Clippers offseason preview: LA chasing Kawhi Leonard-Kevin Durant dream scenario

Sean Deveney

Clippers offseason preview: LA chasing Kawhi Leonard-Kevin Durant dream scenario image

Big issue 1: On the day after the Clippers traded away star forward Tobias Harris, the team lost on the road to Indiana, dropping to 30-26 and beginning what was assumed to be a slow descent out of the West’s postseason picture. Harris and key reserves Mike Scott and Boban Marjanovic were gone, and in their place were little-used forward Wilson Chandler, Mike Muscala, rookie Landry Shamet and draft picks.

Not only had Harris been traded, but gone, too, were Avery Bradley, sent to Memphis for JaMychal Green and Garrett Temple, and Muscala, who was flipped to the Lakers for center Ivica Zubac and forward Michael Beasley.

Milos Teodosic and Marcin Gortat were waived, as was Beasley. In a matter of three days, the Clippers made transactions involving 13 players and four draft picks. 

The presumption was that the Clippers were setting themselves up with young assets and cap space for the future. Instead, the remade roster went 18-8, surged into the playoffs and gave the Warriors a scare with a six-game first-round series that included a 31-point comeback win in Oakland.

Los Angeles has since given well-liked coach Doc Rivers a contract extension. The Clippers will have one max-contract spot available this summer and could potentially create a second without gutting the team entirely of key players like Lou Williams, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Montrezl Harrell and Shamet.

Given the much-discussed struggles on and off the floor of the team’s rival in Southern California, the Clippers — a 48-win outfit with a respected and competent front office and no stars concerned with being Hollywood executive producers on the roster — have built themselves into the most attractive free-agent destination of 2019.

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Big issue 2: Sounds strange, but as of now, no team has more interest in what the Heat’s free-agency status might be in 2020 than the Clippers. The Heat won 39 games this year and appear doomed to a serious tumble next season, as Dwyane Wade fades into retirement and a roster built around Josh Richardson, Hassan Whiteside and Justise Winslow prepares to flounder.

One of the picks the Clippers got from the Sixers was the 2021 first-rounder from Miami that the team had gotten from Phoenix at last year’s draft. If the Heat do slide next year, they could be in for a bigger fall heading into 2020-21, which would be a huge boost for the Clippers — unless the Heat had a miraculous free-agency period in 2020.

That’s unlikely. Anthony Davis is the headliner, but the 2020 class declines quickly to Draymond Green, DeMar DeRozan, Andre Drummond and the like. The Heat aren’t getting Davis, and no other free agent is going to turn around that franchise.

As the Clippers look to become an instant contender this summer, deciding what to do with the 2021 Miami pick will be a factor. The Clippers could pair it with, say, Danilo Gallinari as a way to clear cap space. They could use it as a trade chip to help bring in another player after signing one max free agent.

Or they could look ahead, decide that Miami will be among the league’s worst in 2021 and hold the pick expecting a top-five player. 

Any way it happens, the possibilities are promising.

Free-agent outlook: Let’s start with the obvious, which is to say, we don’t know what Kevin Durant is doing. There’s been a feeling coming out of Oakland all year he would leave the Warriors after this season, and that hasn’t changed, but it would be unwise to bet the mortgage on a feeling.

The Clippers certainly would welcome a meeting, and the presence of Jerry West in the LA front office could be part of the attraction for Durant.

Kawhi Leonard will also be a free agent, and it has been well-known for better than a year that he wants to be in Southern California. Toronto took the chance that he could be convinced to stay in the Great White North, and maybe a deep playoff run tips the scales. But he’s a California guy, and the Clippers have that advantage over the Raptors.

So that’s the home-run possibility — Durant and Leonard coming to Clipperland together, with perhaps a Gallinari-Miami pick package sent elsewhere, leaving Williams, Gilgeous-Alexander, Harrell and Shamet as the beginning of a decent supporting cast around the pair.

Or perhaps it will be Jimmy Butler and Leonard. Or Khris Middleton and Leonard.

Or, Gallinari and the pick stay, with Leonard coming aboard and another quality, sub-max free agent joining the Clippers’ ranks. That could allow LA to keep the likes of Patrick Beverley or Green, who played well in the postseason, and maybe Zubac as well.

The Clippers will have a load of options, and the only surprise would be if Durant goes to New York, Leonard stays in Toronto, Butler goes to Brooklyn, Middleton lands with Dallas and the Clippers wind up completely empty in free agency. It’s possible, just unlikely.

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The young folks: Gilgeous-Alexander only worked out for the Clippers ahead of last year’s draft, and it’s clear why the team was fascinated by his potential. He averaged 10.8 points and 3.3 assists on the year, shooting 47.6 percent and 36.7 percent from the 3-point line. He was excellent attacking the basket, making 63.1 percent of his attempts at the rim. He figures to improve as a 3-point shooter.

He was even better in the playoffs, averaging 13.7 points and shooting 50.0 percent from the 3-point line. Gilgeous-Alexander split time between guard positions, but he will handle greater point-guard duties should the Clippers let Beverley go.

Shamet played like a lottery pick throughout the season (certainly more than the Clippers’ other lottery guy, Jerome Robinson) and was better in LA than he’d been in Philadelphia. He shot 45.0 percent from the 3-point line in 25 games, including 23 starts, and was a valuable defender. He may not be a starter after the Clippers’ shakeup this summer, but he will be a contributor.

Robinson played only 9.7 minutes in 33 games but did average 18.9 points while shooting 40.7 percent on his 3-pointers in the G-League.

Wait till next year: Should Durant leave Golden State, even if he doesn’t wind up in Los Angeles, the Clippers ought to be a contender next season. They have a great head coach locked up long-term, young talent, a ready-built bench core and a mass of cap space.

Oh, and average temperatures of about 72 degrees during the NBA season. Let the free-agent stars come flocking.

Sean Deveney

Sean Deveney is the national NBA writer for Sporting News and author of four books, including Facing Michael Jordan. He has been with Sporting News since his internship in 1997.