Los Angeles Clippers: They better be right…
The LA Clippers are doing things their own way this year and I can’t really remember a team that so openly didn’t care about the regular season before they even won a title. By the way, that’s not a knock on the Clippers either. I actually think with the way their roster is constructed, specifically at the top with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, this is the strategy that makes the most sense for them…but they better be right.
With the way the West is starting to shape up, it wouldn’t be out of the question to see the Clippers slide into a middle seed. The Nuggets, Jazz, and Rockets all seem to be starting to heat up, and once the Mavericks get Luka Doncic back they’ll be in the mix as well.
I still think the best version of the Clippers is better than any other team’s best version and we’ll see that in the playoffs. But if they fall to a middle seed and get bounced earlier than expected they better be prepared to answer for a regular season that has been much maligned for “load management.”
Los Angeles Lakers: An Andre Iguodala buyout
The Grizzlies have been pretty adamant that they don’t want to buy out Iguodala’s contract, and why would they? If they can get someone to give up assets in an Iguodala trade then they should obviously take that option. That being said, it’s definitely not a certainty that a contender is going to want to give up anything of value for Iguodala given his injury history and the fact that he hasn’t played since last season, making him an enticing buyout target after the trade deadline.
With his unique skill set, Iguodala fits with just about any team in the league, but his fit with the Lakers would be especially perfect. From the Lakers’ point of view, their biggest roadblock to the NBA finals is their roommates in the Staples Center who happen to have two of the best wing scorers in the league with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
One of the big issues with this Lakers roster is that they don’t have too many guys who can guard scoring wings like that, so if they can put Iguodala on Leonard and/or George for 15 minutes per game in a playoff series it would be invaluable. Combine that with his playmaking ability and gobs of big-game experience, and you have a player that fits in perfectly with what the Lakers want to do.