James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Bradley Beal – coached by Tyronn Lue?
Ashley La
If it was 2017, I would be shocked that this loaded a roster was put together in the NBA.
But despite looking great on paper, the 2025-26 Los Angeles Clippers fell well short of expectations. As of Dec. 8, the Clippers are 14th in the Western Conference with a 6-18 record.
The writing was on the wall before the season began.
In September, the NBA opened an investigation into Leonard after reports emerged saying he accepted a $28 million endorsement from Aspiration – a now-defunct company in which Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested $50 million – to circumvent the league’s salary cap rules.
Still, fans and the media had high hopes for the team’s performance on the court.
One day before opening night, ESPN ranked the Clippers number six in the league, with a 91 percent chance to make the playoffs. I predicted the team would at least make the play-in tournament by the end of this season.
There was enough evidence to support this.
Harden and Leonard still make a superstar duo – when healthy. Ivica Zubac, who was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team last season, still anchored the paint. The team already had solid role players in Bogdan Bogdanovic, Derrick Jones Jr. and Kris Dunn.
On top of these players, the front office added Beal, Brook Lopez, John Collins and Chris Paul – who came home for one last run before his retirement.
While few saw the Clippers as NBA championship favorites, most figured they would be a strong middle-of-the-pack team.
But things didn’t turn out that way. Instead, the Clippers are among the worst teams in the league, and merely reaching the play-in tournament would require a historic turnaround.
The latest rock-bottom moment for the Clippers came Dec. 3, when Paul – a guaranteed Hall of Famer – was sent home in the middle of a road trip and informed he was no longer on the team.
Beal only played six games before a hip injury sidelined him for the remainder of the season. Furthermore, Leonard, Bogdanovic and Jones Jr. have all dealt with injuries impacting their ability to play.
Why did it go wrong?
Ballmer, a former Microsoft chief executive, is one of the most ambitious owners in the NBA. He is committed to creating the most entertaining product possible for Clippers fans, a pursuit he has historically been successful in.
Since Ballmer bought the team in 2014, the Clippers have not finished a season under .500.
In the NBA, 2018 featured a final battle between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. LeBron James joined the Los Angeles Lakers later that year, Anthony Davis followed in 2019 and Leonard led the Toronto Raptors to a championship that year.
In context, it’s hard to be mad at Ballmer for signing Leonard and trading for Paul George.
No one could have predicted the Leonard and George experiment failing as badly as it did. Even less likely was the Oklahoma City Thunder’s haul in the George deal returning a future MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a versatile star in All-NBA Third-Team guard-forward Jalen Williams.
However, once trouble brewed with Leonard and George, Ballmer allowed the snowball to cascade into an avalanche.
In 2021, the Clippers broke ground on the Intuit Dome – a one-of-a-kind arena that finally gave the team its own venue to play in. It even includes “The Wall” – a superfan section intended to improve the Clippers’ home-court advantage.
But to recoup the $2 billion investment in the Intuit Dome, Ballmer needs to put butts in seats.
How could he do this? Name recognition.
That is why Leonard, George, Harden, Paul, Beal and Russell Westbrook have circulated through the Clippers’ roster over the past few seasons.
Casual fans will see these names on social media and happily buy a jersey, tune into a game or purchase a ticket to support. The product they watch, however, does not match the hype.
All the aforementioned players are over 30 years of age. Aging, injury-prone stars no longer fit in a league full of young superstars where the 82-game season really becomes a test of a team’s health and roster depth.
Fueled by competition with their cross-town rivals in purple and gold, Ballmer’s investments in big names – regardless of their fit with the team – served as the catalyst for this abysmal start to the season.
What should the Clippers do?
It’s easier said than done to advise the team to enter a rebuild.
Ballmer is committed to a winning, entertaining product. It would be difficult to convince him to put a tanking team inside the Intuit Dome.
That’s not even the biggest concern. The Clippers don’t fully control a first-round pick of their own until 2030.
Brace yourself: The team that controls the Clippers’ first-round pick at the end of this season is the 23-1 Thunder – ironically, an asset they acquired through the Paul George trade.
There’s no gain from tanking if your performance only improves the draft odds of another team. Especially when that team might be the best in NBA history.
Ridding the organization – and its checkbook – of Leonard should be the first step towards fixing the team.
Unfortunately, unless another team’s front office decides Leonard’s injuries are manageable, the Clippers owe him $150 million over the next three seasons. Therefore, he is practically immovable under his current contract.
For now, expect the Clippers to move Harden – who has a player option next season – by the trade deadline for competitive players or draft capital.
Also, the team is currently $6 million over the luxury tax and may try to duck under that through trades.
There’s no one clear path for the Clippers to leave this twilight-zone era. It’s a process that will take time and will involve cutting ties with talents who could possibly flourish elsewhere.