[Aldridge] “Let me say this about the Clippers. They didn’t get a championship out of their pairing of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, but they shouldn’t be clowned for the pursuit. They went after two of the top 10 players in the NBA, and got them. Ball(m)er move. It just didn’t work out.”
by BigButter7
44 Comments
Don’t tell me what to do. I’ll clown them.
Obviously right thing was done. Too bad kawhi and pg are made of paper
Can’t blame Ballmer for not thinking that people wanted smartphones
Nah I’ll absolutely clown them for that trade. They lost it just PG for Shai straight up
Ball(m)er move 🤓, Reddit on Aldridge!
You could make this argument about countless teams, it doesn’t mean they deserve a pat on the back for it.
What about the part where the Warriors offered them a young player and a pick and instead they get nothing for PG leaving? Can we clown them for that at least?
People will clown OKC for something if they don’t win it all, too. It’s hard to win. Is what it is.
The Clippers were 124-57 when Leonard and George played together. 68.5% win rate.
Agreed, nothing to be ashamed of in this case.
It was the correct move at the time.
But Sam Presti flopped a full house
anyone saying the trade was a bad decision is captain hindsight and should be ignored
i love how some people are trying to say now that the Clippers got worse… by NOT giving PG a $220M max
LMAO the guy looks washed for the good part of every season… but the Clippers are now somewhere WORSE for not carrying his corpse on their cap sheet for another 4 years? WHAT?
Should’ve stayed just one more year Kawhi. That 2020 ring was ours. 60 win pace without you. Danny Green most likely would’ve stayed too. And a healthy and blossoming OG unlike in 2019.
I’ll call it a respectable clown, but a clown nonetheless
Always was the right move
Kinda agree
At the time people were on board for it (the majority of people didn’t question it like with the Knicks trading five first rounders for a guy who’s never been an all star)
But like everything else in life, results have to matter. You can’t just attribute something to bad luck and throw your arms up in the air.
the “ball(m)er” thing is gross lol. DA is better than that.
Clippers and Warriors are both MASSIVE WINNERS for the day
funniest part of all was the Warriors were actually TRYING to pay PG a max. LMAO they have NO IDEA what kind of LANDMINE they just dodged
There was a time the Lakers were made fun of for losing the AD trade, and the Clippers were heralded as the new rulers of LA. So I won’t be surprised if there’s some “meme-ing” about this.
That said, if you have the opportunity to get Kawhi and PG, you absolutely do it, so I get it.
I’ve followed the Clippers long enough to remember when players couldn’t wait to skip town at the first opportunity. It doesn’t change the fact that the trade was a huge loss overall, but for a franchise that had absolutely nothing go for it for multiple decades, it was a great moment to land 2 stars in their prime.
The made a big trade to become contenders and then they were contenders. Never won the chip but it was 100% the right move at the time.
You can clown them for having Josh Primo and Kevin Porter Jr. on their roster.
Moral victory clippers
Sure they shouldn’t have been clowned at the time of making these moves, and they weren’t, but SGA turning into a legit MVP candidate only a few years later throws a big wet blanket when looking back on their moves.
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They should. kawhi barely plays and Paul is a ring chaser because he can’t do it himself. And besides that, the Clippers have always thrown what ever mediocre/fringe super star at the wall in hopes for a ring. It hasn’t happened. It’s been like this for over a decade.
Balmer sending out Microsoft stock to reporters to drive the narrative as we speak
Go ahead guys. Clown away. Us Clipper fans are desensitized to most types of shit talking. Gotta have some thick skin to be a Clippers fan.
Kawhi chose PG over LeBron and AD lol
Clipper curse is real
Yes, they should be clowned. Lawrence Frank used to stalk Kawhi at our home games. Fuck them.
Only one I’ll clown is Pat Bev for all the “The next 5 years are mine” bullshit. And maybe the fans who were taking victory laps before the Clippers did anything.
But the org shot and miss. One inexplicable playoff choke, and the rest just injuries.
he couldn’t have known PG and Doc are bonafide chokers, and Kawhi has been infected by scarlet rot on his knees.
Getting Paul George and Kawhi at that time was easily the correct decision to make. Sometimes things don’t work out simply.
5 years ago today, all the ESPN intellectuals claimed that Kawhaii Leonard held the balance of power of the NBA in his hands and tried to build him up as the anti-LeBron. What a time.
I agree. For all of us, it’s easy to talk about Front Office moves when you already know the outcomes.
Let’s go back to 2019. Kawhi returns back from his injury, looks like Michael Jordan out there with his Playoff heroics, bringing Toronto their first title in history just in his first year. He’s also only 27-28 years old, can expect him to be great for years to come.
So, as the Clippers, a franchise that is forever in the shadow of the Lakers, you get the opportunity to sign this man as a free agent. His condition is, you make a trade for Paul George.
The same Paul George that’s coming out of an MVP caliber season. Kawhi and PG are easily considered the best two-way players in that league at that point, both in their primes.
And what do the Clippers have to give up to receive both Kawhi and Paul George? SGA, a nice looking rookie, who was the 11th pick of the draft and showed positive signs. Just positive though, absolutely no one was saying this kid was going to be an MVP level player in the future.
They gave away numerous picks and swaps, which is the regular price now for getting star players. Also Gallinari.
Now return to 2019 and be a Clippers executive. How does this deal look to you? Is this too much to give up to sign two superstars in their primes? Not to mention they didn’t lose much from their roster that somehow managed to be competitive against GSW the year prior.
Long story short, Clippers received a golden opportunity and they took it, as anyone in their right minds would’ve.
It was the right move. Doesn’t change the fact that I clowned on my friend every year for the last almost 5 years or so who said, “the clippers are gonna win it all this year.” My reply was always the same, ” Yeah if Kawhi actually plays most of the season + post season.”
And still went further into the playoffs that they had ever been.
I can’t clown the clippers for their failure when it resulted in r/LAClippers locking down and switching to just posting about boats for a few days. Easily one of my favorite reddit events.
If they had balls to sack Doc, bubble year might end up a little different, just a little
It wasn’t that bad, even when those two went to the clippers they weren’t title favourites, the nets were.
LMFAO 😂😆😂😆😂😆😂😆 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Shai, 5 first rounders and two swaps for paul george is the worst trade in nba history and then got nothing out of it