. George downplayed a championship-or-bust question Tuesday, but next season is championship or bust. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer sat tensely courtside Tuesday. The $300-plus million the Clips spent on payroll and luxury tax payments may be a rounding error to Ballmer (the U.S. businessman’s estimated net worth is $83 billion, per Forbes), but the enthusiastic owner has to be growing impatient. He has deeply invested in payroll and in the front office and coaching staff. He can’t be thrilled that the team the Clippers share a hallway with will be playing longer than them in these playoffs.

Tuesday’s defeat was disappointing but not unexpected, and not the end of the line for this version of the Clippers. Lue said he would be back. The core of this team will, too. They have had four years to make something of this expensive roster.

It’s likely they will get one more.