LA Clippers: 3 big questions heading into 2019-20
By Adam Taylor
Defying all expectations to end the 2018 season enabled the LA Clippers to pitch a future of contention to star free agents, and it worked.
Following a season where every move they made looked like a masterstroke, culminating in an unexpected playoff appearance, the LA Clippers entered free agency armed with enough cap space to pursue star names.
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This is a franchise which has one of the most involved (and wealthy) owners in the league in Steve Ballmer, a front office led by Michael Winger, with Jerry West as an adviser, and legendary coach Doc Rivers.
Progressive but calculated in their approach, they have navigated the Clippers from obscurity to contention over the last five years.
Tough decisions were made in this time, such as trading away Blake Griffin and Chris Paul to the Pistons and Rockets respectively. These trades directly contributed to the trajectory the LA Clippers now find themselves on.
Paul got them a return of Patrick Beverley, Sam Dekker, Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell and a 2018 first-round pick, while the pick received in the Griffin trade ended up turning into Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Tobias Harris was then moved to Philadelphia in a trade which also saw Boban Marjanovic leave, bringing in Landry Shamet, Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala plus multiple picks as a return.
Muscala shortly moved on again in a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers with Ivica Zubac and Michael Beasley becoming Clippers players in the exchange.
Six of the players acquired by the Clippers in these trades became key contributors in their run to the playoffs last season and five remain on the roster moving into the new season.
Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari went to Oklahoma City in the trade for Paul George along with an unprecedented amount of future draft picks.
By completing the trade for George, the LA Clippers are able to pair him with 2019 Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, catapulting the team from fringe playoff contenders to genuine title favorites moving into 2019.
Contenders they may be, but there are still questions surrounding this roster with the three biggest being investigated here.