The Athletic: NBA execs around the league expect the gap between Clippers and Lakers to be significant

[bon]

Are Clippers fans trying to argue that a guy that got locked up by Joe Ingles is a better playoff performer than AD?

Holy hell

[Asianiac_24]

Problem for the Lakers is that LeBron is 35 and they play in the West at one of its strongest point ever. Every RS game matters and every playoff round is a grind, it’s not the East anymore where in most years he can coast all the way to the Finals.

[OkcSinceSGA]

Are Clippers fans trying to argue that a guy that got locked up by Joe Ingles is a better playoff performer than AD?

Holy hell

Nobody in here argued that PG is a better playoff performer necessarily. The bigger thing is he's nowhere near as bad as people make him out to be either. Two back to back seasons in playoffs on a poorly constructed team with **** coaching he put up an inefficient 25/8/4 or whatever in the playoffs. Not good due to efficiency, but not like he was a total scrub. Also he faced the #1 defense in the Jazz two years ago and last year faced the Blazers whom were middle of pack defensively in RS BUT the 8th best in the playoffs, and both teams were just a horrible H2H and exposed OKC.

[Official]

Anthony Davis and Lebron James are better than Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. That is not even debatable. Depth goes to the Clippers on paper but I wouldn't be surprised if the Lakers surprise some people there. I doubt anyone was raving about the Clippers great depth going into last season....and look what happened.

[Official]

Are Clippers fans trying to argue that a guy that got locked up by Joe Ingles is a better playoff performer than AD?

Holy hell

Every Clipper fan would trade PG for AD regardless of age - tells you all you need to know.

[Don Ford]

Anthony Davis bulked up to 250 ish for like half a season, then admitted he had trouble keeping the weight on and lost a lot of it. At most he's 240-245. Kawhi is definitely heavier IMO, or at least about the same weight. Lebron IS more like 265-270 so he's bigger than Kawhi. I posted a Spurs article quote with the source being the training staff that worked with Kawhi in the weight room daily. They said he was 250. It's not farfetched dude. Also it wasn't a guess. The training staff said "Kawhi, whom was around 250 lbs at the time". That's not a guess in the sense you're using it. It means he's either 250 lbs or very close to. You don't say "someone is around 250 lbs" and they actually weigh 230. Hell it could mean he weighs slightly more, who knows. Bottom line is... in practice and in interviews lately my first thought was holy **** that dude looks huge.

His shoulders, arms, hands, calves look more broad than Blake Griffin who was 255-265 ish, albeit on a 2 inch taller frame. He made PG look like a twig standing next to him and looked bigger than Harrell in every way besides height maybe, who is listed at 250-255 ish.

You say all of this to say what exactly?

That Kawhi will shut down AD on the interior?

LOL

He will not, I don’t care if he is 250 (he is not). Davis is not the type of player that Kawhi will effect with his brand of defense. AD is essentially a garbage man, an opportunist and an off ball finisher. His attack is not to iso or to post up his man (with frequency). He is going to be picking and popping, picking and rolling, tipping in misses and catching lobs and drop passes.

He could drop an efficient 25 on Kawhi without ever being isolated, posted, or even featured in the action. He could get 20 and 15 purely off of scraps and spot ups.

Giannis and he are two completely different animals.

The biggest effect Kawhi would have on him would be to cut off his drives and switch off of him onto LeBron to help mitigate that pick and roll (somewhat). Kawhi is disruptive, so I have no doubt he will have an effect. The problem will be that LeBron will hit AD off of that roll, once the switch occurs, and he will be guarded by a George or some guard while he dives to the bucket.

Good luck with that.

No, it was just a tangent. I'm saying Kawhi wouldn't get killed as bad as people think when the Clippers run smaller. He would physically abuse AD and is stronger than AD, although AD will still get his due to his skill set/length. I don't think we will see the matchup often. In the same way that AD would get killed trying to guard Kawhi, even if he plays good D. Someone else randomly brought it up, I took the bait.

Nonetheless... Any of these 4 guys aren't going to be locked up by each other probably. PG is the weakest link of the 4 in the playoffs most likely, but the team OUTSIDE of the 4 stars is where the Lakers get taken to the woodshed. When it goes bench vs bench it's not going to be pretty for them.

Kawhi is going to physically abuse AD, I have officially heard everything now.

[OkcSinceSGA]

Are Clippers fans trying to argue that a guy that got locked up by Joe Ingles is a better playoff performer than AD?

