Western Conference contender facing 'Last Dance' season

Both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George can become free agents after 2023-24 season, and now coach Tyronn Lue will likely join them on the free-agent market.

The Clippers made a huge splash in the summer of 2019, signing Leonard as a free agent and acquired George in exchange for five first-round picks, two pick swaps and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was first-team All-NBA last season. But the superteam hasn’t lived up to expectations.

The Clippers blew a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in the 2020 bubble playoffs. That was the last time they had a healthy George and Leonard available in the postseason. They replaced coach Doc Rivers with Lue that offseason and reached the Western Conference Finals in 2021, after Leonard tore his ACL. The Clippers lost in the play-in in 2022, and lost to Phoenix in the first round after George and Leonard were both hurt last year.

Not extending Lue may mean that the Clippers are willing to move one or both their stars, ahead of their move to the Intuit Dome in 2024. If they can’t count on their high-priced stars to even play in the postseason, much less thrive, then they may want to deal George and Leonard now.

But the Clippers are somewhat stuck. They don’t control their own draft pick until 2027, so they can’t tank for draft position. The team also wants to be competitive going into a new arena where they’re directly competing with the Lakers. And the injury histories of their stars could limit their trade value.

The most likely outcome? The Clippers ride it out for one final season and hope that success will make the team want to stay together. It’s strange to have a “Last Dance” for a team that didn’t do much in its first four dances, but contracts and injuries have led the Clippers here.
All we know is that when the music stops in 2024, things could get ugly at the Intuit Dome.