Los Angeles Clippers
While it sounds crazy to say, going “all-in” and trading for James Harden may be the only move that could end up in the Los Angeles Clippers winning an NBA title over the next few years. No disrespect to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, as they are two of the greatest two-way players in the NBA right now, but it is the rest of the roster that is a problem for the Clippers.
Lou Williams, Patrick Beverley, Marcus Morris and Serge Ibaka are all in the back-halves of their careers and do not present the best chance for Los Angeles to win a championship. Losing Montrezl Harrell, a young and proven center, to the Lakers definitely hurts the Clippers championship chances and pours a little bit of salt in the wound of the Clippers being the Lakers’ “little brother.”
Bringing in James Harden to pair with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George not only makes this team a championship contender, but makes them one of the best offensive teams in the NBA. Much like Harden, when Kawhi and PG13 get going, they are virtually unstoppable on the court. Just imagine what this team would be like with all three of them together.
The Clippers have to take this opportunity into serious consideration because as a franchise, they have aging veteran players and virtually no draft picks over the course of the next several years. There are no opportunities that present themselves for Los Angeles to build a young core for the future and as a result, they must go “all-in” on winning a championship, no matter the cost.
They have invested over $300M in this team over the course of the next few seasons and if they have any hopes of winning a championship and representing a crowded Western Conference in the NBA Finals, they have to bring in a third superstar. They are already paying a lot of money to “contend” with the team they have and it earned them an exit in the Western Conference Semi-Finals last year.
For a team that has never made the Western Conference Finals in the history of the franchise and expects to be a legit championship contender, they need to take every opportunity that presents itself to them and James Harden potentially being available is that opportunity.
