LOS ANGELES — Now, if everyone can get healthy, the pressure’s really on.
The Clippers exited the 2021-22 stage Friday, having fought to an end that wasn’t all that bitter, considering they’d had to play so much of the year without both of their leading men.
With the Clippers’ season-ending 105-101 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans in the Western Conference’s final play-in game, everyone who’d been waiting with bated breath for any whisper about whether Kawhi Leonard might return this postseason got an answer. Nope.
Leonard – a “top five player,” as coach Tyronn Lue reminded everyone Friday night – missed the entire season recovering from surgery to repair a torn right anterior cruciate ligament. And seven-time All-Star Paul George played just 31 regular-season games, sidelined for three months with a torn right elbow ligament, and then for the most important game of the season Friday after entering COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
In their place, the supporting cast performing with resilience and pluck evident in their stirring collection of comeback victories – the Clippers successfully rallied from 24 or more points down four times, more than any NBA team in at least a quarter century – and by their 42-40 ledger, the 11th consecutive winning season for a franchise that formerly was a laughingstock.
Next season, though, finishing anywhere near two games over .500 would be disastrous, so long as the team’s top players are back on the court together.
“We get our main guys back, I mean, we can be dangerous,” Lue said shortly after Friday’s defeat, which marked the first time in his coaching career he’s been part of a staff whose season has ended short of the playoffs.
“Health is part of it. We got to stay healthy, continue to work.”
That work includes roster construction, evaluating how this season’s contributors will best fit around Leonard and George, and deciding how aggressively to address the disparities that existed this season without those guys: rebounding, shot creation, point-of-attack defense … and point guard?
Marcus Morris Sr. thinks so.
“I would say one of our biggest needs is a backup point guard,” said Morris, the veteran forward who averaged 15.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and whose voice was prominent in Clippers’ huddles all season.
“We played a lot of the season without one. T-Mann (Terance Mann) did a great job stepping in, being a backup P.G.; the whole season we didn’t have a backup point guard. That’s probably the biggest thing.”
The Clippers included point guard Eric Bledsoe in the trade to Portland that brought Norman Powell and Robert Covington this season, and rookie point guard Jason Preston never got to play. The second-round pick out of Ohio University missed the entirety of the season rehabbing (while bulking up noticeably) from of a preseason foot injury.
Leonard and George are signed through 2025, but the Clippers have four other free agents, plus Ivica Zubac’s team option and Nicolas Batum’s player option. Covington, an athletic wing, Isaiah Hartenstein, their backup center, and Rodney Hood, a seldom-used veteran, will be unrestricted free agents; Amir Coffey, the dependable spot-duty wing, will be a restricted free agent.
The Clippers have Covington’s bird rights (which they inherited when they acquired him, and which means they can spend over the salary cap to re-sign him). They do not, however, have Hartenstein’s bird rights.
Covington averaged 10.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks in 22 minutes per game since the trade – the fourth time he’s been dealt – brought him to the Clippers. Although he wasn’t in position to commit to anything Friday night, he didn’t hesitate to describe L.A. as a place he’d like to play long-term: “It’s been a great transition, of course I would like to.”
And “of course” he’s thought about how his ball-hawking, deep-threat skill set would mesh with Leonard and George: “The way that we played tonight, we went small (and initiated a short-lived 20-point swing in their favor), imagine PG and Kawhi in that lineup. That’s a lot of versatility, a lot of toughness. That’s a lot of guys that can sit down and guard. They can also make plays.
“Once them guys come back next year, if I’m here, I’m really looking forward to that.”
#ClipperNation! @Holla_At_Rob33 is the ONLY player in the NBA this season to record at least 90 steals and 90 blocks.
pic.twitter.com/eP3d51L9GU
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) April 5, 2022
Hartenstein was the final addition before the season began, beating out Harry Giles III for the 15th roster spot and signing a one-year, $1.7 million deal. Then he beat out veteran Serge Ibaka (who was eventually traded) at backup center. Despite being limited by an ankle injury midway through the season, the always-hustling and happy-to-pass Hartenstein averaged 8.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists 1.1 blocks in 68 games.
Earlier this season, Hartenstein said he too loves L.A. and was appreciative of the opportunity the Clippers gave him: “It’s a tricky situation, but I want to be here. If it’s close money-wise, like, I’m definitely staying. If it’s a big difference, then I’ll have to think about it. But my plan is to play here.”
As for Batum, the 33-year-old Frenchman and fan favorite who seems only ever to be improving defensively? He didn’t have an answer Friday when he was asked about he’ll pick up his option and return for a third season as a Clipper.
But he sure seemed to be thinking about it.
“I love that team … I loved it. I love it here. That coach, those guys,” Batum said Friday. “I mean, it’s tough today, but it’s going to be fun next year … It will be fun next year.”
For a player who enjoys the pressure of championship expectations, then yes, it could be.
That is, of course, the goal, said Covington, who will be entering his 10th NBA season after he went undrafted in 2013 after playing four seasons at Tennessee State.
“Everybody wants to, at the end of the day, go and have a ring on their finger,” Covington said. “The main thing what we do in this whole time that we played, is to win a championship.”
Nico pour trois!
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) April 13, 2022
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