Harden may be coming here?

[nickhx2]

So Terrance Mann is the Clippers starting power forward now?

I just don't see this team getting it done and getting past the Nuggets or Suns in the playoffs. Maybe not even the Lakers or Warriors either. The Clippers are too small and still lacking another star player in case Leonard or George miss time. I had hoped that would of been Powell based on his stats with the Raptors and Blazers but he has been pretty disappointing so far with the Clippers.

Is Lue going to actually play Covington at least this season? Zu and Batum are going to get gassed by the all-star break if they are the only guys playing PF and C.

I figured at least with Harden the Clippers could emulate somewhat what the Suns are trying to do in Phoenix.

At least Bones Hyland has looked good. Wish some of the other young Clippers came into preseason as ready as him.

if your objection is based on mann not being power forwardy enough, so to speak, then i don't think that's something we really need to worry about. the old school PF died out some time ago. what's far more relevant is putting your best players on the floor for most teams, while switching defensively with little to no consequence. for us, specifically, we benefit because he's someone who can do a little bit of everything, can switch reasonably smoothly with kawhi/PG, can act as a legit secondary ball-handler (taking those duties away from PG), and can provide us some legit spark when the team lulls.

these are all really good things for this team, partly because it means marcus morris should finally be jettisoned to purgatory (in theory), and partly because it's in lieu of trading for an upgrade, a plan that doesn't seem to be on the horizon.

[MartinToVaught]

I just don't see this team getting it done and getting past the Nuggets or Suns in the playoffs.

They aren't getting past those teams with Harden either. I like our chances better with Mann since he actually plays defense and doesn't quit on the team in elimination games.

[Wammy Giveaway]

took way too long to make the obvious choice with mann over morris but hey, take what you get in sports i suppose

They do have a tendency to wait until the last minute. Clippers love the suspense.

[Bobbymcgee]

So Terrance Mann is the Clippers starting power forward now?

I just don't see this team getting it done and getting past the Nuggets or Suns in the playoffs. Maybe not even the Lakers or Warriors either. The Clippers are too small and still lacking another star player in case Leonard or George miss time. I had hoped that would of been Powell based on his stats with the Raptors and Blazers but he has been pretty disappointing so far with the Clippers.

Is Lue going to actually play Covington at least this season? Zu and Batum are going to get gassed by the all-star break if they are the only guys playing PF and C.

I figured at least with Harden the Clippers could emulate somewhat what the Suns are trying to do in Phoenix.

At least Bones Hyland has looked good. Wish some of the other young Clippers came into preseason as ready as him.

if your objection is based on mann not being power forwardy enough, so to speak, then i don't think that's something we really need to worry about. the old school PF died out some time ago. what's far more relevant is putting your best players on the floor for most teams, while switching defensively with little to no consequence. for us, specifically, we benefit because he's someone who can do a little bit of everything, can switch reasonably smoothly with kawhi/PG, can act as a legit secondary ball-handler (taking those duties away from PG), and can provide us some legit spark when the team lulls.

these are all really good things for this team, partly because it means marcus morris should finally be jettisoned to purgatory (in theory), and partly because it's in lieu of trading for an upgrade, a plan that doesn't seem to be on the horizon.

I think the Clippers can get away with being small against the Suns but against the Lakers or Nuggets, I am not so sure.

Lakers depth at Power Forward according to ESPN: Vanderbilt / Hachimura / Prince / LeBron (sliding over from SF) / Anthony Davis (sliding over from C)
https://www.espn.com/nba/team/depth/_/name/lal/los-angeles-lakers
Those are all big guys playing PF for the Lakers

Nuggets start Aaron Gordon at PF
Warriors Draymond Green
T-Wolves Karl Anthony Towns
Kings Keegan Murray
Pelicans Zion Williamson
Memphis Jaren Jackson Jr.
Utah John Collins
Spurs Wemby

I don't know, those all seem like tough matchups for Terrance Mann. He is listed as 6 ft 5 in and 215 lbs.

That's why I suggested maybe the Clippers should try and emulate the Suns and get Harden and just put whoever at the PF spot like the Suns are doing.

[TrueLAfan]

Here’s how I see any effort for Harden playing out.

If we’re healthy and playing well (.650 or above) from the start, our interest in Harden will be Zero. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

If we’re healthy and playing okay and improving (starting out around .500 and getting better), our interest in Harden will be small. Figuring it out requires consistency.

If we’re healthy and mediocre, our interest in Harden will be moderate. If we aren’t clearly competitive, we might take one last stab at making the Kawhi/PG duo title competitive.

If we’re healthy and we’re less than mediocre, our interest in Harden will be Zero. He isn’t enough of a needle mover and we’d give up future assets—and being a lousy team means we’re going to rebuild sooner rather than later.

If either PG or Kawhi is hurt and we’re .550 or better, our interest in Harden will be small. If the injury bug hits and we still look like we’re going to the post season, I doubt we’ll risk a huge change vs. gertitnfv healthy.

If either PG or Kawhi is hurt and we’re around a .500 team—fighting for the play in—our interest in Harden will be moderate. We might take the risk—it’s the one last stab scenario again.

