LA Clippers: Bold predictions after an even bolder offseason
By Byron Jones
1. The LA Clippers sweep the NBA Finals
The long road for the LA Clippers consists of making a roster full of new components gel within a short period of time in the regular season before playoff basketball starts. With considerable talent and quality coaching on their side, this shouldn’t be a major issue at any point of the year.
In fact, I believe the LA Clippers will find their stiffest competition was in their own conference all along.
Even though you don’t see anything today that truly resembles a super team of recent memory, the Western Conference is still deeper and more talented than the Eastern Conference. So, instead of predicting an NBA finals victory, why not bring out the broom and call it an old fashioned sweep.
The fact that no top team in the East appears to have gotten any better doesn’t help matters much either.
I watched Jimmy Butler be the only reliable late game option for a Philadelphia 76ers team that didn’t beat Leonard in the playoffs. I had the pleasure of covering the Milwaukee Bucks as Leonard slowly tightened his defensive grip on MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to beat them too.
The Boston Celtics will sorely miss the defensive presence and veteran leadership of Al Horford as they still try to find their identity.
Next. NBA's top 30 rivalries of all-time. dark
In my opinion, the biggest test will be making it to the NBA Finals. Sweeping the Eastern Conference representatives would certainly be icing on the cake that would make a historical moment for the LA Clippers organization truly one for the ages.