Now or Never | Los Angeles Clippers Franchise (NBA2K24)

[Ran180]

NOW OR NEVER

Los Angeles Clippers Franchise

NBA2K24
System - Playstation 5
Quarter length - 10 minutes
Playoff Format 7-7-7-7

Last Season record: 44-38 (5th in the West)
Eliminated by the 4th seed Phoenix Suns in the 1st round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs.

Welcome to the fifth season of the Kawhi Leonard and Paul George era for the Clippers. Four years of spending a lot of Steve Ballmer’s (owner of the Clippers) money with little to show — one trip to the conference Finals. That’s it. It’s not what anyone expected when the Clippers pulled off the blockbuster trade in 2019 that landed them George (with Leonard coming as a free agent because of it). There can be no other word than disappointment.

Combine that disappointment with both Leonard and George being able to leave as free agents after this season — unless extensions are worked out — not to mention a thinner and aging group of role players around the stars, and this feels like a now-or-never season for the Clippers. Either they push their way to the top of the West this postseason or major changes are coming.

It's now or never for the Los Angeles Clippers, if it doesn't work out for this team this season it could very well be the end of what (on paper) appeared to be a potential dynasty, but if they go all in and it works out this could be the start of something special in Los Angeles thats not purple and gold. The Clippers are healthy as they open training camp, but the league’s oldest team last season got older. As usual, the season’s outlook and LA’s chance to slip through its championship window depends on stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

What’s new?

• The offseason mentality might linger right into the regular season for the Clippers, who still would like to upgrade their roster with one of the veterans still said to be in play, perhaps James Harden or Buddy Hield.

• Nearing 35, Russell Westbrook was brought back on a two-year deal, based on his welcome production in 21 games with the Clippers last season (15.8 ppg, 7.6 apg, career-best 35.6% on 3s).

• Most of this team’s other summer activity was at the fringes, from re-signing backup center Mason Plumlee to trading for Kenyon Martin Jr. and drafting Missouri forward Kobe Brown at No. 30.

How far can the Clippers go?

On paper, the Clippers have stars, a mix of experience and youth and lots of talent worthy of a conference finals run. But it continues to be frustrating trying to get and keep all that on the floor together. And that mix isn’t really a blend, as the young players are in secondary roles to the aging vets — with center Ivica Zubac a refreshing exception.

1 player who must take a leap

Kawhi Leonard. Look, we’re not talking a traditional “leap,” as in a breakout season in production, or a literal leap in which he might hurt himself again. Leonard needs to make a leap in durability and thus availability, and needed to do so before the NBA instituted its new*player participation rules. He has missed 147 of a possible 308 games since joining the Clippers and the team is 96-46 when he and Paul George both play in their four seasons as teammates vs. 86-80 when one or both are out.

Upcoming free agents

The Clippers have 9 players who will be free agents in 2024:
*Nicolas Batum
* Marcus Morris
* Mason Plumlee
* Robert Covington
* Kenyon Martin Jr.
* Brandon Boston Jr. (restricted)
* Russell Westbrook (player)
* Moussa Diabate (two-way player)
* Joshua Primo (two-way player)

The names above represent about $50 million coming off LA’s payroll, if all were to leave. But the ones to watch will be Leonard and George, both of whom have player-options next summer worth a combined $96.5 million. This season will play a huge role in what their value and longevity will be heading into owner Steve Ballmer’s Intuit Dome in Inglewood for 2024-25.

[Ran180]

Training camp is under way for the Los Angeles Clippers, as the season inches closer the same question remains, "Will Kawhi Leonard and Paul George stay healthy". Last season, the Clippers never seemed to come together, with too many players in-and-out of the lineup and rotation. The shadow of injury casts long over the Clippers, and chemistry was affected. Continuity should help, but if it's another season with players in and out of the rotation, especially the two stars, the environment may grow stale. On the other side of that coin, if the Clippers stay healthy this may be the start of something special as the team gets ready to leave the Crypto.com Arena and move to the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California for the 2024-25 campaign; but thats next season, first lets see how this season plays out.

Here's a look at the Los Angeles Clippers 2023-24 roster heading into training camp.
F Kenyon Martin Jr. #6 | G Kobe Brown #21 | G Joshua Primo #11

[ShamWowNY]

Love the team choice! Near-term contender (as you say, it's now or never), but the long-term is...murky at best. Excited to see where you take them!

