The LA Clippers are both a team in transition and a team with championship goals. We’ll take a look at which pending free agents will be back next season.
Sometimes NBA championship favorites get upended earlier than expected, and when they do, there’s a price to pay. The LA Clippers experienced just such a disaster, losing a 3-1 lead in the second round of the NBA playoffs to the Denver Nuggets, and certain as the sun rises, they paid the price with the firing of their head coach, Doc Rivers.
After a coaching search, Rivers was replaced by lead assistant Ty Lue, and depending on the results of his candidacy in the Indiana Pacers head coaching search, Chauncey Billups may join him on the sideline.
The two-man core of the Clippers is a virtual certainty to remain in place next season, but there are a number of pending free agents on the roster that president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank will have to make tough decisions on. In spite of whatever Paul George might have thought after they were eliminated from the playoffs, the LA Clippers are indeed a championship-or-bust team, and the clock is ticking on their contention.
We’ll take a look at the five key free agents on the roster and evaluate whether the organization should endeavor to bring them back or bid them farewell and send them on their way. We’ll operate under the assumption that JaMychal Green will pick up his player option for next season and return to the Clippers as they attempt to redeem themselves from this year’s colossal failure.