[Editor’s note: The following article is from Athlon Sports’ 2024-25 NBA season preview magazine. Order your copy today .] For the past five years, the Los Angeles Clippers were considered NBA championship contenders because of the dynamic two-way talents of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
That will not be the case for the 2024-25 version of the Clippers. George’s departure to the Philadelphia 76ers on a four-year, $212 million deal that the Clippers were unwilling to match will leave them competing for the sixth spot at best in the uber-competitive Western Conference. The Clippers do return Leonard, James Harden and head coach Tyronn Lue, considered one of the five best coaches in the NBA, whom the Clippers locked up with a five-year extension worth about $70 million, to lead the way.
Even with the Clippers possessing more than their share of shortcomings, the most important person in their hierarchy has kept his faith in the club. “I think we’re going to be a very, very good team,” Clippers owner Steve Ballmer says. “We’re going to contend.
We’ll see how far it takes us. There’s a lot of good teams in the West, let alone you’ve got the (NBA champion) Celtics, etc., in the East.
But there are a lot of good teams. I think we are one of them, and if we stay healthy, if we play well, I think every team’s got to get a little bit of luck. But our two guys at the top are pretty good, and I’ll take our guys that we flank around them.
” Bill Streicher-Imagn.