If either PG or Kawhi is hurt and we’re lousy, our interest in Harden will be small. He isn’t enough of a needle mover to do more than take a 35-40 win team up to .45-50 wins. Mortgaging future assets to go from a 9 seed to a 6 seed.

If both PG and Kawhi are hurt and we’re winning, we won’t go after Harden. We’ll ride the youngsters; with PG and Kawhi out, five of our top 8-9 rotation players will be Mann, Zu, Bones, Martin and Brown. Nobody over 27; average age under 24. That’s a young core. If they kept us around .500 while we waited for one or both of stars to come back, it would be sweet.

If both PG and Kawhi are hurt and we’re losing, we won’t go after Harden. We’ll start the rebuild.

[Wammy Giveaway]

Here’s how I see any effort for Harden playing out.

Seems the levels of trading for Harden range from moderate to none. No high or panic mode.

What would it take for Clippers to reach high/panic mode, so that they have to trade for Harden to save their era? Could ejections to Leonard or George factor into this?

Why do I keep bringing up ejections?

1. Under Leonard, Clippers have mostly been a Good Samaritan Spurs team. His Tim Duncan-like demeanor makes it hard to get players tossed. The roster is comprised of players with high character anyway, something Gregg Popovich would be proud of.
2. Here is a list of players who have been ejected since the start of Leonard-George era: Beverley, Morris, Mann. That's it.
3. Leonard has never been ejected from a game. Would be a career first if it happens.
4. George has been ejected before, but since coming to Clippers, he has none.
5. Ejections can lead to trades. In the 2018 NBA Playoffs, DeMar DeRozan got tossed in Game 4 for a flagrant foul penalty-2 against Cavaliers. It ended up becoming his last game with Raptors. Couple that with three straight series losses to Cavs under LeBron James since 2016, they had no choice but to trade him.

Ejections have the power to permanently ruin a franchise. It's certification that the Clippers are just not good enough, the Leonard-George era was a disaster, and they need to blow it up. But they could even be come-to-Jesus moments, their heel realization that they've been doing this the wrong way, apologize for their actions, and vow to become a much better team, resulting in a herculean streak of wins while breaking records and milestones in the process. It could still lead to a sacrificial trade, but it may all be worth it in the end.

[KL2]

Could an end be in sight? Or just more games between the sides?

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[nickhx2]

so is he gonna play games still but just not travel with the team? or not play at all?

[madmaxmedia]

I think these are all pretty good, I believe by moderate you mean the Clippers would actually like to add Harden but only at a reasonable trade cost. If Morey plays hardball all the way through ASB, then I agree the Clippers will make a deal no matter what either (given Harden's age and expiring contract.)

It will be interesting though if either PG or Kawhi is hurt and we're .550 or better. If we play well throughout the regular season even with significant downtime but still have both those guys ready for the playoffs, I think it will be tempting for the Clips to add Harden to try to really become a significant contender in the West. Any team not in the top 4 seeds is going through a gauntlet if they want to go far.

Conversely, the older PG and Kawhi look, the less likely any Harden trade is going to happen no matter where we are. They are both starting the season healthy, looking old to me would be either starting to miss games relatively early, or signs of drop-off while still healthy.

Here’s how I see any effort for Harden playing out.

If we’re healthy and playing well (.650 or above) from the start, our interest in Harden will be Zero. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

If we’re healthy and playing okay and improving (starting out around .500 and getting better), our interest in Harden will be small. Figuring it out requires consistency.

If we’re healthy and mediocre, our interest in Harden will be moderate. If we aren’t clearly competitive, we might take one last stab at making the Kawhi/PG duo title competitive.

If we’re healthy and we’re less than mediocre, our interest in Harden will be Zero. He isn’t enough of a needle mover and we’d give up future assets—and being a lousy team means we’re going to rebuild sooner rather than later.

If either PG or Kawhi is hurt and we’re .550 or better, our interest in Harden will be small. If the injury bug hits and we still look like we’re going to the post season, I doubt we’ll risk a huge change vs. gertitnfv healthy.

If either PG or Kawhi is hurt and we’re around a .500 team—fighting for the play in—our interest in Harden will be moderate. We might take the risk—it’s the one last stab scenario again.

If either PG or Kawhi is hurt and we’re lousy, our interest in Harden will be small. He isn’t enough of a needle mover to do more than take a 35-40 win team up to .45-50 wins. Mortgaging future assets to go from a 9 seed to a 6 seed.

If both PG and Kawhi are hurt and we’re winning, we won’t go after Harden. We’ll ride the youngsters; with PG and Kawhi out, five of our top 8-9 rotation players will be Mann, Zu, Bones, Martin and Brown. Nobody over 27; average age under 24. That’s a young core. If they kept us around .500 while we waited for one or both of stars to come back, it would be sweet.

If both PG and Kawhi are hurt and we’re losing, we won’t go after Harden. We’ll start the rebuild.