Holy hell

Every Clipper fan would trade PG for AD regardless of age - tells you all you need to know.

"Regardless of age" is silly when much of his value over PG IS the fact that he's still only barely turned 26 recently. You will get more years out of him as a superstar. That being said, wings tend to win championships in recent years and I can't recall the last time a team won a title with a superstar big as it's main guy. Jokic dominated last year, but Embiid for example has had playoff struggles. AD has been really good, but only in small samples and defensively has been inconsistent. PG was better than AD last year when you look at both ends, that's all you need to know. Both guys are in their peak, so let's see what happens. In general, I'd say PG is most likely to be the worst of the 4, but it's closer than you think with AD at this moment.

[OkcSinceSGA]

You say all of this to say what exactly?

That Kawhi will shut down AD on the interior?

LOL

He will not, I don’t care if he is 250 (he is not). Davis is not the type of player that Kawhi will effect with his brand of defense. AD is essentially a garbage man, an opportunist and an off ball finisher. His attack is not to iso or to post up his man (with frequency). He is going to be picking and popping, picking and rolling, tipping in misses and catching lobs and drop passes.

He could drop an efficient 25 on Kawhi without ever being isolated, posted, or even featured in the action. He could get 20 and 15 purely off of scraps and spot ups.

Giannis and he are two completely different animals.

The biggest effect Kawhi would have on him would be to cut off his drives and switch off of him onto LeBron to help mitigate that pick and roll (somewhat). Kawhi is disruptive, so I have no doubt he will have an effect. The problem will be that LeBron will hit AD off of that roll, once the switch occurs, and he will be guarded by a George or some guard while he dives to the bucket.

Good luck with that.

No, it was just a tangent. I'm saying Kawhi wouldn't get killed as bad as people think when the Clippers run smaller. He would physically abuse AD and is stronger than AD, although AD will still get his due to his skill set/length. I don't think we will see the matchup often. In the same way that AD would get killed trying to guard Kawhi, even if he plays good D. Someone else randomly brought it up, I took the bait.

Nonetheless... Any of these 4 guys aren't going to be locked up by each other probably. PG is the weakest link of the 4 in the playoffs most likely, but the team OUTSIDE of the 4 stars is where the Lakers get taken to the woodshed. When it goes bench vs bench it's not going to be pretty for them.

Kawhi is going to physically abuse AD, I have officially heard everything now.

"Would". Physically Kawhi is stronger and would have AD begging for the locker room like he does 2-3 times a week already from minor bangs and bruises. He would manhandle him. AD will rely on lobs and shooting long jumpers because he doesn't want to feel Kawhi's hard body pressing up against his skeleton frame.

[Bigfactsstackz]

No, it was just a tangent. I'm saying Kawhi wouldn't get killed as bad as people think when the Clippers run smaller. He would physically abuse AD and is stronger than AD, although AD will still get his due to his skill set/length. I don't think we will see the matchup often. In the same way that AD would get killed trying to guard Kawhi, even if he plays good D. Someone else randomly brought it up, I took the bait.

Nonetheless... Any of these 4 guys aren't going to be locked up by each other probably. PG is the weakest link of the 4 in the playoffs most likely, but the team OUTSIDE of the 4 stars is where the Lakers get taken to the woodshed. When it goes bench vs bench it's not going to be pretty for them.

Kawhi is going to physically abuse AD, I have officially heard everything now.

"Would". Physically Kawhi is stronger and would have AD begging for the locker room like he does 2-3 times a week already from minor bangs and bruises. He would manhandle him. AD will rely on lobs and shooting long jumpers because he doesn't want to feel Kawhi's hard body pressing up against his skeleton frame.

Bro AD is a big he frequently bangs with guys bigger then Kawhi I’m not sure if your being serious

[Yogatti]

Bro AD is a big he frequently bangs with guys bigger then Kawhi I’m not sure if your being serious

https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2019/7/13/20693254/lakers-anthony-davis-doesnt-want-play-center-rob-pelinka-introduction-stats-lebron-james-star-power

No you're wrong. He doesn't want to play center just so he can avoid the physicality the center position faces. He plays soft

[OkcSinceSGA]

Kawhi is going to physically abuse AD, I have officially heard everything now.

"Would". Physically Kawhi is stronger and would have AD begging for the locker room like he does 2-3 times a week already from minor bangs and bruises. He would manhandle him. AD will rely on lobs and shooting long jumpers because he doesn't want to feel Kawhi's hard body pressing up against his skeleton frame.

