LA Clippers

5 reasons the Los Angeles Clippers shouldn't 'blow it up'

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:55 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Gerald Bourguet/FanSided via Hoops Habit

Apr 12, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) and guard Chris Paul (3) react during a NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings at Staples Center. The Clippers defeated the Kings 115-95. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

After falling short in the playoffs yet again, the Los Angeles Clippers are facing their most important offseason in franchise history. Here's why they shouldn't "blow it up."

Whenever a team with star power fails to bring home a championship, the natural inclination from fans is to see them "blow it up."

It hurts to see talented players fail over and over again when the lights are at their brightest. It brings relief to see those kinds of teams give up and move on, even if it's not always to bigger and better things. Deep down, most fans even enjoy watching title contenders fold, getting some sort of sick satisfaction from superstars repeatedly falling on their faces.

Few teams have exemplified this in recent memory better than the Los Angeles Clippers, a championship-caliber team that becomes the recurring laughingstock of the league every year once the playoffs roll around.

We'll put it this way: The Toronto Raptors must be damn glad the Clippers exist to take the focus off their own postseason shortcomings.

With their Big Three failing for six straight seasons now, plus Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick heading for free agency this summer, it's perfectly understandable why there's so much external and internal pressure on the Clippers to blow it up.

Here are five reasons why they shouldn't do it.

April 18, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers speaks with guard Chris Paul (3) against the Utah Jazz during the first half in game two of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

5. Clippers might just need a tweak, not a blow-up

After so many regular season win, season-altering injuries and postseason disappointments, it's natural to want to close the door on the Lob City era of Clippers basketball. But it's also worth noting that Los Angeles' Big Three is one of the NBA's best cores. Maybe what it needs is a new captain at the helm?

Nothing against Doc Rivers, but his time as the head coach — and especially as general manager — has left much to be desired. He won a championship with the Boston Celtics and a Coach of the Year award with the Orlando Magic, but that was a long time ago.

With the Clippers, his teams have underwhelmed, underperformed and underachieved year after year. The blame doesn't lie solely with him, but his constant complaining about officials and incessant need to portray his team as victims doesn't set the best example.

The Clippers have looked mentally weak in close playoff games for years, and their reputation as one of the NBA's biggest bunch of whiners certainly doesn't help that perception. At some point, a change of leadership is needed, even when the current coach in question has a history of success.

Rivers is the reason the Clippers find themselves devoid of cap space, future first round picks AND bench contributors. He's part of the Clippers' recent success, but he's also helped build a culture of falling short in the playoffs year after year.

A change-up is needed, and Doc was supposed to be that change after Vinny Del Negro. But rather than exile talented players, why not try swinging for Mark Jackson-to-Steve Kerr kind of upgrade once more?

April 18, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) speaks with Los Angeles Clippers guard JJ Redick (4) during a time out against the Utah Jazz in the second half in game two of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

4. This is the best era of Clippers basketball in franchise history

For more illustrious franchises, this wouldn't even be a question. After six straight postseason failures, each more ill-fated than the last, it'd be a pretty easy decision to move on from a core that never made a conference finals appearance, let alone one in the NBA Finals.

But for the Los Angeles Clippers, blowing up this team would mean turning their backs on the most successful era in franchise history.

Before Chris Paul's first full season in Los Angeles, the Clippers had an all-time win percentage of .367 over 41 years. They made the playoffs just seven times, didn't reach 50 wins in a single season and posted a 24-34 playoff record (.414) in that span.

In the last five seasons with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, Lob City compiled a 273-137 regular season record (.666), won 50+ games all five times and won nearly as many playoff games (20) as the franchise had in the 41 years prior (24).

Is it any surprise this franchise would be hesitant to pull the plug on a star-powered group and risk plunging the Clippers back into dark, obscure and irrelevant territory once again?

For the first time ever, the Clippers have handily established themselves as the superior team in L.A. Their continuous shortcomings in the playoffs have become a running joke compared to the Lakers and their 16 championship banners, but there's something to be said for sustained success in this league, even without championship rings attached.

Apr 23, 2017; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; LA Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) gives a thumbs up to the referee after getting called for a foul against the Utah Jazz during the second quarter in game four of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

3. Can they finally catch a playoff break?

Resisting the urge to blow the Clippers up isn't just because they have a s****y history and should desperately cling to the success they've found. It's also about how many terrible breaks and heartbreaking collapses they've endured when they've been so close to legitimately contending.

Forget what you've heard about Griffin being soft or CP3 being a choke artist, because no one ever wants to tell the full story. All they care about are depressing accomplishments like this:

In 2013, the Clippers lost in the first round as the higher seed, but Vinny Del Negro's questionable rotations were a huge part of the problem.

2014 still stings for Clippers fans, but even if CP3 owned up to his team's unforgettable Game 5 collapse against the Oklahoma City Thunder, a few questionable calls — the botched out of bounds call that should've given the Clippers the ball back with 11.8 seconds left, not to mention Paul's foul on a Russell Westbrook three-point attempt — were the turning points.

That Game 5 loss cost Lob City its chance at a 3-2 lead over the higher-seeded Thunder and they never recovered, but people also forget that the whole Donald Sterling controversy was a huge distraction at the time.

In 2015, the Clippers undoubtedly choked against the Houston Rockets, who won as many games as Lob City but earned home-court advantage via the tiebreaker. No one will ever forget that haunting Game 6 meltdown that saw a 19-point lead shrivel to a 12-point defeat, right when the Clippers were on the cusp of their first conference finals.

But people do forget that CP3 missed the first two games of the series, and despite being banged up for the next five games, still managed to post 33 points, 11 assists and seven boards in the Game 6 collapse — plus a 26-10-5-4 line in the Game 7 defeat on the road.

