{"id":167179,"date":"2025-11-19T11:10:28","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T16:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=167179"},"modified":"2025-11-19T11:10:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T16:10:28","slug":"clippers-face-crossroads-after-going-2-8-in-last-10-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/11\/19\/clippers-face-crossroads-after-going-2-8-in-last-10-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Clippers Face Crossroads After Going 2-8 in Last 10 Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Clippers face a crossroads after suffering their eighth loss in 10 games, following a close defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Clippers Face Crossroads After Going 2-8 in Last 10 Games<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Clippers have played their last eight games without <\/span>Kawhi Leonard<\/span><\/a>, leaving <\/span>James Harden <\/span><\/a>to pick up the scoring duties. <\/span>Harden<\/a> has averaged 28.9 points, 8.4 assists, and 7.3 rebounds <\/span>as the Clippers dropped to a 4-10 record after picking up only one win without Leonard.<\/span><\/p>\n

The past two games have provided heartbreak for the Clippers. Harden missed a game-tying three in Boston and two potential game-winners in Philly, including one where Grimes clearly fouled him<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

At this early stage of the season, the Clippers have to determine their course for the rest of the season. Either stick with the squad and go all-in on this year, risking injuries and a potential giveaway of a lottery pick to the <\/span>Oklahoma City Thunder<\/span><\/a>, or blow it all up, putting an end to Leonard or Harden\u2019s time in Los Angeles, to build on the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

Championship or Bust<\/b><\/h3>\n

If owner Steve Ballmer does decide to stick with the core of Harden and Leonard, he would have to make moves that would fill the hole of the team\u2019s third scoring option. Before the season, the front office decided to gamble by trading away the team\u2019s third-leading scorer in <\/span>Norman Powell<\/span><\/a>, for<\/span> John Collins<\/span><\/a>. They made further moves with hopes of matching Powell\u2019s production by signing <\/span>Bradley Beal<\/span><\/a>, but <\/span>almost everyone can agree that the move did not pan out<\/a> the way Ballmer and co. expected due to Beal\u2019s fractured hip<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Further moves need to be made to strengthen the team\u2019s bench. Yes, the emergence of<\/span> Kobe Sanders<\/span><\/a>, who has averaged 10.0 points, 1.8 assists, and 2.3 rebounds in the last eight games, as a reliable wing has certainly alleviated some depth concerns, alongside <\/span>Cam Christie<\/span><\/a>. But the injury to<\/span> Derrick Jones Jr.<\/span><\/a>, as well as <\/span>Brook Lopez<\/span><\/a>\u2019s struggles in defending the paint, have exacerbated the need for another big man to reinforce the paint.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Any trade will likely involve Collins or <\/span>Bogdan Bogdanovic<\/span><\/a> and either of the team\u2019s first-round picks in 2030 or 2031. A steep price for what must be a player that can bring immediate impact to the roster, and keep the team\u2019s championship hopes alive this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

End of an Era<\/b><\/h3>\n

By blowing the roster up, Ballmer \u2013 directly or indirectly \u2013 is waving the white flag on the team\u2019s current era with Leonard, which began with the deal to acquire <\/span>Paul George<\/span><\/a> from the Thunder for <\/span>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It will be a tremendous rebuild for the <\/span>Clippers<\/span><\/a>, who have no first-rounder for what could be a deep draft class this year. <\/span>According to Spotrac\u2019s Keith Smith<\/span><\/a>, the Clippers are projected to have $67.7 million in cap space this offseason as Smith awaits a \u201chard reset\u201d for the franchise.<\/span><\/p>\n

With Harden\u2019s exceptional play so far alongside Leonard\u2019s always-present trade value, there is some room for the Clippers to maneuver in the trade market. Much so if they also decide to deal Ivica Zubac, <\/span>who has three years left on his $58.6 million contract<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It may be bittersweet for Clippers fans to see their long-time core dealt away, but with the team struggling and the futures of Leonard and Harden unclear, they might accept that starting the rebuild now is better than waiting for the offseason.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Bill Streicher-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Clippers face a crossroads after suffering their eighth loss in 10 games, following a close defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday. Clippers Face Crossroads After Going 2-8 in Last 10 Games The Clippers have played their last eight games without Kawhi Leonard, leaving James Harden to pick up the scoring duties. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5669,"featured_media":167195,"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":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,27,62],"tags":[749,444,168],"class_list":["post-167179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-clippers","category-nba","tag-derrick-jones-jr","tag-james-harden","tag-kawhi-leonard"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167179","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\/5669"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167179"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167196,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167179\/revisions\/167196"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}