Los Angeles Clippers: 3 big questions heading into 2018-19 NBA season
By Justin Rowan
As the Western Conference continues to improve, the Los Angeles Clippers loom as a dark horse playoff team in 2018-19.
The Los Angeles Clippers found themselves just outside of the playoff race in the 2017-18 season. Now, no longer a team trapped between eras, the Clippers look to return to the playoffs with their 2018-19 campaign.
Injuries and roster turnover were the major stories of last season for the Clips. They helped facilitate Chris Paul‘s decision to join the Houston Rockets in exchange for Patrick Beverley, Montrezl Harrell, Sam Dekker, Darrun Hilliard, DeAndre Liggins, Kyle Wiltjer, 2019 protected first round pick and cash considerations.
However the best player they received in the deal, Beverley, only played 11 games before missing the rest of the season due to knee surgery.
After that point, the last remaining members of the “Lob City” era left town, with Blake Griffin being traded to the Detroit Pistons and DeAndre Jordan signing with the Dallas Mavericks a few months later as a free agent.
The Clippers now enter this season fully healthy and looking to improve upon last year’s record of 42-40. Tobias Harris and possibly Avery Bradley are in contract years, while Bradley joins Danillo Galinari and Beverley as players looking to stay healthy.
In addition to that, the Clippers have two exciting and young rookies in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jerome Robinson.
With this in mind, let’s look at three big questions facing the Clippers this season.