The Los Angeles Clippers have a brand-new arena to house their duo of mid-30s All-Stars. As the Clippers begin their new era at the Intuit Dome, here are three questions facing Los Angeles’ other team next season.
1. How good is a Kawhi Leonard-James Harden combo in 2024?
The Clippers went from a Big Three of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and James Harden to a Big Two of just Leonard and Harden. Last season, the team lost their first six games immediately after the Harden trade, but won two-thirds of their games after that, going 48-24. It was more impressive than the 55-win pace implied, since they rested the starters while dropping their final three regular-season games.
But that was with George leading the team in minutes and a surprisingly healthy season from Leonard, who played 68 games, his biggest total in seven years. The Clippers had the No. 4 offense in the NBA in terms of efficiency, helped in a large part by George hitting 243 three-pointers (fifth in the NBA) at a 41.3 percent clip and averaging 22.6 points. Their defense was 17th, and it will likely see a downgrade with George gone, considering Harden is essentially the NBA version of a designated hitter.
Can the Clippers rely on Leonard, who missed four of the Clippers’ playoff games and the Olympics with a knee injury? Can they expect big production from 35-year-old Harden, a player never known for his conditioning and whose own scoring has declined precipitously? You wouldn’t expect them to get better or even healthier for next season, and there’s a George-shaped hole in the offense.
2. Where is the three-point shooting coming from?
The Clippers were sixth in the NBA in three-point percentage last season, but they were only 16th in made threes. After losing George, who made 23.4 percent of the team’s triples, they didn’t exactly replace his shooting. Derrick Jones Jr. (34.3 percent) joins the starting lineup, while Nicolas Batum (39.5 percent) returns as a reserve, but both are low-volume, catch-and-shoot outside shooters. New backup point guard Kris Dunn and newly extended center Ivica Zubac aren’t shooters, while presumptive starting guard Terance Mann made less than one three-pointer per game last season.
Harden and Leonard are deadly mid-range scorers, but each is going to have to up their outside shooting to keep up with other offenses. Don’t be surprised if Norman Powell gets more playing time than his 26.2 minutes per game last year, because in the 2024 NBA, someone has to be shooting from behind the arc.
3. Can the team sell out The Wall!?
The new Intuit Dome features a seating section behind one of the baskets called “The Wall!,” designed only for Clippers fans. There’s a 300-seat, standing-only cheering section in the center of The Wall!, which in theory makes it difficult for opposing free-throw shooters. To sit there, fans can’t wear gear from other teams, have to get “Chuckmark-certified” and adhere to “The Wall! Code”:
“If you choose to be a part of The Wall!, you (and your guests) can’t cheer for the opposing team or wear any gear that supports another NBA team. If your ticket is transferrable, as the original ticket holder, you will need to ensure your guest(s) understand and abide by The Wall! rules. Break these rules and you’ll lose access to this section.”
But are there enough dedicated Clippers fans willing to agree to these onerous conditions? Sitting in The Wall! requires signing up for team newsletters, following the team on social media or subscribing to the ClipperVision streaming services. Do the Clippers have dedicated fans like that? While a guest on the “All The Smoke” podcast, rapper and Lakers fan Snoop Dogg predicted, “It’s gonna be kinda empty.”
