It appears the Clippers’ chance at contending for a title this season is over.
That is, if you’re asking Kawhi Leonard.
Following Thursday’s 115-114 victory over the Nuggets in which Jamal Murray missed a game-tying free throw with less than a second left, Leonard spoke postgame and made some damning comments about the state of the franchise.
When asked what the Clippers need to do to become contenders, Leonard replied, “Just development over time. I think it’s over now. It’s a fourth of the season left.”
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He later added, “But every day is a day to grow. A day to learn and get better. So just gotta keep looking over time and see in two weeks if we’re getting better and see what happens from there.”
It’s hard to blame Leonard’s stance on the matter considering what happened at the NBA trade deadline.
In the league’s most stunning move, the Clippers traded all-NBA guard James Harden to Cleveland for guard Darius Garland. They then shipped star center Ivica Zubac (and Kobe Brown) to Indiana for guard Bennedict Mathurin, big man Isaiah Jackson and three draft picks.
Garland is currently out while recovering from a toe injury and his return status is TBD.
It was an interesting move by the Clippers front office to pivot from the previous iteration of the team.
After an atrocious start where they were 6-21 at one point, LA has rebounded to be one of the hottest teams in the league. Since mid-December — and heading into Friday’s game against the Lakers — the Clippers are 21-7 and sit in 9th place in the Western Conference standings, just 1.5 games behind Golden State in the No. 8 spot.