In 2016, injury struck again with both Griffin AND Paul being sidelined in the Clippers' first round defeat against the Portland Trail Blazers. In 2017, Paul lost his star sidekick once again in the first round, but still managed to singlehandedly drag his team to a Game 7.

You could make a case that Griffin isn't fit for long playoff runs, but don't forget in his last healthy postseason (2015), he averaged a gargantuan 25.5 points, 12.7 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 steals per game.

You could also make a case that CP3 "choked" in Game 5 of the 2014 NBA Playoffs and in Game 6 in 2015, but doing so would be taking a one or two-game sample size and overlooking the overwhelming body of evidence that testifies to his greatness as a playoff performer.

At some point, you have to determine whether a team has just been unlucky or whether it's snake-bitten. Maybe Griffin can't stay healthy long enough for the Clippers to make a real playoff run. Maybe CP3 is cursed when it comes to the conference finals. And maybe they'll never get past the Warriors, Spurs or even the Rockets in the West now. The window may be closed already.

But to say anyone knows that decisively is another matter. Injuries shake up the playoff picture every year. San Antonio's core is getting older. The Rockets fell off the map the last time they had an overachieving season like they just did in 2016-17. The Warriors aren't going anywhere, but again, one injury could change everything, as the Clippers could easily tell you.

Hoping for some sort of injury luck isn't the most convincing reason to keep this core intact by paying millions of luxury tax dollars, but for a historically unsuccessful franchise that keeps coming up short, the question of when fortune will finally be on their side is one worth asking.

Mar 30, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) and guard Chris Paul (3) against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Clippers defeated the Suns 124-118. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

2. 'Blowing it up' is not in the Clippers' hands anyway

Even if you disagree with all of this, even if you don't think the Clippers were ever a title contender or that they'll ever catch a break in the Western Conference, and even if you don't care about how gloomy their past is, here's the thing about "blowing it up": That decision isn't even in the Clippers' hands. Not in the slightest.

Chris Paul has an early termination option this summer, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent. Blake Griffin also has an early termination option and J.J. Redick's contract comes off the books entirely, meaning three of the Clippers' four best players could be unrestricted free agents this summer.

Where in that scenario does anyone get the idea that the Clippers have complete control over their own situation?

For the Clippers to "blow it up" this summer, that'd essentially mean letting CP3, Griffin and Redick walk in free agency without getting anything in return — a depressing and exceedingly dumb alternative compared to trying to re-sign at least CP3 and Griffin.

Retaining all three would force owner Steve Ballmer to pay millions of luxury tax dollars, which may not be a high priority for him after watching this team collapse so many times…and hearing what Redick — who disappeared in the playoffs — had to say about the state of the team.

But as unhappy as Redick may have been with the Clippers' season, Lob City still has a decent chance of keeping its two best players. The Clips can offer Paul an excess of $200 million thanks to the new collective bargaining agreement he himself helped negotiate.

Maybe finding playoff success with the Spurs or returning to New Orleans to form a new Big Three with Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins would appeal to CP3, but a five-year, $205 million deal with the Clippers is a lot to turn down compared to four years and $152 million from another team.

As for Griffin, he could return to his old stomping grounds in Oklahoma to join Russell Westbrook, or he could fill a gaping hole at power forward for the Celtics. But a star of his stature also loves L.A., and after he and CP3 spent so much energy getting DeAndre Jordan to re-up with the Clippers, turning down a max bid from Lob City might not be in his best interest.

His recent surgery and injury history may also deter some teams from dishing out a max deal (four years, $130 million) like the one the Clippers will reportedly try to offer him in free agency (five years, $175 million).

Redick is almost certainly gone, and barring some sort of Doc Rivers managerial magic that we've never seen before, this team will probably be worse in 2017-18. But blowing it up is not actually an option for the Clippers unless you consider "turning your back on another 50-win team just to let legitimate assets go for nothing" to be an option.

Nov 18, 2016; Sacramento, CA, USA; LA Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) huddles with guard Chris Paul (3) and center DeAndre Jordan (6) and forward Luc Mbah a Moute (12) and guard J.J. Redick (4) during the second half against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. The Clippers defeated the Kings 121-115. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

1. A true rebuild comes through re-signing

If the Clippers truly want to blow this core up without sacrificing their chance at a brighter future, it starts with re-signing as many of their major free agents as possible.

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Let's say everyone agrees this group isn't going to get the job done. Rather than letting their free agents leave in free agency with zero compensation, the only way the Clippers don't come out of this as complete losers is if they can retain CP3 and Griffin so they can trade them later on down the road for actual assets.

Thanks to Doc Rivers, the Clippers owe the Toronto Raptors their 2017 first round draft pick, plus a 2019 first-rounder to the Boston Celtics. What better way to refill the draft cupboard than locking in Paul and Griffin to long-term deals and trading them later on for future draft picks and young talent?

Other than Austin Rivers and Diamond Stone, the Clippers are pretty much devoid of young assets. Letting their stars walk does nothing but condemn them to more losing seasons, with only a 2018 first-rounder to look forward to in the short-term and zero compensation for players who would fetch quite a haul on the trade market.

As long as Paul and Griffin don't push for no-trade clauses, re-signing them this summer gives the Clippers another potential chance to salvage the Lob City era. Whether it's 2018 or 2019, the option to blow it up and actually build something from the ashes will still be there through the trade market.

Moving those kinds of massive salaries — especially for a pair of injury-prone players — would present another challenge down the road, but it's a far better solution than the asinine "blow it up" alternative that's been suggested. Even if the Lob City era really is over, the Los Angeles Clippers are pretty much boxed in to keeping the band together unless they want to lose everything for virtually nothing.

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