Los Angeles Clippers: Let’s not crown the Clippers just yet

Even after adding Kawhi Leonard and Paul George during free agency, the Los Angeles Clippers are still not a championship lock

Apparently, the Los Angeles Clippers are already the best team in the league, or at least that’s what has crossed the news feed a few times. In an unexpected swing of events this summer, the Clippers reaped the benefits of a friendship between Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, with some help from the Oklahoma City Thunder of course.

Everyone knew it was likely that Leonard would sign with LA, but not a single rumor about him being joined by Paul George came about beforehand.

In no way is it a hardship to add two of the top 4 wings in the NBA to the same team. Not only are both of these guys lethal offensively and some of the best ISO players in the game, but they’re both elite defenders when healthy too.

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You could easily make the argument of “what more do you need?” when two players of this caliber join forces, but we all know it’s not that simple. Because of the complexity involved in actually making a run and several holes in this roster, some concerns still remain.

It was a great move and all-time surprise one to land PG13 along with him, and one that every franchise would make. I just have some questions though. Some analysts have been quick to crown this team a title contender or even the best in the league during preseason rankings. Sure, they could be really good. To be blunt though, who exactly is going to help these guys?

They have an elite coach, an elite front office, and two elite players. That’s all great, and it’s a very special starting place to build something amazing with. However, that doesn’t mean it will automatically reap you a title or even a WCF win. The rest of this roster is kind of questionable to say the least.

I can already hear all of the Lou Williams–Montrezl Harrell remarks now. Okay yes, Lou is an elite 6th man and definitely a potent offensive option for them even as he ages, but do you really want him as your third wheel?

Montrezl has very little playoff experience, and when he did play he was underutilized. He could definitely garner minutes, but as a legit center? Actually does this team even have a real starting caliber 5? You’ve got Harrell and Ivica Zubac, who is inexperienced and they essentially shut down for the Warriors series this year.

Outside of that issue, is Paul George going to play power forward? Could we like, maybe not do that? If it isn’t PG then what are they left with there? JayMychal Green, okay that works fine if he’s a plug and play guy on a team with plenty of offensive options, but that’s not this team. The small forward and shooting guard spots are locks for me, obviously you put Paul at the 3 and let Kawhi play some guard since he’s entirely capable.

Point guard though? I like Patrick Beverly a lot, but as your starting point? I think this teams starting 5 will be just fine offensively even with PB and no legit center in it, simply because of the two stars. What I’d be concerned about is the lineup switching, lack of a big man, and lack of point guard depth.

Don’t get me wrong, this team can tread water or even be above .500 if one of the big names gets hurt. But the usage that these two guys are going to have to see when available may be taxing on them especially considering past injury history. The bottom line is they’re going to be very reliant upon Kawhi and PG, which will be fun to watch for us, but probably mean no championship this season for Clippers fans.

This is a very rare starting point though. When you’ve assembled the executives and coaching that this team has along with two cornerstone players like this, you’re going in the right direction. The moves to acquire these two were late in free agency and they also sacrificed draft picks to do so, so depth was understandably hard to come by and not as much of a priority.

I believe they’ll likely continue to build out the roster to make this a more well rounded team throughout the next two off seasons, and we shouldn’t be surprised if they compete for or claim a title within the next three years.