thelesterlee
James Harden made his Los Angeles Clippers debut on Monday night against the Knicks.
New York beat their ass 111-97. It was so bad, the Clippers waved the white flag emptying their bench with 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter. It would have been an even bigger blowout if the Knicks knew how to shoot.
New York had wide-open shots all night.
Jalen Brunson was 2-for-12 with 7 points and the Knicks still had the Clippers in a headlock all game. The best player on the Knicks missed every shot and the Clippers decided to allow everyone else to score whenever they wanted. How generous.
Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, James Harden and Russell Westbrook are 4 of the most talented and accomplished players of their generation so I understand the super lazy analysis about how there’s ‘only one ball’ and blah blah.
That ‘one ball’ thing never makes sense to me considering how often these superstars go to the Olympics and have absolutely no problem passing and cutting for each other. These are the best basketball players in the world. Not your local YMCA pick-up squad. They’ll figure it out.
But the Clippers run out 5 guys who routinely shrug off their defensive responsibilities.
Kawhi Leonard is one of the best on-ball defenders I’ve ever seen but the muscles in his legs are hanging on by wet tape and he seems to understand how to save his body for the most important games.1
Paul George might still have the physical capability of being a great perimeter defender but he’s not-so-quietly suffered the same, if not more, lower body injuries than Kawhi. Neither of these men can consistently score 25 points on one end and lockdown defense on the other. Not at this point in their careers.
James Harden isn’t as bad of a defender as his reputation declares but yea, he’ll almost always be the worst defender on the floor. Los Angeles didn’t trade for Harden’s ability to always be in the right position generating charges and getting under ballhandler’s skins. Harden is more of a guy who leads his assignment to the help defense at the rim.
And on the Clippers, that rim protection is nonexistent.
Ivica Zubac is not who you want waiting at the basket.
Rewatching clips from Monday night’s game and Julius Randle put up 27 points mostly from seeing Zubac standing in the paint and understanding there was no way in hell Ivica could stop him.
So there’s no one in this starting five who can defend on the perimeter and there’s an open lane to the hoop.
And sure, Russell Westbrook plays really hard. I know that because Russell Westbrook fans will not stop telling me he plays really hard. I don’t consider him a great defender but perhaps he’s the only one in the starting 5 who will at least put their full effort over the entire course of a game.
Unless Paul George suddenly regains the All-Defense abilities he had from 2013-2019, who on a nightly basis is stopping ANYONE?
Bigger teams like the Lakers and Nuggets are going to bully Zubac and Mason Plumlee for 48 straight minutes. Teams with dynamic guards like Golden State or Sacramento are going to run them out of the gym.
So how do you fix the CaliFOURnia Clippers?
These 4 future Hall of Famers need to be separated from each other until the final 5 minutes of the game where Paul George or Kawhi Leonard can use the energy they saved all game to become defensive stoppers briefly. Plus, the last 5 minutes of an NBA game typically has the most stops with reviews and timeouts which gives PG and Kawhi even more rest and energy.
But the first 43 minutes are the real problem. The Clippers last five minutes against the Knicks were garbage time. You can’t wait for the final 5 if you’re getting blown out because Josh fucking Hart is getting to the rim whenever he chooses.
The bench isn’t exactly full of the ’04 Pistons.
Their backup guards are Norman Powell and Bones Hyland—two guys whose entire job description is getting buckets. It doesn’t help that backup center, Mason Plumlee, is as big of a mark as Zubac. I’ve seen Plumlee going up to contest a shot and end up horizontal too many times.
Perhaps Terance Mann or PJ Tucker can slide into the starting lineup. Mann could possibly defend opposing guards (because Harden absolutely cannot) and PJ Tucker could guard big men (because Zubac absolutely cannot).
So who becomes the 6th man?
I think it’s clear, this conversation is between James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
Here’s what I know about these two players: One is completely obsolete if he feels an even slight inkling of anything less than universal praise and respect from coaches, teammates and fans and the other was a crucial 6th man for a team that went to the NBA Finals.
Russell Westbrook comes off as a guy who needs constant positive feedback from his employer or else he’ll start clocking in later and clocking out earlier. Wow, he just like me.
I don’t think you want Westbrook on your team unless his self-esteem is through the roof otherwise you get the Lakers Westbrick version where he was shotputting layups off the backboard and airballing corner 3’s.
We’ve also seen Westbrook and Paul George have some interesting chemistry together. PG finished 3rd in MVP voting when they played together in OKC before claiming to want to spend his career in Oklahoma like, 24 hours before sneaking off to Los Angeles with Kawhi in the middle of the night.
I still want to know what Nas’s setlist was at the Paul George contract extension party. I just know the girls weren’t out there in Timbs nodding their heads to NY State of Mind. There wasn’t an IG model mouthing the words “now I’m jettin’ to the buildin’ lobby, and it was full of children, probably couldn’t see as high as I be” at this NBA party. No way.
James Harden is an unstoppable scoring algorithm who works best as a singular entity dictating every offensive decision on every possession. Honestly, I’d rather Harden out there making the decisions instead of Bones Hyland. Have you seen Bones’s shot selection? Give Harden the fucking ball.
Ultimately, putting PJ Tucker in the starting lineup isn’t going to suddenly transform the Clippers into NBA champions. There needs to be a trade for another guy who is solely in the building to play defense.
No offense to PJ Tucker. He seems like the guy in your friend group you can hit up when you’re visiting a city for the first time and he’ll have fire restaurant recommendations. He’s also almost 40 YEARS OLD. My man’s in the locker room ruining the vibes when he gets the aux and plays some KRS-One pregame.
Who can the Clippers trade for?
Believe it or not, most teams aren’t shopping around their elite defenders.
There’s one player who jumps out as the perfect role player for this team. The Chicago Bulls are 3-5 and unfortunately, Lonzo Ball’s knees did not allow this team to reach its potential. Zach LaVine is in a lot of trade rumors but Alex Caruso is a far more valuable player for most NBA teams.
Caruso makes about $10 million a year which is a perfect-sized contract for LA.
The Clippers only have one 2030 first round pick left to trade but I can see other teams valuing that pick knowing the CaliFOURnia Clippers will be long gone by then and they’ll most likely be in a dark rebuilding phase.
And I know Terance Mann is untouchable in trade talks but get this elderly ass prospect out of town and bring in someone who can put pressure on a Luka/Kyrie backcourt.
If Caruso isn’t available because Chicago gets a better trade offer than getting Amir Coffey and a draft pick two decades from now—there are guys like Matisse Thybulle wasting away in Portland or even someone like Delon Wright in Washington if they want to break up the Bones and Norman Powell bench backcourt of doom.
All I know is as currently constructed, the CaliFOURnia Clippers don’t stand a chance against the better teams in the West unless someone in their starting five magically becomes Tony Allen.
I cannot wait for Harden and Westbrook to angrily point fingers at each other after they take turns getting their asses busted by Shai Gilgeous Alexander.
Whoever the Clippers go against in 4.
Is this Clippers team capable of defending anyone? Leave a comment below. Respond on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Or shoot me an email at Deadseriousmailbag@gmail.com. Let’s chat, bay-beeeee. Let me know your CaliFOURnia Clippers takes.
- Game 1 Kawhi is the best basketball player of all time. Game 2 Kawhi is on the sideline with his knees swelling as if when Bruce Banner turned into the Hulk but only his quads grew.
