2016-17 Finish: 17-65

Season Highlight:

Staying the course, developing talent and securing a couple top 5 picks. I mean that was the obvious plan and direction from the get go wasn’t it? The GM has stayed patient and not given into snide remarks and outside pressures to rush the process and is now bearing the fruits of his labour. Guys like Booker and Capela taking that next step I’m sure gives management a lot of confidence in their master plan at work.

Season Lowlight:

You could argue the product they have put out there is sub par at best even being 8 games worse then what they were last season. That’s kind of the point though but credit to the fans for sticking in there and believing. Besides that it was a little worrying to see basically no progression at all for Russell and perhaps that was the reason they went after Smith. 

Best Trade:

The LA Clippers send  Boris Diaw to the Boston Celtics. 
The Boston Celtics send a  1st-Rounder (Bos) and 2nd-Rounder (Bos) to the LA Clippers. The LA Clippers send a 2nd-Rounder (Bos), 2nd-Rounder (LAC) and 2nd-Rounder (Chi) to the Boston Celtics. 

Basically flipping the corpse of Diaw and his expensive contract for a future first. Have to give the Clips credit for not just playing dead and letting the season pass them by; It’s moves like this that an active GM has to pull off to instil a sense of direction in the franchise. 

Worst Trade:

The LA Clippers send  Frank Kaminsky to the Portland Trail Blazers. 
The Portland Trail Blazers send a  1st-Rounder (Hou) to the LA Clippers. 

Frank the Tank still has potential to be a starting calibre big in this league, finding his way to Golden State he had a huge series against the Kings and is showing glimpses of being a real problem. In a vacuum giving up a promising young big for a mid-late first COULD be questionable… That being said the HOU pick was used to obtain a future Portland first so all’s well that ends well.

Other Notable Trades:

The LA Clippers send  Alec Burks and Jonah Bolden to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Oklahoma City Thunder send  Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to the LA Clippers. 

Bringing in some solid defence and length at the SF position while sending out injury prone Burks and Jonah is a solid move.

The LA Clippers send a  1st-Rounder (Hou) and 1st-Rounder (Atl) to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Philadelphia 76ers send a  1st-Rounder (Por) to the LA Clippers. 

Makes a lot of sense. Consolidate assets and move back a year. It is a bit of a gamble but the odds are probably more stacked in the favour of the Clips here.

The LA Clippers send  DeMarre Carroll to the Orlando Magic. The Orlando Magic send  Cody Zeller and K.J. McDaniels to the LA Clippers. 

Carroll has essentially fallen off the preverbal cliff as of late and makes his contract almost immovable. Zeller still shows promise at least to be a solid back up big.

Free Agency:

All quite on the Western front…

I doubt the Clippers will have a big hand in FA if at all. They’ll only just fit in the guys they’ve just drafted as it’s expected all of them will find minutes as the coaching staff like to rotate their players. Maybe a possible move to consolidate will see the Clips take on some minimum contract type veterans to teach these young bloods and fill in the gaps. They’re deep at every position so perhaps a third string big man or PG wouldn’t go astray. 

Star:

DAngelo Russell- 17.5 PPG, 5.5 APG, 3.4 RPG Shooting 43/36/75. 

Realistically he was better last year but injuries had plagued Russell last season only seeing him play 61 games and seeing his minutes drop from 35 to 28. Ultimately it came as good timing for the Clipper franchise in their lottery bound aspirations but I would expect DAngelo to come back hard and really start showing signs of being a leader. 

Goat:

The Clips ping pong balls… Let’s be honest, the Clips cleaned up in the past draft securing two budding stars and a bunch of promising rotation players. They basically drafted a new starting 5 roster… I’m reaching here but if the point was to outright tank and have as many swings at it as possible, having two high % lottery picks and not getting in the top two would be a slight disappointment. That being said this draft was so deep the guys they picked up would probably go top 2-3 in any other draft in the last 10 years. 

Draft Grades (from the draft insiders):

Round 1: Josh Jackson (Pick 3), Dennis Smith (Pick 4), John Collins (Pick 14), OG Anunoby (Pick 22)

Grade:  A+ (merencio grade), A+ (nenjabin grade)

A’s all round. Back to back picks is a luxury and Josh Jackson is the perfect fit for this team, he’ll bring a defensive prowess that is lacking and is an underrated playmaker that will compliment the score first heavy backcourt. Dennis is explosive and has great feel for the game as another great playmaker looking to make is mark. 

The Future:

Newly acquired Tristan Thompson is the wily veteran on this team at 26 just to put it in perspective. The average age of the current roster is 22 not including the group of youngsters they’re about to take on board. They’re still a couple years off from being at least a true contender in the West... If they stay the course that is. With such patience and commitment to the rebuild the Clips have accrued so many valuable assets that a move could easily be made to bring in a couple pieces to really elevate this young core and see them climbing up the ranks. 

Does the acquisition of Dennis Smith Jnr mean we see competition for the starting PG position? They have conveniently stacked themselves with wings while Booker, Hood, MKG, Jackson, Gordon and Anunoby will all be competing for minutes. Handy problem to have...

Upcoming Free Agents:

None… Every kid is locked up for years to come. Sit back and enjoy the carnage Andrew.