\nAn imploding roster. It\u2019s not even Christmas yet, and neither Paul nor Bradley Beal, another highly decorated veteran acquired over the summer, are with the team. Paul, who signed as a free agent, will either be traded or bought out of his contract, and Beal, whom the Clippers traded for, broke his hip on Nov. 8<\/a>, requiring season-ending surgery.
\nInjuries, of course. Not only to Beal, who\u2019s done for the year, and to sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanovi\u0107, who\u2019s appeared in just nine games so far and missed the last seven with a bad hip, and to Derrick Jones Jr., who sprained a knee ligament and could miss two months, but also to Leonard. The oft-injured star went down with a significant right foot sprain on Nov. 3, and the Clippers went 1-9 until he came back.
\nLosing. Staggering losses. They went 2-13 in November. Trailed by 38 on Monday in Miami. Snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Hawks, and are still 10 games under .500 at 6-16. Even if they continue losing, the Clippers don\u2019t own their 2026 first-round pick, so they wouldn\u2019t benefit at the draft.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been hard,\u201d coach Tyronn Lue admitted before Wednesday\u2019s game. \u201cI\u2019ve never had a losing season (as a coach) and a few guys in the locker room never had losing seasons. It\u2019s been tough trying to figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations for the Clippers, said, \u201cRight now we\u2019re playing bad basketball on both ends. We\u2019re a bad basketball team.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n James Harden is averaging almost 27 points and 8.5 assists this season for a 6-16 Clippers team. (Katelyn Mulcahy \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Yes, it\u2019s bad. The Clippers have the league\u2019s ninth-highest payroll and its oldest roster, but rank 19th in offense and 24th in defense. This is a team considered at the season\u2019s outset to be a title contender (insofar as anyone else is a contender, given how deep and awesome defending champion Oklahoma City is).<\/p>\n
Things are bad, but apparently not dire. Frank was emphatic Wednesday in support of Lue as coach, calling him \u201cmy partner,\u201d one \u201chell of a coach, and offering that Lue is \u201cgoing to continue to be the coach here for a long time.\u201d The same could be true for Frank and the executives under him.<\/p>\n
Ballmer, and Frank, value continuity above almost all else, and it doesn\u2019t appear any major changes are in consideration. Multiple league sources briefed on the discussions said Frank and his associates were on track to receive contract extensions, with one source saying those extensions \u201chave been in the planning stages for a while. It hasn\u2019t happened yet, but it will.\u201d Clippers\u2019 sources emphasized ownership\u2019s commitment to continuity, but said discussions of contract extensions were \u201cpremature.\u201d<\/p>\n