[Ran180]

Los Angeles Clippers
Founded: 1970 (as Buffalo Braves)
Arena: Crypto.com Arena (19,060)
Head Coach: Tyronn Lue (261-186)
Assistant Coaches: Dan Craig, Larry Drew,
Brendan O'Connor, Brain Shaw, Jay Larranaga,
Shaun Fein, Jeremy Castleberry, Dahntay Jones

Los Angeles Clippers Depth Chart - 2023-24
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
PG	Russell Westbrook	Terrance Mann	Bones Hyland	Xavier Moon
SG	Paul George	Joshua Primo	Brandon Boston Jr.	Nate Darling
SF	Kawhi Leonard	Norman Powell	Keyon Martin Jr.	Amir Coffey
PF	Robert Covington	Marcus Morris Sr.	Nicolas Batum	Kobe Brown
C	Ivica Zubac	Mason Plumlee	Moussa Diabate

[Ran180]

Portland Trail Blazers @ Los Angeles Clippers
2023-24 Opening Night

The Los Angeles Clippers open their season at home against the Portland TrailBlazers. The Clippers were firing on all cylinders, Paul George started his 14th year in the league displaying his offensive prowess scoring from everywhere. Russell Westbrook was extremely productive making 7 of 9 from the field, providing 16 points with 10 assists and only 2 turnovers. Kawhi Leonard didn’t play to his standard but his team played well even to allow him to fill gaps and pick up the pieces where he may. The Clippers bench provided a spark as well, Terrance Mann dictated the pace when he was on the floor and got himself to the free throw line often, making 9 of his 10 attempts, while scoring 13 pts and 8 assist. Marcus Morris Sr. also scored 13 points, hitting 3 three’s on only 4 attempts. As a team the Clippers made 7 three’s on 10 attempts, shooting 70% from deep. Blazer’s rookie Scoot Henderson made his NBA debut with 14 pts and 5 assist, the Blazers were lead by Jerami Grant’s 20 points and 7 rebounds but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Los Angeles Clippers.

Portland Trailblazers (0-1) at Los Angeles Clippers (1-0)
Oct 25, 2023 1 2 3 4 Final Portland 22 22 21 30 95 Los Angeles 30 26 28 29 113 Top Performers Portland Trailblazers Jerami Grant 20 pts, 7 rebs, 3 ast Anfernee Simons 16 pts, 4 ast Los Angeles Clippers Paul George - 31 pts, 5 ast Kawhi Leonard - 19 pts, 4 rebs, 3 ast	Team Stats Comparison POR LAC FG Made-Att 40/86 45/67 3PT Made-Att 9/29 7/10 FT Made-Att 6/8 16/22 Rebounds 36 40 Assists 22 33 Turnovers 57 Steals 6 5 Blocks 0 5
Portland Trailblazers STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT REB AST STL BLK TO PTS Jerami Grant 30 8-11 2-3 2-3 7 3 0 0 0 20 Anfernee Simons 27 7-19 1-7 1-1 0 4 0 0 3 16 Scoot Henderson 27 6-18 2-6 0-1 1 5 2 0 2 14 Deandre Anton 29 6-8 0-0 0-0 11 1 0 0 0 12 Shaedon Sharp 22 6-12 1-6 0-0 1 2 0 0 0 13
Los Angeles Clippers STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT REB AST STL BLK TO PTS Paul George 28 15-23 1-1 0-0 1 5 2 0 3 31 Kawhi Leonard 28 7-12 1-1 4-4 4 3 0 0 2 19 Russell Westbrook 23 7-9 1-1 1-2 2 10 2 0 2 16 Terrance Mann 16 2-4 0-0 9-10 2 8 0 0 0 13 Marcus Morris Sr. 20 5-7 3-4 0-0 5 2 0 1 0 13

[studbucket]

Small thing, but I love that you do the sideline camera when you play, not behind the basket. I feel like it results in "more sim" and somewhat more difficult gameplay. Also nicer to watch.

