preface:
Leonard was accidentally injured in the Western Conference semifinals last season, and his cruciate ligament fracture was detected after the game, so Leonard was reimbursed for the regular season this season. This season George's single core team has been very difficult, but in December of this year, George's elbow joint injury, has been in a state of truce, some media said that in the future George may choose to undergo surgical treatment, once the surgical treatment, George basically season reimbursement. Now it seems that the Clippers' second half of the season is likely to have no double stars, so where is the Clippers now?
Give up the game and choose to swing it out
The Clippers are now seventh in the West and are a play-off-level team, but without a double star, the Clippers can't go far even if they get into the playoffs. In fact, the Clippers can follow the warriors' thinking in the past two years and choose to give up the season in the case of the main injury reimbursement. For example, in the 2019-2020 season, the Golden State Warriors lost Curry, Green, and Thompson, which made them completely lose their competitiveness in the regular season, and also won the second place in the West, and then selected Wiseman.
Last season, the Warriors failed to make the playoffs again, they selected Cuminga with the No. 7 pick, these are very good potential new stars, why the Warriors' record is second in the league this season, the young people play crucial. Even if Curry is old and uncompetitive in the future, the Warriors still have the cornerstone players of the future. But the Clippers are not warriors, the reason why the Warriors have so many signings, is also the result of their trade with Russell, but the Clippers in the process of changing George, the draft picks are given to the Wizards, which also makes them do not have a first-round draft pick in the future. But this does not mean that the Clippers can not be messed up, because there are still a lot of high-quality chips in the team can be exchanged for draft picks, such as Kennard and Morris Jr., who have been in a big state recently, these players can be used as chips for the exchange of draft picks, and his strength is also good, and he can completely change the first round that the Clippers want.
If you choose to mess up, then the Clippers will have to find ways to lose more, in fact, losing is much simpler than winning, and losing is definitely an easier thing for the Clippers. However, once they lose too much, they are afraid that the young players of the team will adapt to the state of losing and will not recover from then on. But the Clippers have such a good coach as Tyrone Lue, with him in the players' mentality will not change, Tylen Lu's chicken soup level is obvious to all in the league, the Clippers' group of people are not without losing, so if the coaching staff chooses to let them mess up, then the players will accept it.
Never give up and create a winning culture
The biggest impression of the Clippers this season is tenacity, and the Clippers can turn the game over even when they are behind by a large margin. In fact, why the Clippers have been slow to make a difference in the playoffs over the years is that the team is far from creating a winning culture. With Tyrone Lue coming to the team, the Clippers' winning culture was gradually established.
The Clippers still beat the Jazz without Leonard last season and played six games against the Suns in the Western Conference Finals, relying on the team's winning culture of not giving up and not abandoning. Falling behind 2-0 in two consecutive rounds and reversing, the first team in NBA history to achieve such a great feat, which shows that the Clippers are really a team that is good at reversing. If this season even in the absence of superstars, the Clippers can still reach the playoffs, what a great encouragement for the players, there are young people like Mann and Boston, no one wants to stay in a tough team, no one wants to be called a soft egg by the outside world, maybe this season's experience can set the tone for the Clippers' young people, maybe wait until next season when the Clippers double star returns, the Clippers with a winning culture will win the NBA championship. For many ambitious people, it is better not to be realistic than to pursue their ideals, and the Clippers are such a team?
Break up the double star and take the initiative to change
The Clippers double star has been in the team for two years, but the team's biggest breakthrough in two years is the Western Conference Finals, the team owner Ballmer has also spent a lot of money for the Clippers, he has been looking forward to the team to win the championship, as the double star suffers from injuries, winning the championship seems to be a distant thing. So why not take the initiative and trade one of the players to form a new squad? Leonard just signed a new contract with the Clippers this summer, but with a serious injury like the cruciate ligament, and a serious injury history during the Spurs era, will Leonard remain efficient and competitive after his comeback? For George, his coming to the Clippers was itself Leonard's recruitment of Durant without results, and then he could only retreat to the second choice of Paul George. He is not the first choice of the team himself, and now that he has suffered from injuries, he will certainly become the number one person in the team's purges.
Although the two cores of the Clippers are forward players, the two people are indeed deeply troubled by injuries, and if they can't stay healthy, even superstars, they can't get the trust of the outside world, so it may be a good plan to take the two apart, but will the Clippers management do such a thing? Once this is done, the management of a certain team will be as bad as Thomas Jr.!
epilogue:
The three roads in front of the Clippers seem simple, but in fact they are very difficult. But as I said, maybe people will eventually recognize reality, but who doesn't want to live romantically and pursue ideals? For the fans, we don't want to see a Clippers that voluntarily give up, and we hope that this resilient civilian Clippers can stick with it, even if they can't win the championship, but no one will forget them. But what about management? Can you also abandon reality and pursue your ideals?