What is this team's destiny?

[Quake Griffin]

I just want to have a real conversation about this team.

The way I see it....I want this team to get a championship really bad. I genuinely like the core group. The only person I'd probably dislike if he wasn't on my team would be Matt Barnes. However, there is a team in Miami that looks like it's going to be hard to knock off. Say that team doesn't work out, there is still a LeBron James in the NBA and he stands in the way of a lot of great players getting a championship.

what's our destiny in your mind?
are you seeing a championship?

or is this the team that is just going to be like the early 2000s Kings....give us some legitimacy, a taste of what winning feels like and then fade into the background when this era is over until the franchise can find another superstar?


As presently constructed, I feel we can win the west now or eventually.
but to win the title.
a. LeBron will have left Miami
b. significant injury in Miami
c. a nor b happen and CP3 has an unreal post season like Dirk in 2011 and we ride him + good defense to a ring.


what are ur thoughts?

[Verballer]

Miami isn't the unbeatable force it seemed like 2 years ago tbh,Lebron had (hopefully for non-Miami fans) his peak season last season.DWade is a year older and Bosh doesn't seem like himself anymore,I might be wrong but this team isn't the team it was IMO
I see us winning a title in 2-3 years
What I love about this team is that Blake changed this teams culture and people now see this as a good FA destination.

[LACtdom]

I am a big fan of our current roster. Like every other clipper fan i whinge about not having another superstar big who plays for us for only $1m per season however I think our roster is going to be as good as it is going to get for a few years. The team is built around CP3, Griffin and arguably Crawford. I think FO will simply replace guys around them when needed with very similar guys and I don't see us getting another strike weapon. I have no idea how Rivers will pan out but if we really want a championship what we need more than a 3rd star is team chemistry and precision defense. I see the clippers over the next 3 - 5 years getting closer to winning a championship but it is a tough comp.

[mkwest]

The goal is a championship. Anything less would be a failure.

If you want the gold, you have to rise above the obstacles/circumstances. Miami is a beast and LeBron is an all-time great, and you probably have to go through him if you want a championship.

The Clippers are spending on the roster and they've gotten one of the more respected coaches in the league. I hope that he is able to get more out of them than we have previously seen. As of today, I think the Clippers are in the conversation, but still have a lot of questions that will need to be answered.

Does the team have enough to get to the promised land? I'm not really sure. I would love to have another key piece in the front court that can fill in some of the holes, but the other option would be growth from within. We have yet to see the best from Blake who is only entering into his 4th season. If he takes a significant enough leap, then the game is changed. Can DJ (under the guidance of Rivers) become a legitimate defensive anchor?

I'm hoping that the improvement comes from the players that we already have, but the FO will need to be savvy regardless. CP3, BG and Doc are together for at least the next 3 seasons, so there is time, but that's still not a huge window.

[QRich3]

Obviously I want them to win a championship as bad as anyone's ever wanted it, but being realistic, the league has a LOT of talent at the moment, specially in the West. I'm optimistic and I think there's a real possibilty to win it all in the next few years, but as things are looking right now, it'd take a perfect storm, sort of what the Mavericks found a couple years ago.

But, I'm happy enough that (in normal circumstances) we're gonna be a threat to go deep in the playoffs at least until Paul retires. We have a good core, good young players, one of the best players in the league, a coach that knows how to instill a culture, a front office that knows how to build and mantain a great team, and (so far) an owner willing to pony up. We're gonna enter every season for the next few years hoping to win it all, knowing that we're gonna be fighting in the post season and loving every minute of it. That's more that we've been able to in... like forever. Whatever happens I'm gonna be happy with it.

I for one can't wait for the damn training camp to start already!

