Phoenix Suns vs. LA Clippers: 3 bold predictions and a series pick

Bold prediction No. 3: This will be the last of this LA Clippers core

This is an interesting playoff run for the LA Clippers. This is year 5 of the Kawhi-PG era in LA and this will be their fourth playoff run (they didn’t qualify last season as Kawhi missed all of last season with a knee injury). If the Clippers end up losing in this series, that would mean they have only made the conference finals once in four playoff runs and have been knocked out in the first round twice.

In short, that’s not a ton of playoff success for a team that was hoping to win NBA Championships when this duo was assembled. And if the Clippers do lose in this series, I predict there is going to be some sort of roster shakeup for the team this offseason. And considering their contract status, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Clippers ended up trading Kawhi and/or PG.

Both are essentially expiring contracts heading into next season and I’m not sure the Clippers want to head into next year with the possibility of losing both Kawhi and PG for nothing after the season. Maybe they get re-signed to contract extensions but considering their lack of success and injury history, I’d have a hard time believing that will be the end game this offseason.

Maybe I’m wrong?