This is post 2 of 9. For the rest of my Team Free Agency Questions, click here!
The Clippers have a chance to change the entire landscape of the NBA this offseason – and I don’t say that lightly. The Warriors are depleted, they could lose two of their biggest stars to free agency and Curry and Draymond are a year older. The west is more vulnerable than it has been in four years and every team who has been waiting for the Warriors to break up see this next year as their opportunity to strike.
The Jazz already did that last week when they traded for Mike Conley, the Rockets are trying all that they can to get Jimmy Butler despite the obvious chemistry issues that are inevitable with a Butler-Paul-Harden locker room.
In the middle of all of this chaos is the Los Angeles Clippers. As a team with about $54 million in cap space, they have the ability to potentially land two max superstars in free agency. If they can manage to land even just one, their team will become the favorite to come out of the Western Conference in May.
So basically, I have one two-part question for them, but it’s a big one: who will they land in free agency and what will it mean for the entire west? I sort of answered the second part already. If they get Kawhi/Durant and Brogdon/Harris (yes Tobias again!) then this team will be the favorites to win the title. I have total confidence in this statement because of who they still have under contract. They have Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, SGA, Landry Shamet, and Danilo Gallinari all for at least another year – two of whom are on rookie deals. If they can somehow offload Gallinari (which isn’t impossible to imagine), then the Clippers will have enough to land both Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard which will change everything. There are also rumors, according to Woj, that Klay would consider the Clippers if the Warriors done give him the max to start free agency.
Any combination of those players would make them title contenders again and give them a team that rivals their Blake/Jordan/CP3 teams from a few years ago.
So which of these players fit best into their system? Pretty much every free agent does.
The best part about the Clippers' cap situation is that they don't need to settle for only one star like the Lakers or Celtics. They can team up two max free agents to play together. i.e.: they could get both Butler and Leonard together on the same team. All of the sudden that would give them the best one-two punch at small-forward and shooting-guard since LeBron and Wade teamed up in Miami (yes Golden State was incredible, but Klay played off Durant and doesn't handle the ball as much as Wade did in Miami - both Leonard and Butler would initiate the offense for the Clippers).
Also one potential move to look out for: don't be surprised if Tobias Harris signs with the Clippers even after they traded him last season. He is familiar with the town after he was traded there from Detroit in exchange for Blake Griffin and others in 2018. He has an infatuation for LA and the Clippers can also him the full max because they have the cap space to do so when other teams may not be willing to.
Overall, Jimmy Butler would be great for them, Al Horford would be great, and even D’Angelo Russell would play well there - also why not two of those three?
From every report that I’ve seen, the Clippers have their sights set on Kawhi Leonard and they seem confident that they’ll land him – although if you ask the Lakers they sound just as confident. Anyway, unless the Clippers strike out (which seems nearly impossible), it is a great time to be a Clippers fan.
Is it a great time to be Lakers’ fan too? Well maybe…let’s find out with the Lakers’ 2019 NBA Free Agency outlook!