The Los Angeles Clippers season once again ended in disappointment, as they fell to the Dallas Mavericks in six games in the opening round. This marks the third straight year that the Clippers have failed to advance past the first round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Still, according to The Athletic’s Law Murphy and Sam Amick<\/a>, Los Angeles is expected to make a strong push to keep its core together by re-signing Paul George<\/strong><\/a> and James Harden<\/strong><\/a>. George has a player option, and Harden will be an unrestricted free agent.<\/p>\n Even with the Clippers\u2019 latest disappointing finish \u2014 a second consecutive first-round flop that followed their playoff absence back in 2022 \u2014 they are expected to make strong efforts to re-sign both Paul George and James Harden. The thinking, team sources say, is that a team built around the oft-injured [Kawhi] Leonard<\/strong><\/a> simply must have as much elite talent as possible as a way of mitigating the seemingly inevitable injuries that have come to define this Clippers era.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n LA went 51-31 this past season, capturing their first Pacific Division title since 2013-14. George and Leonard played their most games since teaming up. Of course, the Clippers also got Harden early in the season. However, Leonard was limited to 59 minutes in two playoff appearances, both losses for the Clippers, as he posted a -12 plus\/minus.<\/p>\n Los Angeles has posted a winning season in each of the last four seasons and 11 consecutive overall. The Clippers’ 51 victories this past season were their most since 2016-17.<\/p>\n The Clippers were 42-22 with George and Leonard playing this year and are 124-57 when the pair plays together. While the duo’s 68.5% regular season winning percentage is impressive, the Clippers have won only three of their seven playoff series since Leonard and George joined forces. Leonard has played in just four of 19 the Clippers playoff games since tearing his ACL in the semifinals of the 2021 West semis.<\/p>\n Leonard signed a three-year,$154.2 million extension in January; the 32-year-old is signed through 2027. The Clippers, who are moving into the $2 billion Intuit Dome next season, are also in the process of extending coach Ty Lue’s contract, per ESPN’s Adrain Wojnarowski.<\/p>\n While it was thought that Lue would be a candidate for the Los Angeles Lakers job following Darvin Ham’s firing, Wojnarowski downplayed that idea when appearing on NBA Today with Malika Andrews on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t believe it\u2019s realistic based on this: Ty Lue still has a year left on his contract.<\/em> And the Clippers are determined to do a long-term deal with Ty Lue, I\u2019m told. They want him to be their head coach for a very long time. That\u2019s a conversation that will happen after the playoffs are over, but they love the job he did this season. They love the job that he\u2019s done there<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n How realistic is it that Ty Lue could be the next coach of the Lakers? @wojespn<\/a> reports on NBA Today: pic.twitter.com\/70gtJacoNZ<\/a><\/p>\n — Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) May 3, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nLos Angeles Clippers Expected To Make Strong Bids To Keep Two Of Their Stars<\/h2>\n
Clippers Roster and Salary Cap Situation Heading Into The Summer<\/h3>\n
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