[Ran180]

Los Angeles Clippers (1-1) @ Utah Jazz (2-0)



The Los Angeles Clippers made their way to Delta Center to face the Utah Jazz in their second game of the season and things did not go as planned. Despite Paul George and Kawhi Leonard combining for 69 points, the Clippers bench would only provide 11 points and it wasn’t enough. The Utah Jazz stayed the course and played hard the whole game showing great resiliency behind Jordan Clarkson’s 27 points. With only 1.9 seconds left in the game the Clippers had the ball down 99 to 102, the Clippers went with Paul George for the final shot, PG got the shot off only for the ball to spin out, Utah wins.

Los Angeles Clippers (1-1) at Utah Jazz (2-0)
Oct 27, 2023 1 2 3 4 Final Los Angeles 22 27 18 32 99 Utah 20 32 21 29 102 Top Performers Los Angeles Clippers Paul George - 38 pts, 3 rebs, 7 ast Kawhi Leonard - 31 pts, 7 rebs, 4 ast, 2 stls Utah Jazz Jordan Clarkson - 27 pts, 6 ast Lauri Markkanen - 14 pts, 9 rebs, 5 ast, 2 stls	Team Stats Comparison LAC UTH FG Made-Att 42/74 41/84 3PT Made-Att 6/19 10/25 FT Made-Att 9/12 10/15 Rebounds 42 41 Assists 35 26 Turnovers 11 6 Steals 6 9 Blocks 3 1
Los Angeles Clippers STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT REB AST STL BLK TO PTS Paul George 33 17-26 2-6 2-2 3 7 1 1 4 38 Kawhi Leonard 30 14-19 1-1 2-2 7 4 2 0 2 31 Russell Westbrook 27 5-13 1-3 1-2 4 9 1 0 3 12 Ivica Zubac 27 2-2 0-0 1-2 12 1 0 1 1 5
Utah Jazz STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT REB AST STL BLK TO PTS Jordan Clarkson 29 11-25 2-7 3-4 2 6 1 0 1 27 Lauri Markkanen 31 6-11 2-6 0-0 9 5 2 0 1 14 John Collins 25 6-9 2-3 0-0 8 0 0 0 0 14 Collin Sexton 25 6-13 1-3 0-0 0 6 2 0 0 13

[Ran180]

San Antonio Spurs (1-2) @ Los Angeles Clippers (2-1)

The Los Angeles Clippers hosted the San Antonio Spurs in the Crypto.com Arena for their third game of the season. The Spurs rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama was out of this game and will be out of action for the next 4-6 weeks with a fractured eye socket. The Clippers played great, only committing 6 turnovers as a team and winning by a 31 point margin. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George combined for 51 points. Russell Westbrook had 12 points and dished out 14 assist. Terrance Man scored 18 points off the bench all in the 4th quarter securing the Clippers victory.

San Antonio Spurs (1-2) at Los Angeles Clippers (2-1)
Oct 29, 2023 1 2 3 4 Final San Antonio 15 19 23 22 79 Los Angeles 24 26 24 36 110 Top Performers San Antonio Spurs Zach Collins - 23 pts, 16 rebs Tre Jones - 15 pts, 3 rebs, 7 ast Los Angeles Clippers Kawhi Leonard - 30 pts, 8 rebs Paul George - 21 pts, 7 rebs, 4 ast	Team Stats Comparison SAS LAC FG Made-Att 32/77 46/80 3PT Made-Att 11/29 10/21 FT Made-Att 4/6 8/10 Rebounds 37 46 Assists 20 31 Turnovers 11 6 Steals 3 8 Blocks 3 3
San Antonio Spurs STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT REB AST STL BLK TO PTS Zach Collins 33 10-15 3-4 0-1 16 0 1 0 2 23 Tre Jones 31 6-16 1-2 2-2 3 7 1 1 3 15 Keldon Johnson 32 6-16 2-8 0-1 1 2 1 0 1 14 Devin Vassell 33 3-10 2-5 0-0 3 5 0 0 2 8
Los Angeles Clippers STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT REB AST STL BLK TO PTS Kawhi Leonard 27 14-21 2-4 0-0 8 2 1 0 0 30 Paul George 30 8-13 2-3 3-4 7 4 0 0 3 21 Russell Westbrook 29 5-11 0-2 2-3 4 14 2 0 0 12 Terrance Mann 15 7-11 4-6 0-0 0 5 0 0 0 18