Season Record: 41-41

Season Review:

The Ugly step sister in NBA’s LA. They are ready to rise out of their rival’s shadow in the NLL. Rumour is Miley Cyrus’s The Climb was written about Andrew’s Clippers. Absolutely stacked the eyeballs with amazing young talent. GM Andrew must be some sort of Wizard. I expect the league to launch a full scale investigation into the use of magic. He must be commended for this roster he has put together. If you wanted to bet on any team in the next 10 seasons to win the most titles, give me the Clippers (Sorry Charlotte).

The Clippers experienced both ends of the spectrum in this season’s playoffs. Finishing 41-41. A record good enough for 4^th place in the West. It would have seen them miss the playoffs in the East. The West sucks (We get it Joel). But playoffs are playoffs. The Clippers absolutely pantsed the Boogie-less Wolves in the first round. A good old fashion sweep was in order for big fat Josh V and his men. Maybe less time cruising the Caribbean and more time in the GM’s office and the cardio room at Any Time Fitness is on the cards for Josh. However, I digress. This was a great result and great experience for Andrew’s young team. As equally a good experience for The Clips was the sweeping they received in the next round. All be it to the powerhouse that is the OKC Thunder. They say you learn more from your losses than your defeats. So perhaps for LA, this was the perfect post season. They were never going to win the title. So, experience was the next best thing.

 

Missed Games:

An NLL season is tough. Just ask John Beckwith. You lose good men to trades and unruly fans. The Clippers had their fair share of missed games in 17/18. The Clippers made many trades this season, so they did not have a whole lot of stability. They didn’t have anyone play more than 74 games. MKG did, but he was traded. John Collins played the most games for ball club, which points towards the youth of this team. DRuss only played 48 games in the regular season due to injury. He is a star and will be warmly welcomed back to the fold next season.

 

2018 Draft Grades:

The Clippers just had the one pick in the draft this season. They elected to take the Latvian Rodions Kurucs. See below for insider roving draft reporter Benjamin Smith analysis of the selection.

 

48           Los Angeles Clippers

SF Rodions Kurucs, Latvia

 

Rumoured to be looking for a 4 year deal with the 1st year guaranteed, we’ll likely see Kurucs next year in the NLL.

He’s tall for a wing, can shoot and likes a hustle play, but hasn’t had a great run with injuries along the way. Possibly concerning given he’s only played small reserve roles in Barcelona? His skillset is however rare for a player of his size. Grade: B+

The Clippers have so much young talent, that a project European pick was a nice move here from Andrew. He won’t see many minutes but will be able to develop nicely behind the likes of recently acquired Thad Young and Jaylen Brown.

 

Star:

Clint Capela. He won’t be next season. Next season he will the perfect role player with Gordon, or Booker or Russell or Oladipo (See, they are going to be so good next season). But this year Clint was the man. He was super-efficient. He shot 63% from the field and 63% from the Line, which is trending up. He ranked in the top 10 of the league for Defensive rebounds per game, Offensive rebounds per game and Rebounds per game. He also was in the top 20 for Steals and blocks.

He is super athletic and super reliable. He wants to get paid this summer as RFA but is worth every cent.

 

Goat:

KCP. I am still not entirely sure what this category is, but Laddas tells me it’s the worst performer on the team. KCP played 33 games at the Clippers and 33 and the Mavs. He started every game at Dallas and started 4 at the Clips. This may be due to the strength of the line-ups. But still, KCP averaged 14 PPG at Dallas and 3.8 at LA. Something not quite right there. But then again, I don’t really know what this category is so who cares what I think.

 

Best Trade:

Straight off the bat, there are a few that stand out to me. I like getting Jaylen Brown for DSJ and 1^st. Brown is going to be great. DSJ could be anything. He has a higher ceiling but perhaps has a lower floor too. Will be interesting to see.

 

Victor Oladipo Deyonta Davis

Cody Zeller Rodney Hood Josh Jackson

 

I like this trade too. Will Oladipo regress back a little this year? Possibly. But in the long run he is a star of this league and will be for a long time. Gave up some pieces to get him, but I’m sure Andrew would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

Worst Trade:

The Clippers didn’t make one. Don’t @ me. Check for yourself. I guess the most controversial one was trading the Portland Pick which ended up being Trae Young for Aaron Gordon. But even still, the clippers are ready to win so holding picks when you can get a player of Gordons calibre doesn’t make much sense.

The Future:

Strap yourself in Clippers fans. This is going to be fun. They are loaded with young and exciting players. Guys that have already shown they have star potential. How does this sound to you for a starting line up:

Capela

Gordon

Brown

Dipo

Booker

With DRuss, John Collins, Thad Young and OG coming off the bench. In a weaker Western Conference. This looks like a team to me that can go all the way to the WCF. KCP is an UFA so that might open up some salary space if he isn’t brought back. GM Andrew has set this up so well and no doubt cannot wait for the season to get underway. Good luck to GM Andrew in season 2018/19.

 

2018/19 Prediction: 54-28