Los Angeles Clippers roster for upcoming season much deeper than it appears – NBA Feature
The Western Conference is looking very tough this coming NBA season, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to decide the top five seeds with so much talent around. A number of teams, including the Minnesota Timberwolves and the New Orleans Hornets, turned around their franchises this offseason by adding some much needed talent and have instantaneously entered into playoff contention.
While the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder are clearly the top two teams in the West, the list from there onwards is anybody’s call as the teams are so close in terms of talent and competition, and the margin of error is very small. Out of all the remaining teams in the West, the Los Angeles Clippers seem to be one team that is looking to turn heads this coming season and make a deep playoff push.
Out of all the teams in the NBA, the Los Angeles Clippers probably have it the hardest. Sharing their home and fan base with the Los Angeles Lakers is not an easy task, as the Lakers are the most successful basketball franchise in the NBA with 17 NBA championships, and sort of a dynasty in the league with the biggest fanfare and media coverage. There are some places in the world where the city of Los Angeles is known because of the Lakers. For the Clippers to play from the same city, the odds are already stacked against them as they always have to be competing against the best for fan base, media attention and general acceptability.
However, something seems to have changed over the past season and now, we can see people proudly wearing the Clippers jersey on the streets of Los Angeles. The Clippers acquired point guard Chris Paul in an extraordinary trade before the last season began, and he has become the answer to all their prayers. Not only has Paul brought the excitement and interest back to the Clippers franchise, he has also attracted new fans and media, resulting in an increase in advertising revenue and general visibility of the franchise.
But more important than that, Paul has risen to become the on and off court leader that the Clippers desperately needed, and has put the team on the NBA map. Paul helped the Clippers develop a team philosophy, made players around him better and rode the Clippers to a fifth seed in the Western Conference. The Clippers then defeated the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs to qualify for the Western Conference Semi Finals, only the second time in franchise history that the team has gotten that far in the playoffs. Although the Clippers eventually lost the series to the San Antonio Spurs, it sparked a new life into the organization.
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