The 2024-25 season marks a new beginning for the The Los Angeles Clippers Franchise. Gone are the days when they shared a home with the city’s big brother team, the Los Angeles Lakers. Now they have their own playgrounds, with Intuit Dome ready to welcome a new Clippers team looking to move past a very disappointing era in basketball.
The 213 era for the Clippers is over and hasn’t borne much fruit. However, while saying goodbye to the franchise is sometimes necessary for its long-term health, there are some difficult short-term consequences that will plague the Clippers. worse team than last seasonno questions asked, following Paul George’s departure to the Philadelphia 76ers via free agency.
The Western Conference hasn’t gotten any easier. The Memphis Grizzlies appear to be back at full strength, the Houston Rockets are on an upward trajectory, the Golden State Warriors have added a ton of depth, and we’re just talking about some of the teams that missed the playoffs last year but are likely to make a playoff push this year.
Meanwhile, the The Clippers’ two stars are only getting olderJames Harden transformed the Clippers last season and was their best player in the playoffs, but he’s already 35 and has shown clear signs of decline. Additionally, Kawhi Leonard’s health hasn’t been able to last a full season, as he was a shadow of his former self in his brief appearance during the Clippers’ short 2024 playoff run.
An injury to Harden or Leonard would be fatal to the Clippers’ playoff hopes. Aside from Harden, Leonard and Norman Powell, who else could the team count on to create consistent offense?
Clippers fans may be in for a rude awakening next season, especially given the tough schedule they face to start the year.
The first weeks of the season will be crucial
This does not mean that the the first 10 games or so The Clippers already have a good chance of making the playoffs. But there’s a good chance the Clippers will start the season 3-7 or 2-8, which could spell doom for them given how competitive the Western Conference is.
The team’s first three games will be against the Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors. They should be underdogs in all of those games. After a short break against the Portland Trail Blazers, they’ll face the Suns, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers and Sacramento Kings, all tough opponents, including Paul George’s first game at the Intuit Dome. Their 10-game series to start the year will then conclude with a home game against the Toronto Raptors.
Of those 10 games, they might be favored to win only three of them (Blazers, Spurs, Raptors). They may simply not have enough offensive firepower to keep up with the other teams on a consistent basis. They’ll need the Herculean efforts of Kawhi Leonard and James Harden night in and night out, and given their injury histories and age, that may be too much to ask.
There are very few matchups in the West where the Clippers should be considered the favorite on any given night. There seems to be a great deal of misunderstanding about how much the loss of George will impact the team, especially during a long regular season in which Leonard is almost guaranteed to miss a significant chunk of time due to injuries.
Mark your calendars, Clippers fans
On November 7, the Clippers will host Paul George and the 76ers at the Intuit Dome in what will surely be a hostile crowd. 19 days later, they will head to Beantown for their season opener against the defending champion Boston Celtics.
Their first game of the year against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks is Dec. 20; it’s an away game, and the Clippers, of all teams, know how loud the American Airlines Center crowd can be.
But perhaps the most anticipated game for Clippers fans, as always, is fight against the city rivals LakersTheir first campaign meeting will be on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 20, 2025), and the Intuit Dome will host that game.
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Can LA hold on to their playoff spot in a crowded West?
Last season, the Clippers finished fourth in the conference with a 51-31 record. It’s a safe bet that they won’t reach that number of wins next season. They remain a well-coached team with solid defenders on all sides, but offense could be the problem. Outside of James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, they don’t have a reliable source of shot creation, either for themselves or others.
Norman Powell can create a ton of baskets on his own, and Kevin Porter Jr. could be a reliable source of playmaking, but relying on either one to absorb a ton of responsibility on offense doesn’t seem like a reliable recipe for success.
There will be nights when the Clippers are all-out, with Harden and Leonard in top form and role players hitting their shots. But role players are role players for a reason, as their shooting tends to be more inconsistent than those who assume superstar duties for the team. But their current roster should also leave them vulnerable to a lot of dismal offensive nights, especially when Harden is moving the ball down the court and the offense is slow to get going.
Much will depend on how they perform against teams in their division. They had the Suns’ number last season, they’ve had the Lakers’ for the past decade, while there’s really nothing separating them from the Kings and Warriors. The Clippers have exceeded expectations in the past, but it’s best to be very cautious in projecting their standings in the West.
