Two weeks ago, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Leonard is out indefinitely with inflammation in his right knee. Given that he was brought in to bring the franchise its first-ever Larry O’Brien trophy, anytime Kawhi Leonard is on the shelf is a nightmare for the LA Clippers. Once again he is expected to miss significant time nursing an injury, and it feels like it's a lot worse this time around.
Since Kawhi signed with the Clippers in free agency in 2019, he has missed significant time due to various injuries, including a torn meniscus in the first round of the playoffs last season which has kept him out of action to start this season. He also missed the entire 2012-2022 season after suffering a partially torn ACL in the prior playoffs. Even when “healthy,” he often tends to be on a minute restriction or miss games due to “injury management.”
In the past, the Clippers have been able to rely on elite coaching by Tyronne Lue and Paul George to shoulder the load until Kawhi would return. Only the former is still an asset Clipper Nation can count on. PG bolted to Philly in free agency and to make matters worse, backup point guard and former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook left Southern California for the mountaintops in Denver.
Yes, general manager Trent Redden was active this offseason, orchestrating a flurry of moves to improve the roster in the wake of George’s departure. Still, none of the additions to the squad can make up for either George’s or Leonard’s absence. Not even Russ’ for that matter. Relying on 35-year-old James Harden to lead the Clippers to the Promised Land or even the playoffs, is a recipe for disaster.
The Clippers have been playing well defensively at the start of the season, but they’re near the bottom of the league offensively. Fielding an aging roster with an injury history worse than Mr. Glass in a tough Western Conference doesn’t bode well for the Clippers. While this is a nightmare for the Clippers, it is a dream scenario for the OKC Thunder.
The Clippers’ nightmare is Thunder’s dream come true
The Thunder are coming off a season in which they were the number one seed in the Western Conference and made the playoffs for the first time since the COVID-19-shortened 2019-20 season. SGA is playing at an MVP level, and OKC looks even better than last year thus far. Speaking of SGA, LA’s decision to trade the young point guard to acquire George continues to backfire on the franchise.
Not only has SGA blossomed into one of the best players in the league, OKC owns an unprotected pick swap from the Clippers in the upcoming draft as part of the aforementioned trade. OKC is still undefeated at the time of this writing and if they continue to dominate their contemporaries they will surely elect to swap picks and move up in the first round.
How far they move up is the only question here. And the longer Kawhi is sidelined, the more the scales tip in the Thunder’s favor. The 2025 NBA Draft is expected to roll out a loaded prospect pool headlined by Duke forward Cooper Flagg. Being a bad team is never good, but it hurts even more when you suck and don’t control your draft picks. A loaded draft class with potential “generational talent” is just salt in the wound.
Sam Presti and Co., can sleep peacefully at night knowing they have built a legitimate title contender with a bright future and a wide-open championship window, while the Clippers front office has to cry themselves to sleep every night knowing they may have had a hand in potentially creating the Golden State Warriors of the 2020s.