Los Angeles Clippers, the league’s biggest villain, the man behind the Thunder’s success

From the perspective of a bystander, when did this Clippers "die"?

It will probably end in the 2021 semifinals against the Jazz G4.

Leonard was reimbursed for the season due to a knee injury, and has since entered the era of "not playing".

Although Paul George played his strongest performance during the Clippers period, leading the team to win the league's first-place Utah Jazz that year, and leading the Clippers to the conference finals for the first and only time in history, they ultimately lost to the Suns, who had a better staff.

At that time, many people thought this was just a small setback in climbing up, but unexpectedly, it was already the peak.

Now that the Thunder are leading the league, to a certain extent, all of this should belong to the Clippers.

Their team leader Alexander and second player Jaylen Williams are both assets from the Clippers in Paul George's big deal. It's still punishing the Clippers even now.

The last bargaining chip in this deal is the Clippers' 2026 first-round pick.

In other words, the current Clippers are not even qualified to be bad. The worse they play this season, the higher this first-round pick will go.

The Thunder can even completely replicate the spectacle of the Lakers winning the championship in 1982 and selecting the No. 1 pick (that year they acquired the future third-leading player, "Cobra" James Worthy).

It can be said that the current dominance of the Thunder in the league was created jointly by them and the Clippers. Without the Clippers' help in the snow and tearful takeover in 2019, there would be no Thunder today.

However, what about the Clippers?

After the 2021 Western Conference Finals, they have been sentenced to death.

Leonard has been suffering from strange illnesses since then, and Paul George has lost his temper.

In fact, they did not enter the playoffs in the 21-22 season. Leonard was reimbursed for the entire season, and Paul George was diagnosed with a positive test the night before the play-offs and was suspended.

Then there is a familiar plot.

Westbrook was acquired in the 22-23 season, but Leonard and George were both reimbursed in the playoffs.

Harden came in the 23-24 season, but the three of them couldn't stop the Eastern European combination.

The championship window period for the Kajiao combination is actually the 19-21 seasons. After missing it, they have been unable to keep up with the top players in the Western Conference. In the last few years, it has been more like hanging on to survive.

Among them, the biggest victim became James Harden.

Leonard has already won two championships and gained fame and fortune. The team could have got rid of him at the end of last season, but unexpectedly, they unexpectedly sent him a three-year, 150 million contract to bind the future.

This is an era when even the Lakers can reject James. Considering Leonard has accomplished nothing with the Clippers over the years, if it weren't for the fact that they all have the same shit in their pants and have dirty deeds behind their backs, it's really hard to understand why the Clippers would continue to support him for three years.

Just imagine last season, just get rid of Paul George and let Harden take charge of the ball. Powell and Zubac split the remaining opportunities and reached their peak respectively.

If Leonard had been sent away at that time, even if they had signed a contract with a shorter term and lower salary, the Clippers would not be as stretched as they are today.

Now, the Clippers have entered the most difficult position.

Charge upwards. Not to mention the Thunder, which is so high above, even the Nuggets and Rockets are insurmountable mountains. Even the Lakers and Warriors can come up and step on them (the Warriors have already stepped on them).

Just lie down, they have no qualifications at all.

Not only is the first round in 2026 in the hands of the Thunder, but the Thunder also has the right to trade the first round in 2027. The first round in 2028 and the first round swap in 2029 are in the hands of the 76ers due to the trade of Harden.

To put it simply, in the next four years, the Clippers have no right to lie flat and fail. Even if they get the No. 1 pick, they will be working for the Thunder and 76ers.

In our words, it is not even when you lie down, and it cannot be rolled up again.

If the Clippers had won a championship in the past few years, they could at least comfort themselves. For example, the Lakers got Big Eyebrows and gave away a lot of first-round picks, but because they won the championship when they came, no one took them as an easy target.

The Clippers are different. Not only did they send out their best player asset (Alexander) in the next few years and a first-round pick that extends to seven years for the so-called "win now", they almost locked their own future.

Even if Ibaka, Powell, Covington, Batum, Westbrook, and Harden are introduced later, some of them will be covered up by a mistake, and some, even if they make money, will not affect the overall trend, which is better than nothing.

Looking at it over the years, perhaps the one who really "made a profit" was buying Zubac from the Lakers.

The only suspense for the Clippers this season is probably whether they will send Harden away.

He and Zubac are the only valuable positive assets at present, but the probability of getting a first-round pick from the Thunder and 76ers is very slim.

The only possibility of sending Harden away is probably that a team in urgent need of vacancies is willing to provide the Clippers with a first-round pick and young immediate strength for semi-reconstruction, or a team that needs to invest in the inside needs Zubac to increase its strength.

As for Harden's future, which everyone is most concerned about, it actually does not depend on him. After all, Harden does not have the power to veto transactions.

Harden and the Clippers have actually reached a dead end.