{"id":114613,"date":"2024-12-29T07:00:36","date_gmt":"2024-12-29T12:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=114613"},"modified":"2024-12-28T20:15:51","modified_gmt":"2024-12-29T01:15:51","slug":"la-clippers-new-years-resolutions-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/29\/la-clippers-new-years-resolutions-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"LA Clippers&#8217; New Year&#8217;s Resolutions for 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As 2025 approaches, the LA Clippers look to excel in the new year. What can LA do with its current roster and future look come playoff time? <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0The Clippers have been on a rollercoaster throughout the season so far. Some of the biggest headlines the LA Clippers have faced this season include consistency, health, and performing against quality teams. To discuss the team&#8217;s potential wants and needs, here is a list of Clippers&#8217; New Year\u2019s r<\/span>esolutions\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>LA Clippers&#8217; New Year&#8217;s\u00a0Resolutions\u00a0for 2025<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Head coach <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/coaches\/luety01c.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyronn Lue<\/a> has the Clippers in a great position with the resources he currently has, whether it&#8217;s the spectacular play from his players, to the fantastic coaching on the bench on both sides of the ball. With the current depth of players for Ty Lue, it\u2019s crucial to know that the right things are falling into place. The team\u2019s chemistry has also been accelerating at the right time going into 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Ivica Zubac on the chemistry of this Clippers team:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s great, it\u2019s amazing. Bunch of guys that love playing with each other, that support each other. Brotherhood. It\u2019s a joy to go out there and play with them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joeylinn_\/status\/1871400764196937801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 24, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>New Year\u2019s Resolutions for\u00a0Players in 2025<\/h3>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Kawhi Leonard: Stay Healthy <\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/leonaka01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kawhi Leonard<\/a> will be returning to the Clippers as 2025 opens its doors. It\u2019s only a matter of time until Los Angeles sees the return of its superstar from a lengthy knee injury. There was a potential opportunity for Leonard to return to Friday\u2019s matchup against the Golden State Warriors. Instead,\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/27\/clippers-target-date-kawhi-leonard-return\/#google_vignette\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leonard will return at home<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on January 4th against the Atlanta Hawks, which is the date circled for Clippers fans. Ultimately, Kawhi remaining healthy will be central to the Clippers&#8217; success in 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Norman Powell: Win Most Improved Player<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/powelno01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Norman Powell<\/a> has played an excellent role in filling in for Kawhi Leonard. He\u2019s done an exceptional job shooting for the Clippers, which has brought the team to a winning record. Averaging 24 points a game and having a career year in field goal percentage and behind the arc, Powell has truly stepped up in Ty Lue\u2019s squad. This surprising scoring jump from 13.9 points last season puts Powell in a great position to win Most Improved Player.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>James Harden: Lead the Clippers to the Playoffs<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This isn\u2019t the same prime <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hardeja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">James Harden<\/a> we\u2019ve seen in Houston, but still, Harden wants to win more than anything. Whether it\u2019s distributing the basketball or making the tough shots towards the end of the game, Harden has stepped up for himself with LA. Averaging 21.9 points and 8.1 assists per game, he\u2019s taking it upon himself to lead this Clippers team into April and deep into May. With Kawhi&#8217;s injury problems, the Clippers will be counting on Harden to maintain this level of play even once he returns.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Ivica Zubac: Maintain his Career Season<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s fascinating to see <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/z\/zubaciv01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ivica\u00a0Zubac<\/a> perform when he\u2019s at his very best in the paint. Starting every game this season, Zubac is averaging 15.2 points and 12.5 rebounds, currently on pace to be his career best. Zubac has never averaged double-digit rebounds in a season, but the Clippers are hopeful that Zubac can <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/15\/ivica-zubac-career-year\/\" target=\"_self\">maintain this pace<\/a> into the second half of the season.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>2025 Playoffs<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Playoffs are a must for the Clippers.<\/span><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"> As the middle of the season nears, the Clippers are in a <\/span><a style=\"font-size: 16px;\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/22\/can-la-clippers-stay-consistent\/\" target=\"_self\">comfortable spot in the west<\/a><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"> at this time of year. Currently, the Clippers are 18-13 through and sit fifth in the Western Conference. With a record slightly over .500, LA leads the Pacific division just ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers. <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the LA Clippers can continue their progress while only getting better in the process with a Kawhi return and a possible trade at the deadline, LA can look very scary come playoff time in 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Clippers won&#8217;t have the same lofty playoff expectations as in years past. However, winning at least one playoff series feels like an attainable goal and perhaps they go beyond that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As 2025 approaches, the LA Clippers look to excel in the new year. What can LA do with its current roster and future look come playoff time? \u00a0The Clippers have been on a rollercoaster throughout the season so far. Some of the biggest headlines the LA Clippers have faced this season include consistency, health, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5365,"featured_media":114684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,27,62],"tags":[4549,1594,652,444,168,716,2282,612,457],"class_list":["post-114613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-clippers","category-nba","tag-bones-hyland","tag-collin-sexton","tag-ivica-zubac","tag-james-harden","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-norman-powell","tag-pj-tucker","tag-tyronn-lue","tag-zach-lavine"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5365"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114613"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114685,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114613\/revisions\/114685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}