Tucker is about to play, and the Clippers have a championship lineup! George may leave the team this summer, and the championship decision is to stay
On February 10, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued. For the Los Angeles Clippers, nothing was expected during this year's trade day. With the acquisition of Harden, their record has proven that the current roster is enough to challenge for a championship. There is no need to rebuild the roster, as the risk of restructuring will be greater. PJ Tucker, who has been rumored, has not been sent away or bought out, and remains in Los Angeles to help the Clippers compete for a championship. Next, the only way for the Clippers to strengthen is to find the right players from the buyout market.
The loss to the Pelicans in the last game will not have any effect on the Clippers. Because everyone knows that the loss is just a matter of bad hands of a few stars, and it is not a matter of strength. The next game against the Pistons will be a big win and get back on winning track. Tucker is about to play, and the Clippers have a championship lineup! George may leave the team this summer, and the championship decision is to stay.
After the trade deadline, Tucker posted a note: It's all a joke. To be honest, for a player with a strong sense of competition and competitiveness, it is a big blow to not be able to play all the time. Previously, Tucker had been pushing the team to trade him to a competitive team that could play. Unfortunately, it didn't work out, but Tucker won't be looking for a buyout because he doesn't want to give up his $11.5 million salary next season.
Just today, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue mentioned Tucker in an interview: We all like Tucker to stay, he's very competitive, so he's frustrated because he can't play, and everybody wants to play. Tucker is going to be fine, he's going to get his chance. Since there is no trade, the Clippers will put Tucker in the rotation next to prepare for the playoffs.
Clippers reporter Law Murray revealed that team management still believes that Tucker can contribute to the playoffs, and he is willing to guard against players like Jokic and Zion. At the same time, Clippers player Powell also said in an interview with reporters that Tucker is a locker room leader, he will always help us improve our defense, and he will probably play after the All-Star break. In fact, this is also a signal that Tucker will be on the playoff squad.
In this way, the Clippers' championship lineup this year is basically finalized. The starting five Tigers will not change, Harden, Mann, George, Leonard, Zubac. In the bench lineup, Wei Shao, Powell, and Theis are rotated regularly, and Coffey has been good on both offensive and defensive ends recently, and will get some playing time. The next thing is the determination of the 10th person, and from the current situation, it is Tucker. The 10-man rotation is the team of the Clippers to win the championship this year.
With Leonard's contract extension, George became the most volatile factor for the Clippers. Previously, it had been rumored that the Philadelphia 76ers would pursue George this summer. Judging from the actual situation of the 76ers, they do have all the conditions. First, the chips, according to salary expert Bobby Marks, the 76ers have five tradeable first-round picks and about $60 million in salary space. The second is status, which will have more shots with the 76ers than with the Clippers. According to Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer, there are growing rumors that not only are the 76ers (with plenty of salary headroom this summer) eyeing George, but George himself wants to return to the Pacers with Haliburton and Siakam.
At the moment, the only factor that decides whether George will stay or not is to win the championship. If the Clippers can win the championship, George will accept a possible four-year, $233 million contract. If he fails to win a championship, he may leave the Clippers for an Eastern Conference team this summer.