[Wammy Giveaway]

The Clippers are starting to get it, but they haven't got it yet. As long as the Miami Heat is led by LeBron James A.K.A. Michael Jordan 2.0, the team is invincible; nobody can defeat them. Even if the Clippers make the NBA Finals, media pundits will still find a way to pin this on Blake Griffin: being unable to withstand championship pressure, sacrificing fundamental basketball for selfish highlight reel plays, etc. If their destiny is to become a championship caliber team, they have to tie up loose ends:

1. Break the Clipper Curse: In 1979, Donald Sterling helped Dr. Buss purchase the Laker franchise with a $1 million loan. That is the same thing as the Red Sox selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1918. You never, ever help the enemy in sports. The price for the Red Sox was an 86-year drought of World Series for helping the Yankees. For the Clippers, 40 years of losing for 10 Laker championships. It didn't help that Sterling and Buss became friends after the Laker's first title, with Sterling assisting and Buss scoring. Sterling has finally figured it out, but it took the deaths of Al Davis, his son Scott, and his best friend to get to the point of trading a draft pick for Doc Rivers. If the Clippers want to truly rule the NBA, they must defeat the Lakers in a playoff series once and for all, and there must be a miracle involved. It doesn't have to be a 0-3 miracle comeback, by the way.

Why beat the Lakers? It proves that the Clippers are now looking out for themselves, and have committed to only helping themselves, not others around them.

2. Get another superstar: I predict that the Clips will make the Western Conference Finals, but lose to either the Rockets, Spurs, rival Grizzlies or arch rival Warriors. Of the seven playoff teams, the only team they cannot defeat unless they get another superstar is the Golden State Warriors - Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are more the lethal weapons than Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. But no excuses - Blake Griffin has to improve. If he does to the point where he, not Chris Paul, leads his team to the WCF, next year, the Clips get Carmelo Anthony. Otherwise, the Clips will be forced to trade Blake Griffin for Kevin Durant, and as Clipper fans, you don't want it to come to this. For Blake Griffin to improve and become a true superstar, he must overcome his fear of getting ejected from a game. Chris Paul embraced it on Game 6 of the first round and took it as frustration (which paved the way for a Doc Rivers hiring); Griffin did not. Was he afraid of extra backlash, losing his good reputation, or lose his basketball skills completely like J.R. Smith? If Griffin can realize getting ejected is not the worst thing in the world, and can turn it into fuel and motivation, he will have finally grasped the responsibility of being a true basketball player.

[Quake Griffin]

well...your post was annoying.
so I'm going to ignore it and half the teams u think we'd lose to in the WCF after this sentence.


There's part of me that says this is just a 55 win team that's going to keep me happy for a while but they'll never get past Miami and will occasionally lose in the WC to a team due to injury/ new signee etc. etc. it's the ebb n flow of sports.

But having Doc as a coach is the one move that makes me believe we can actually get one.
my criteria for eventually getting one....in order

1. DeAndre Improvement
2. Blake Improvement
3. Making sure we hit in the 2014 draft.
4. CP3 being healthy and having an amazing post season run.

[50CALguns]

90's Sonics.





(If they don't improve)

[mttwlsn16]

Edit. I did not realize this thread was made before last season, ha

[madmaxmedia]

There's part of me that says this is just a 55 win team that's going to keep me happy for a while but they'll never get past Miami and will occasionally lose in the WC to a team due to injury/ new signee etc. etc. it's the ebb n flow of sports.

But having Doc as a coach is the one move that makes me believe we can actually get one.

This is sorta what I see. There is a silver lining in that SAS get older ever year, OKC is not what they once were and will be hard for them to improve too, and Miami (Wade) gets older every year so I see them getting weaker over time.

Also, I think the potential is definitely there for Blake to improve further. That's the biggest thing, as his game previously was not versatile or dynamic enough as the 1B player (to CP3's 1A) on a real championship contender. But he made great strides last year, and will only get more comfortable with that mid-range jumper.

With those things in mind, I don't think 55 wins and no title is the ceiling for the team, even if it might be the most probable outcome.

[Neddy]

1. Break the Clipper Curse: In 1979, Donald Sterling helped Dr. Buss purchase the Laker franchise with a $1 million loan. That is the same thing as the Red Sox selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1918. You never, ever help the enemy in sports.

what in the world are you talking about? back in 1979 Irv Levin owned the Clips after swapping his Celtics with John Brown's Braves just to move the team to SD. Donald T Scumbag was still just a lowlife slumlord back then who had nothing to do with the NBA.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

I know that Sterling helped Dr Bus buy to the Lakers. As to when it happened, I have no idea. This is just something that I heard.

[50CALguns]

Edit. I did not realize this thread was made before last season, ha

Yeah, my fault, I bump older threads sometimes.