A 23-12 record should be nothing to be disappointed about. A 23-12 record in the Western Conference, standing at the #6 seed for the Los Angeles Clippers may begin a cause for concern. With teams like the Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers dominating the top 3 spots in the West the Clippers being a #6 seed is a little disappointing to Clippers fans. Considering the hype coming into this season with some experts having the Clippers finishing in the top 3 and even making it to the Western Conference Finals and beyond, a 6 seed isn’t cutting it.
Part of the Clippers problems may be locker room related, although members of the team deny it and others might be related to a lack of depth at the wing.
The Clippers are struggling, especially at the wing position for some reason. They have the talent to do it in the form of J.J. Redick, Jamal Crawford and Reggie Bullock, but something isn’t working.
The Clippers and Doc Rivers are struggling to find a trade partner but it’s hard for them, considering they don’t have a plethora of young talent or draft picks. They do have one asset teams continue to inquire about and that’s Jamal Crawford.
From Ken Berger of CBSsports:
The Clippers continue to shop for a starting small forward, but have told at least one inquiring team that they do not intend to move valuable sixth man Jamal Crawford in the process, sources say. The Clippers have one of the least productive benches in the league as it is, and that problem would become even more pronounced if they moved Crawford. Coach and president Doc Rivers has few trade assets to work with, and the Clippers are hard-capped and thus don’t have much flexibility to take on salary.
Then Clippers beat writer Dan Woike of the Orange County Register confirmed the report.
Ken Berger (@KBergCBS) reports LAC telling teams they do not intend to move Jamal Crawford. I've heard something similar.
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) January 6, 2015
Crawford isn’t going anywhere, but maybe he should. He’s not the problem in Clipperland, it might actually be J.J. Redick but something has to give if they want to improve. At this rate, being in the bottom half of the West and having to go into any of the home courts of the Trail Blazers, Warriors or Grizzlies will be difficult.
The time to make some moves may be right now.
