In early July of 2019, the Los Angeles Clippers pulled the wool over everyone's eyes with the acquisitions of free agent, and newly crowned NBA champion, Kawhi Leonard and executing a blockbuster trade for Paul George. The Clips sacrificed their future by sending a bunch of draft picks and a future superstar in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to Oklahoma City to get George to come back to Southern California. Clippers fans were excited about the possibility of two hometown talents coming together to help a franchise get out of the putrid Donald Sterling era and finally, become the kings of Los Angeles.
If only it was that simple.
In the four years since the "Heist," the Clippers haven't really reached that mountaintop as they hoped. In the bubble, they had a commanding 3-1 series lead against the Denver Nuggets, only to insert the Skip Bayless meme and saw it disappear, along with their chance at a championship. This debacle caused Doc Rivers his job as head coach and probably caused Bill Simmons to jump for joy. They had a breakout playoff campaign in 2011 and made the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history. They lost to the Suns in hopes to reach the Finals. Unfortunately, the Clippers missed the playoffs entirely the next season. This season, the team limped into the postseason and actually took Game 1 of the opening round versus the Suns, only to mercifully bow out in the next four games. The last 48 months have been a trial and error for the Clip Joint.
Let's face it, getting both Kawhi and PG-13 was a risk from the start. Both players were entering their 30's and had their bodies ravaged from the injury bug. Do I need to mention George's gruesome leg injury that has robbed him of his quickness? He still is able to fly past defenders, but not the way he used to. Take a guess why the Clippers lost this series to the Suns? George was out. Then, Kawhi was out for the remainder of the series.
Oh, yeah, Kawhi's situation is more complicated than George's. In 2017-2018 with the San Antonio Spurs, Leonard suffered an injury that probably caused from the entire season. This produced an en passe between he and Spurs management. He was traded to Toronto in a blockbuster deal and was able to win a championship for Canada and Aubrey Graham (otherwise known as Drake). After signing with the Clippers, Leonard was load managing to prevent any major injuries. It didn't help as knee problems have hampered his run and potentially, might end his career.
Now, what is worse is that the two moves were supposed to take the Clippers to unseen territory, the NBA Championship. The "heist" was supposed to bring Clipper fans joy since the last era they had, Lob City, couldn't deliver a title. Nothing against that era, it was exciting to watch Chris Paul throw beautiful alley-oops to Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan. Unfortunately, it was all for naught. Also, the "heist" was supposed to make the Clippers the #1 basketball team in the city, overtaking the Lakers. That didn't happen. The Lakers traded for Anthony Davis and ended up winning a "championship" in the bubble.
If there was a silver lining in all this, the Clippers have a bright future. Steve Balmer has the Clippers headed in the right direction and is 15 times better than Donald Sterling. They have a beautiful new arena on its way in Inglewood. Their prospects are developing and fan interest has been building. The Los Angeles Clippers are looking at a great future. (Despite the lack of draft picks), they can flourish out of the horrible regime of Donald Sterling.
The Clippers could have executed the greatest heist since the Thomas Crown Affair or Ocean's Eleven, but the "heist" could have failed, or did it?
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