Bro AD is a big he frequently bangs with guys bigger then Kawhi I’m not sure if your being serious

Depends. Are you parking his wheel chair near the basket for his frequent locker room trips so he can come back out in the 2nd half?

[OkcSinceSGA]

Bro AD is a big he frequently bangs with guys bigger then Kawhi I’m not sure if your being serious

https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2019/7/13/20693254/lakers-anthony-davis-doesnt-want-play-center-rob-pelinka-introduction-stats-lebron-james-star-power

No you're wrong. He doesn't want to play center just so he can avoid the physicality the center position faces. He plays soft

FAXS. He has come out like 4 times and cried about the physicality at the 5. Not to mention his offensive game is basically cuts, lobs and face up. He avoids banging in the post at literally all costs. He's Charmin.

[Yogatti]

Depends. Are you parking his wheel chair near the basket for his frequent locker room trips so he can come back out in the 2nd half?

[NO-KG-AI]

almost 30 with Draymond guarding him in 2 series.

2015: Warriors swept the Pelicans

2018: Warriors beat the Pelicans 4-1.

Yeah AD sure put up a fight in both of those series

Do the Pelicans lose those series if he has LeBron on his team going for 27/7/7 while he's also going for 27? Silly point you're trying to make using team failure like that, especially since PG has been bounced in the first round the last two seasons.

B-b-b-b-b-ut... PLAYOFF P

[hoosierdaddy34]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, both teams have flaws and will be active in the buyout season.

Lakers have perimeter defense issues. Also finding a starting 1 that can defend and play off LeBron/AD.

The Clippers aren’t very good inside. I don’t see Zubac, Harrell and Green getting it done. Also have only one average level passer for their position on the team, PG. They are a poor passing team at this point. I have a feeling they are going to be a heavy ISO team which becomes a lot easier to stop in the playoffs. They need a more traditional point guard that can be a playmaker for others and also hit a jumper.

So I expect both these teams to have new faces by March and this question will be a lot more clear at that time.

[hoosierdaddy34]

"Would". Physically Kawhi is stronger and would have AD begging for the locker room like he does 2-3 times a week already from minor bangs and bruises. He would manhandle him. AD will rely on lobs and shooting long jumpers because he doesn't want to feel Kawhi's hard body pressing up against his skeleton frame.

Bro AD is a big he frequently bangs with guys bigger then Kawhi I’m not sure if your being serious

Depends. Are you parking his wheel chair near the basket for his frequent locker room trips so he can come back out in the 2nd half?

Yeah I don’t think either team can exactly talk much about injury risk. Kawhi is a year removed from playing 6 games and officially changed his middle name to “load management”. While PG had surgery on BOTH of his shoulders. LeBron is 72 years old. Hell AD may be the least injury risk of them all. This category is a wash.

[infinite11285]

28 more days to go...

[dantheman74]

How do NBA execs get these jobs?

The fit on the Lakers is better than the Clippers but the Clippers have more talent from 1 to 8. The Lakers defense will be better, the Clippers offense will be better. I would say Clippers are slight favorites because they are younger.

did you get the names around the wrong way or serious? How is a team with P.Bev/Kawhi/PG worse defensively than the Lakers?

[Toby_White]

...as does Paul George.

Paul George was going toe to toe against prime Lebron/Big 3 Heat in the ECFs. He's made the playoffs most of his career

AD's only been in the playoffs twice his entire career. One ended up getting swept. The other he only managed to win 1 playoff game before getting eliminated.

LMAO

You may as well work for Fox News with this level of spin, PG loses to LeBron so it's no big deal, nevermind the Jazz and Joe Ingles killing him 2 years ago, or Lillard waving goodbye last year. But, AD is to blame for losing to the Warriors though...unreal.

Man this guy has the best Logic ive ever seen

[Toby_White]

How do NBA execs get these jobs?

The fit on the Lakers is better than the Clippers but the Clippers have more talent from 1 to 8. The Lakers defense will be better, the Clippers offense will be better. I would say Clippers are slight favorites because they are younger.

did you get the names around the wrong way or serious? How is a team with P.Bev/Kawhi/PG worse defensively than the Lakers?

I´m also thinking about this for 10 minutes now. No way anyone thinks that Defense of all things, will be a plus for the Lakers against the Clippers.