[KL2]

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[Vae Victus]

With the complete **** of the Harden/Sixers situation, i just dont see any sort of trade market for him. No team wants to trade for a malcontent unless Morey is willing to accept literally pennies to stick it to the Clips.

At this point it's pretty clear the Clips are gonna play hardball. As long as the team is healthy, the Clips should play well, especially with a rejuvenated Brodie at the PG. The package is likely gonna be Mook + RoCo or Batum + Coffey + 2028 top 6 lotto protected FRP at the deadline, expirings plus a chance at a decent FRP assuming the clips miss the playoffs in 2028 and dont move up.

There's just no reason to make a panic trade with how utterly toxic the Harden/Sixers situation is.

[madmaxmedia]

so is he gonna play games still but just not travel with the team? or not play at all?

Well how is he gonna play games while not traveling with the team?
(I know that's not what you meant, it just read funny at first.)

Yeah that report of him showing up at the airport and the team telling him to go home was really weird. Regardless of whether we trade for him, that seems like an untenable situation. Are they just gonna have him stay home until someone makes a trade??

[madmaxmedia]

With the complete **** of the Harden/Sixers situation, i just dont see any sort of trade market for him. No team wants to trade for a malcontent unless Morey is willing to accept literally pennies to stick it to the Clips.

At this point it's pretty clear the Clips are gonna play hardball. As long as the team is healthy, the Clips should play well, especially with a rejuvenated Brodie at the PG. The package is likely gonna be Mook + RoCo or Batum + Coffey + 2028 top 6 lotto protected FRP at the deadline, expirings plus a chance at a decent FRP assuming the clips miss the playoffs in 2028 and dont move up.

There's just no reason to make a panic trade with how utterly toxic the Harden/Sixers situation is.

The better Westbrook plays (and the better others look playing with him), the less likely we will budge from our offer- which seemed not likely to begin with. It's only been 1 game, but last year's 'audition' made for a very promising start.

[nickhx2]

so is he gonna play games still but just not travel with the team? or not play at all?

Well how is he gonna play games while not traveling with the team?
(I know that's not what you meant, it just read funny at first.)

Yeah that report of him showing up at the airport and the team telling him to go home was really weird. Regardless of whether we trade for him, that seems like an untenable situation. Are they just gonna have him stay home until someone makes a trade??

astral projection, bro...

[nickhx2]

With the complete **** of the Harden/Sixers situation, i just dont see any sort of trade market for him. No team wants to trade for a malcontent unless Morey is willing to accept literally pennies to stick it to the Clips.

At this point it's pretty clear the Clips are gonna play hardball. As long as the team is healthy, the Clips should play well, especially with a rejuvenated Brodie at the PG. The package is likely gonna be Mook + RoCo or Batum + Coffey + 2028 top 6 lotto protected FRP at the deadline, expirings plus a chance at a decent FRP assuming the clips miss the playoffs in 2028 and dont move up.

There's just no reason to make a panic trade with how utterly toxic the Harden/Sixers situation is.

The better Westbrook plays (and the better others look playing with him), the less likely we will budge from our offer- which seemed not likely to begin with. It's only been 1 game, but last year's 'audition' made for a very promising start.

and the more morey will screech and cry foul publicly

and the less interested i'll actually be bringing harden in. i realize it's just one game so far but the offense looks like an actual offense with intent, something we haven't quite had for some time. i don't think you really mess with that for the lure of greener pastures, unless harden's willing to come off the bench

[madmaxmedia]

With the complete **** of the Harden/Sixers situation, i just dont see any sort of trade market for him. No team wants to trade for a malcontent unless Morey is willing to accept literally pennies to stick it to the Clips.

At this point it's pretty clear the Clips are gonna play hardball. As long as the team is healthy, the Clips should play well, especially with a rejuvenated Brodie at the PG. The package is likely gonna be Mook + RoCo or Batum + Coffey + 2028 top 6 lotto protected FRP at the deadline, expirings plus a chance at a decent FRP assuming the clips miss the playoffs in 2028 and dont move up.

There's just no reason to make a panic trade with how utterly toxic the Harden/Sixers situation is.

The better Westbrook plays (and the better others look playing with him), the less likely we will budge from our offer- which seemed not likely to begin with. It's only been 1 game, but last year's 'audition' made for a very promising start.

and the more morey will screech and cry foul publicly

and the less interested i'll actually be bringing harden in. i realize it's just one game so far but the offense looks like an actual offense with intent, something we haven't quite had for some time. i don't think you really mess with that for the lure of greener pastures, unless harden's willing to come off the bench

Exactly. I mean we're really just talking hypotheticals here, but let's just say we went 20-7 to start the season...would we actually want to make a major change at that point? OTOH the ideal scenario for the Sixers is we stay healthy but start the season 14-14, and get nervous that our team many not be even good enough to get to the 2nd round.

[ejftw]

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[1993Playoffs]

Hope y’all can stay healthy. Great collection of talent

[Wammy Giveaway]

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[SunsRback4Good]

Congrats on a title you heard it here first. The clippers have finally received a legit pg who can set up Kawhi and PG. He was the missing piece to the puzzle and now the clippers have got it.