Ty Lue may step down as coach this summer. Ballmer growing impatient with the current roster.

[GrindCityHustle]

They look good on paper but they seem less contenders than even my Grizz

Seems like this the team where you go and get paid for what you use to do back in the day. Gilbert arenas would love being on this team.

[Roscoe Sheed]

Oh, that's not all he can do, not by a long shot; and even if he wanted to abrogate all his his responsibility, his biggest decision was still who he was going to let run things and for how long.

Frank was a great Gm the last few years until recently. He won exec of the year, then runner up the year before. Lue was coaching really well prior to this year. What could he have done differently?

The Clippers are in LA, so they're going to draw attention, but the team hasn't even won 50 games since Blake and CP3 were the headliners and Doc was running everything.

Certainly Ballmer wouldn't be the first owner to sign off on shuffling the deck chairs hoping his star players can manage to be healthy at the right time and maybe do some damage, but one obvious option is to just stop hoping and start thinking long-term.

I'm not a Clips fans and don't know how badly they've sold their future, but dang if the Nets didn't manage to slap together a 42-win with next to nothing for assets. The Clippers aren't much better than that WITH Leonard and George and those guys still have quite a lot of uplift, so, even if you want to bet on them ... the problem is pretty clear.

They need an actual team ... not a bunch of itinerant workers with the names changing every year.

As a Cavs fan, I've been there and done that in LeBron's first stint.

to be clear- they would have won 50 games in 19-20 and 20-21 if not for the shortened seasons

[Roscoe Sheed]

Ballmer isn't perfect but I can't totally blame him for being like this. It has been extremely frustrating watching this team underperform this year. Every chance they have had to pull away from the other seeds they consistently blow it.

Ballmer wants fast results but Ty Lue is kind of the opposite, he will have a bad lineup consistently for 10 games to see if they eventually mesh. It's a combination of all the people in the organization for how they operate from Ballmer, Ty Lue to Kawhi and PG.

Mann put up 16.5/6/4 as starter with great defense. The team looked their best all season. Today Lue starts 35 year old Eric Gordon and Morris again in a literal must win game. I almost feel like Klutch sports (Morris and Lue) are intentionally sabotaging that team.

Eric Gordon is 34.

Mann should definitely play more, but I can see why Lue won't start him with Westbrook because Gordon is a better shooter and therefore a better complement to the starting line up

[cjmcallist]

I don’t blame anybody. LAC took a shot, it was a risk, and it hasn’t paid off.

Ballmer is right to be pushing his team - they haven’t delivered.

Lue is right to take some blame, he hasn’t delivered.

I expect some heads to roll and it would be good for the Clips and the league to have an owner who holds his people to account when they don’t deliver.

[OkcSinceSGA]

Ballmer isn't perfect but I can't totally blame him for being like this. It has been extremely frustrating watching this team underperform this year. Every chance they have had to pull away from the other seeds they consistently blow it.

Ballmer wants fast results but Ty Lue is kind of the opposite, he will have a bad lineup consistently for 10 games to see if they eventually mesh. It's a combination of all the people in the organization for how they operate from Ballmer, Ty Lue to Kawhi and PG.

Mann put up 16.5/6/4 as starter with great defense. The team looked their best all season. Today Lue starts 35 year old Eric Gordon and Morris again in a literal must win game. I almost feel like Klutch sports (Morris and Lue) are intentionally sabotaging that team.

Eric Gordon is 34.

Mann should definitely play more, but I can see why Lue won't start him with Westbrook because Gordon is a better shooter and therefore a better complement to the starting line up

I don’t see it. Mann has been off lately, but at one point was at 45% on corner 3s like a month ago, and on the season is a way more efficient shooter from 2 and 3 (although from deep on half the attempts). Let’s say we give Gordon the shooting edge, it’s not big and it cannot offset the advantage Mann has in defense, playmaking and crashing the offensive glass.

That being said, Gordon is doing a respectable job in a bench role. It’s more that Mann was awesome as starter and the team is randomly throwing new acquisition Gordon in just because Lue has a hard on for declined vet players like Doc did.

[Medbrat]

How is this Lue's fault? He's done what he could with this roster. The blame is on the person who ok'd signing permanently injured star.

