NBA Power Rankings: Preview the Los Angeles Lakers and the rest

Dearly Departed: Montrezl Harrell, Rodney McGruder, JaMychal Green, Joakin Noah, Landry Shamet

New Additions: Serge Ibaka, Luke Kennard, Nicolas Batum, Ky Bowman

Win Projection/Prediction: 48/Under

Possibly the most disappointing team of last season was the LA Clippers. They had the potential to be the very best team in the league and instead blew a 3-1 lead in the second round. The chemistry issues have been widely reported and have not been clearly addressed.

Montrezl Harrell looks to have been made the scapegoat and chose to move across the hall to the rival Los Angeles Lakers. Serge Ibaka is an adequate replacement and should make the team slightly better fit wise, if not from an overall talent perspective. However, LA’s problems persist. Harrell was not the only one who bristled at the superstar treatment of their new max contract teammates, specifically Paul George. His newly minted extension should not assuage these concerns.

Patrick Beverly and Lou Williams remain and leave something to be desired. Beverley is a voracious defender if nothing else. Lou Williams is still one of the best shot creators off the bench in the league. But the team needs a true point guard to take some of the creation responsibilities from George and Kawhi Leonard. Awkwardly, former Pistons Reggie Jackson and Luke Kennard may be the best options for that which tells you all you need to know.

The tone set by JaMychal Green when he signed with the Denver Nuggets hammered home all you needed to know about the fragility of this locker room. Ty Lue has the reputation of fixing things like this but even he may not be up to the challenge. This team should be a contender for home-court advantage but they are also ripe for a blow-up.