Kawhi Leonard stated the obvious Thursday night. This isn’t exactly the kind of overt performance we see from NBA stars.
After the Clippers’ 115-114 win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday, Leonard was asked about the Clippers’ efforts to reach contender status after the NBA trade deadline with a young core. His response was to stress the importance of developing young players, but he started with four words: “It’s over now.”
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Complete exchange:
Question: “You mentioned that you have a younger team, and obviously the younger players are still trying to find their way, which is part of the reason why you’re not quite at the contender level. What do you think you need to do to get to that level? Is it here, are they developing, or is there something missing?”
Leonard: “Just evolving over time. I think it’s over now. It’s the second half, like there’s a quarter left in the season. But every day is a day of growing. A day of learning and getting better. So we’ve got to keep watching the clock and see if we’re better in two weeks and see what happens next.”
Unless Leonard is wrong, it does sound like he’s saying the Clippers’ chances of winning a title this season may be gone. Again, that’s not the craziest claim unless it’s coming from the team’s franchise star.
After Thursday’s win, the Clippers improved to 27-28, ninth in the Western Conference and a spot in the worst playoff bracket. Finishing eighth might not be difficult given Golden State’s injury woes, but anything higher than that will require a lot to go right.
Is it too late for Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard to be taken seriously? (AP Photo/Kyusung Kong)
(Associated Press)
James Harden is gone. Ivica Zubac is gone. The trades that sent those two away return interesting young players in Darius Garland (who has yet to make his Clippers debut) and Bennedict Mathurin, respectively, but expectations will be low as the team rebuilds its core.
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To its credit, Los Angeles has come a long way after starting the season with a 6-21 record. In fact, their winning percentage is the best in the NBA since Game 27 on Dec. 18, with a 21-7 record. Leonard played the best basketball of his career during that time, averaging 29.8 points, 6.87 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.1 steals per game, coupled with his consistent defensive impact.
However, there’s still a long way to go before the Clippers are taken seriously.