[OkcSinceSGA]

How is this Lue's fault? He's done what he could with this roster. The blame is on the person who ok'd signing permanently injured star.

DNPing Covington all year, playing Morris 30 mpg, benching Zubac entire 4th quarters, playing Powell entire second halves, downplaying every loss or failure and admitting they almost never practice. Underplaying younger players consistently (Coffey, Mann, Zubac, Diabate, Bones) Yea… he’s done a magnificent job!

Even with injuries factored this team is literally running 10-15 wins below their potential.

[Bobbymcgee]

If Ballmer wants to remake the team then the first thing he needs to do is hire a competent General Manager and then go from there.

[Wammy Giveaway]

They need to home grow a real team again. How many people are even drafted on the current Clippers? At least in the Lob City era, Blake was their generational talent they grew, plus DJ. CP3 was the smart free agent signing. They need to rebuild in that kind of way, picking up good pieces with high draft picks and then finding the right star to sign as a FA to push them to contention. This is the right way to build a team rather than trying to get the biggest names on the market. More teams have had success this way than the Clippers/Nets method.

Let's talk about the bold statement first. Paul was not a free agent signing. He was actually a trade, the most controversial in NBA history. Originally Paul was supposed to go to the Lakers in 2011, but David Stern vetoed the trade for reasons unknown. Some will say it didn't make basketball sense, hence "basketball reasons." I believe Stern was angry at the Lakers for their failure to 3-peat, where they got swept in the 2nd round by Mavericks behind a disgraceful act of Andrew Bynum clotheslining J.J. Barea in mid-air. The barring of Paul to Lakers looked more like a punishment than a renege, and as a result suffered their first ever worst stretch in Laker history with a six-year playoff drought.

Unfortunately, the method you're suggesting is not going to work. Clipper's greatest weakness is wanting to be loved, respected and worshiped like Lakers. They are the red-headed stepchild, the little brother, the runt of the family. They do everything wrong just so they can be accepted. If I were General Advisor of Clippers, I would tweak your suggestion to this:

1. Remove every single player, coaching staff and front office employee who's had at least one year of NBA experience
2. Bar Clippers from acquiring any player, coach or front office employee with at least one year of NBA experience
3. Restrict Clippers to signing players who are undrafted, from overseas, or from the G-League, provided they've never played an NBA game before

If you have a draft pick, get rid of it. If you have a player, trade him. Any player who comes to you as cash fodder, buy them out. Make sure you have zero players signed.

This is known as the Apocalypse Rebuild.

I would force Clippers to start all over. Anything they touch within NBA is going to get screwed up, all because of Clipper's misguided approach to attention over winning. Instead, let Clippers work at their own pace, without the NBA draft, free agency, or trades getting in the way. Forget about superstars, role players and draft picks; other teams will figure out how to use those guys better than Clippers. Accept being a development team for the time being. Not only will players learn, so will front office, and coaching staff. Everyone will be in sync and understand one another. That's how Spurs did it, look at their five championships.

[BostonCouchGM]

it was always laughable that people thought Lue was a good coach.

[nikster]

How is this Lue's fault? He's done what he could with this roster. The blame is on the person who ok'd signing permanently injured star.

DNPing Covington all year, playing Morris 30 mpg, benching Zubac entire 4th quarters, playing Powell entire second halves, downplaying every loss or failure and admitting they almost never practice. Underplaying younger players consistently (Coffey, Mann, Zubac, Diabate, Bones) Yea… he’s done a magnificent job!

Even with injuries factored this team is literally running 10-15 wins below their potential.

That is an insane statement, even for a stan like you. MVP level players sometimes don't make a 10 game impact. You think Clippers with PG and Kawhi on pace to miss 50+ games should be competing for the best record in the conference? 10-15 wins puts them at 52 (which would put them 2nd in the west) to 57 wins (ahead of Denver)

[nikster]

They need to home grow a real team again. How many people are even drafted on the current Clippers? At least in the Lob City era, Blake was their generational talent they grew, plus DJ. CP3 was the smart free agent signing. They need to rebuild in that kind of way, picking up good pieces with high draft picks and then finding the right star to sign as a FA to push them to contention. This is the right way to build a team rather than trying to get the biggest names on the market. More teams have had success this way than the Clippers/Nets method.

