“ I think almost everyone will come back. The fact that I am extending it gives us a chance to sign all these players. » Thus expressed Kawhi Leonard when extending with the Clippers for 153 million dollars over three years. We were getting closer to mid-January, at the heart of a sequence where all the lights seemed green for Californians.
Four months later, the atmosphere has changed in Los Angeles. Deprived of most of Kawhi Leonard's time to finish the season and in the playoffs, the Clippers were eliminated last night, in the first round against the Mavs. A second exit in a row at this stage for a team supposed to aim for the top step every year.
A question will now agitate the leaders of the franchise: should we continue to bet on this group plagued, year after year, by injuries which thwart its ambitions? According to information from The Athletic, The answer is yes. The franchise reportedly intends to re-sign both Paul George and James Harden. And this is considering that a team built around Kawhi Leonard must have as much elite talent as possible to try to mitigate this injury factor.
The Californian positioning is based in particular on this two-month sequence, between December 2023 and February 2024. After the difficult start of this James Harden version of the team, the Clippers have thrived with 26 victories in 31 games. “ It was a healthy version of us “, notes Paul George, who also bases his optimism on this. It should be remembered that the Leonard – George – Harden – Russell quartet played 27 matches over this period.
Paul George advocates continuity
Hence this desire for continuity displayed by Paul Goerge himself, at the end of Game 6 last night. “ If you look at the teams still in the running, they've been together for a few years. So continuity has always been key and gives teams the best chance, when the guys are used to each other, there is chemistry. We have to go through the season learning to play together, to adjust to each other. This is what we had this year », Judges the winger.
The latter imagines continuing the adventure with the others. The challenge is to know at what price. While the player has an option of around $49 million, which he is not expected to activate, the two sides already tried to negotiate an extension last February. The Clippers believed he would be willing to accept a contract similar to the one they made with Kawhi Leonard in order to alleviate as much pressure as possible on them.
With over $200 million, they already had the second-largest payroll in the league behind the Warriors. Things look even more complicated with James Harden at the end of his contract in the balance. Will the Clippers manage to find common ground after the bearded man left the Sixers, disappointed at not having been rewarded for his past financial “sacrifice”?
Finally, what about the case of Russell Westbrook, who, despite his poor performance against Dallas, would undoubtedly like to see his salary (only $3.8 million this season) go up. The offseason is not going to be easy for a franchise that wants, at the same time, to avoid being sanctioned for its big expenses…
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Kawhi Leonard | 68 | 34.3 | 52.5 | 41.7 | 88.5 | 1.2 | 4.9 | 6.1 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 23.7 |
| Paul George | 74 | 33.8 | 47.1 | 41.3 | 90.7 | 0.5 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 3.5 | 2.1 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 22.6 |
| James Harden | 72 | 34.3 | 42.8 | 38.1 | 87.8 | 0.5 | 4.7 | 5.1 | 8.5 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 16.6 |
| Norman Powell | 76 | 26.2 | 48.6 | 43.5 | 83.1 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 13.9 |
| Ivica Zubac | 68 | 26.4 | 64.9 | 0.0 | 72.3 | 2.9 | 6.3 | 9.2 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 11.7 |
| Russell Westbrook | 68 | 22.5 | 45.4 | 27.3 | 68.8 | 1.4 | 3.7 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 11.1 |
| Terance Mann | 75 | 25.0 | 51.5 | 34.8 | 83.2 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 8.8 |
| Bones Hyland | 37 | 14.6 | 38.6 | 32.6 | 78.3 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 6.9 |
| Amir Coffey | 70 | 20.9 | 47.2 | 38.0 | 85.9 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 6.6 |
| Daniel Theis | 59 | 17.1 | 53.6 | 37.1 | 76.0 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 4.1 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 6.3 |
| Mason Plumlee | 46 | 14.7 | 56.9 | 0.0 | 70.7 | 1.3 | 3.8 | 5.1 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 5.3 |
| Bj Boston, Jr. | 32 | 10.8 | 40.4 | 26.9 | 69.7 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 5.2 |
| Kj Martin | 2 | 15.7 | 40.0 | 20.0 | 50.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 5.0 |
| Robert Covington | 3 | 23.1 | 33.3 | 25.0 | 50.0 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 2.3 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 3.0 |
| Nicolas Batum | 3 | 18.0 | 37.5 | 28.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 2.7 |
| Moussa Diabate | 11 | 5.8 | 52.6 | 0.0 | 64.3 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 2.6 |
| Xavier Moon | 14 | 8.5 | 32.6 | 11.8 | 50.0 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 2.4 |
| Kobe Brown | 44 | 9.0 | 41.1 | 29.2 | 50.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 2.0 |
| PJ Tucker | 28 | 15.0 | 35.6 | 36.7 | 100.0 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 1.6 |
| Jordan Miller | 8 | 3.5 | 55.6 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.6 |
| Joshua Primo | 2 | 5.1 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
