The LA Clippers have eyes on returning to contention in 2022-23, after making a big splash ahead of the trade deadline.
On the surface, you may look at the trade that the LA Clippers made Friday afternoon and scoff at them actually trying to make a push for the playoffs when it’s highly unlikely that Kawhi Leonard will return this season and there’s no guarantee that Paul George will be back either.
However, I can’t help look at the trade that they pulled off with the Portland Trail Blazers and think how this front office is angling toward returning to contention during the 2022-23 season.
When it comes to this season, it’s hard to think how adding Norman Powell and Robert Covington will move the needle or help them make a significant jump in the standings. Though, next season, perhaps when this team is completely healthy, it’s hard not to see the Clippers make a return to title contention in the Western Conference.
Officially, the Clippers traded Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, Keon Johnson, and a 2025 second-round pick to the Trail Blazers in exchange for Powell and Covington.
Heading into next season, the Clippers will have a core of Kawhi, PG, Powell, Covington, Marcus Morris, Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard, Terance Mann. That’s one heck of a top eight, in addition to what the team could still add during the offseason.
Many will view the Clippers’ trade as perhaps a ploy to secure a playoff spot this season. And if PG does make a return to the lineup, perhaps that’s something that very well will happen. Although, there’s no question that this is a move with an eye toward next season.
After losing Kawhi during the playoffs last season kind of nuked this year. From the start of this season, the Clippers weren’t operating from a place of contention. This was always viewed as somewhat of a lost season.
But this team and front office has done a great job of taking advantage of the opportunity and actually making this season productive, even when it inevitably ends in the first round of the playoffs (or before).
The Clippers made a major move. But the true dividends of it may not appear on the bottom line until the 2022-23 season.