Let's talk about the bold statement first. Paul was not a free agent signing. He was actually a trade, the most controversial in NBA history. Originally Paul was supposed to go to the Lakers in 2011, but David Stern vetoed the trade for reasons unknown. Some will say it didn't make basketball sense, hence "basketball reasons." I believe Stern was angry at the Lakers for their failure to 3-peat, where they got swept in the 2nd round by Mavericks behind a disgraceful act of Andrew Bynum clotheslining J.J. Barea in mid-air. The barring of Paul to Lakers looked more like a punishment than a renege, and as a result suffered their first ever worst stretch in Laker history with a six-year playoff drought.

More like it was vetoed for obvious reasons that you refuse to accept so you prefer to insert your own ridiculous fan fic narrative

[KingFox]

After that epic double OT game, it seems like destiny for the Clippers and Kings to square off in round 1

[Max Headrom]

I can't believe people still take anything this hack Jake Fischer says seriously... This dude is CONSISTENTLY wrong with his reports...lol

And Woj and Chris Haynes are the only reporters that have actual sources within the Clippers organization.

[kenwood3333]

I think thats the right decision for him. Lue has shown he is a capable coach even without LeBron. There should be a handful of teams interested in his service this off season.

[DTP]

I think it would be a huge overreaction from ownership and/or Lue to move on. Overall, the Kawhi & PG experiment to this point has been a successful one. In every season you've been relevant......not great but relevant. This isn't the Lakers or Celtics, these are the LA Clippers people.

Ownership knew the risk that would come from going all in on Kawhi and he lost a season to an ACL tear....who do blame that on? PG has had his own issues staying healthy but once again, who can you blame that on? Injuries are part of the game. If they can avoid a total collapse without PG the next couple of weeks (and they should be able to, they still have Kawhi) and get PG & Powell back they should be fine.

I'm definitely shedding some payroll in the off season and going hard after Meyers but they shouldn't overreact in the off season. Russ on this team (as long as he continues to buy in to what's good for the team) is fine and I would even bring him back on an affordable one year deal next year. He stays healthy, he plays hard, he can carry you in some games in the 82 grind.

Lue has proven to be an elite post season coach and yet people still want to get rid of him for not having a great regular season with this injury prone roster lol

[MrGoat]

If this is true Mavs should be first in line to hire him

[nzahir]

If this is true....LAKERS

Ham is not great

[GusFring]

There is very little to like about the Clippers, they are not different from the Nets except they didn't sign guys that are big on drama and fussy and all that like Kyrie/KD

They need to home grow a real team again. How many people are even drafted on the current Clippers? At least in the Lob City era, Blake was their generational talent they grew, plus DJ. CP3 was the smart free agent signing. They need to rebuild in that kind of way, picking up good pieces with high draft picks and then finding the right star to sign as a FA to push them to contention. This is the right way to build a team rather than trying to get the biggest names on the market. More teams have had success this way than the Clippers/Nets method

That clips team was good enough in 2015 to win it all, not sure wtf happened against the rockets. I still don't get it.

[OkcSinceSGA]

How is this Lue's fault? He's done what he could with this roster. The blame is on the person who ok'd signing permanently injured star.

DNPing Covington all year, playing Morris 30 mpg, benching Zubac entire 4th quarters, playing Powell entire second halves, downplaying every loss or failure and admitting they almost never practice. Underplaying younger players consistently (Coffey, Mann, Zubac, Diabate, Bones) Yea… he’s done a magnificent job!

Even with injuries factored this team is literally running 10-15 wins below their potential.

That is an insane statement, even for a stan like you. MVP level players sometimes don't make a 10 game impact. You think Clippers with PG and Kawhi on pace to miss 50+ games should be competing for the best record in the conference? 10-15 wins puts them at 52 (which would put them 2nd in the west) to 57 wins (ahead of Denver)

I can count 5-6 wins Morris single-handedly cost the team. You aren’t factoring in negatives. It’s not just wins or win shares. Yes, talent wise and depth wise they are a 52-56 win team realistically. Even with Kawhi missing early season when the schedule was much easier.

It’s definitely closer to 10 than 5.