At some point in the near future, you’ll probably encounter a graphic that will rank in descending order the NBA teams who have improved their winning percentage the most over the past two seasons. Barring a complete meltdown between now and late April, the Los Angeles Clippers are on track to sit atop that list.
Yet as the Clippers stumble home from a disastrous road trip with turmoil swirling around the team, none of it means a thing. The giddiness that surrounded the team in December and January has long disappeared, buried beneath some troubling realities. The warm glow of the Chris Paul acquisition has receded, and talk of lofty aspirations has devolved into a discussion of damage control.
Management cleverly scratched and clawed to acquire a megawatt talent like Paul, but there’s something fundamentally flawed about the on-court product:
This is a team that doesn’t know what it is.
And there is little evidence that Vinny Del Negro, the person in charge with forging the Clippers’ identity, has the imagination and direction to cultivate one, despite being furnished with an impressive collection of talent.
Full story: The trouble with Vinny Del Negro