This season doesn’t qualify as a disappointment for the Los Angeles Clippers because they lost in the first round of the playoffs, but rather because they couldn’t do so with the totality of their roster. Season-ending injuries to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin emphatically dampened their chances at a legitimate postseason run.
Despite what popular critics might think, Doc Rivers still has no plans of splitting up his core, via Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times:
Doc Rivers: “How many teams are in the top 5 or top 6 in scoring and defense? Three, and we were one. The numbers tell us we’re really good.
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) May 2, 2016
Doc Rivers on team’s free agents: “They all want to come back, but they’ve all played well and so they’ve all made it more difficult.”
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) May 2, 2016
Jeff Green, Jamal Crawford, and Luc Mbah a Moute are all free agents this summer. Next summer is when Chris Paul and Blake Griffin will be eligible to opt out.
Before the season, Doc Rivers implied that this team would need to be broken up if they didn’t compete for a title. Obviously, significant injuries made it impossible for that to be a reality, so Doc is likely to want one last stab with his top guys fully healthy.
Still, there’s no telling what the actual ceiling for this team is when that’s the case. They’re still playing catch up to the Warriors and Spurs, but any kind of drastic blockbuster move wouldn’t necessarily make that any less true. Rumors circulated around Blake Griffin trade scenarios around the deadline this season, but Rivers wouldn’t part with his star forward. It doesn’t appear he’d be willing to deal any of his top talent this offseason.
