5 Playoff Teams That Won’t Win An NBA Championship Right Now

Los Angeles Clippers

Could it be said any clearer that the current core hasn’t worked for the Los Angeles Clippers?

Sure, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin both sustained injuries during their series against the Portland Trail Blazers, but the same story has been told many different ways: the Clippers have a ceiling at the Western Conference semifinals.

With three players encompassing more than $64 million of the salary cap, it remains very difficult to add quality pieces. Add in J.J. Redick‘s $7 million and the Clippers have less than $21 million to field the rest of their team.

With the re-signing of DeAndre Jordan and the dependance on Chris Paul, packaging Blake Griffin for quality contributors and draft picks makes a ton of sense.

Moving him to a place like Boston in order to get the third overall pick, Avery Bradley or Jae Crowder and other major assets would help the Clippers get over the hump.

This is all in my opinion of course, but given Griffin’s struggles as a defender and spacing the floor next to Jordan, the Clippers may be best served moving him for quality defenders and shooters to surround a Paul-Jordan pick and roll.

With the strength in the Western Conference, the Clippers must surround the pieces that are most effective to them playing basketball at a high level. Griffin has expanded his game greatly and become a legitimate top five power forward, but he’s best served on another team.

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