There is uncertainty, as well, in Los Angeles, where the Clippers were without Kawhi Leonard for the last three games in a 4-1 first round loss to Phoenix. Paul George hadn’t played since March.

Can the Clips possibly convince themselves they can run it back with the same basic core and hope against the odds their health holds up this time? Do they have enough player capital to make significant changes/improvements?

A number of opposing execs told Heavy Sports they’re essentially looking over the crash to see if some parts can be salvaged.

“I’m not sure what they can do,” said one team leader. “They’re not going to get value for those guys (Leonard, George) in any sort of deals. They just miss too many games, and that’s ruined the culture. It’s ruined the culture of the Clippers. Not knowing from night to night if you’re going to have PG or Kawhi just killed them. They didn’t know who was playing on any given night. It’s a train wreck. They’ve got some really good character guys on their team, but the culture is bad.”

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...pain.

Are they wrong? At least we know no one wants our stars. But the vultures are coming for our other guys like TMann. I hope he's one we keep.

I do think, however, that it's time to move on from some of our other "untouchables" like Zu. The fact that soft as charmin DeAndre Ayton outplayed Zu doesn't sit well with me. Same with the fact that in the 2021 playoffs, it wasn't until after we benched Zu down 0-2 vs Dallas and Utah that we went on to win those series.

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