Clippers franchise curse strikes again as scandal threatens years of misery

It’s going to be a long season for the Clippers. Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Ivica Zubac are gone, as is any chance of them being competitive.  Not only are the Clippers starting over after trading their top players but they’re also starting over with their ankles and wrists bound.The Clippers incurred massive punishments this offseason for violating salary cap circumvention rules regarding Leonard, including losing five future first-round draft picks, a $30 million fine and a yearlong suspension for owner Steve Ballmer.The biggest losers here are Clippers fans, who went from having Leonard and Paul George carry the team to its first Western Conference finals in 2021 to watching the franchise slowly backslide until it freefalled into its current controversy. “Our fans deserve to hear from us before this, and for that we’re sorry,” Trent Redden, the Clippers’ interim president of basketball operations, told reporters at media day last month.  “We’ve been listening to the thoughts, the concerns, and feeling the emotions of our fan base.They mean everything to us.

Their pain through this time is real, and we feel it and we hear them, as well as our staff members who are proud to be part of this organization.We hope to fulfill our promises to them to build their trust and move forward.”The Clippers aren’t expected to make any noise this season — or for quite a while.

But that said, there’s intrigue around their roster as they enter a rebuilding phase. Mainly, how will Clippers coach Tyronn Lue develop Darius Garland, who was an All-Star with the Cavaliers in 2022 and 2025? After the Clippers acquired Garland for Harden in February, Lue said he envisioned Garland taking on a Kyrie Irving-type of role alongside Leonard.He had hoped they could soar similarly to the way Irving and LeBron James did en route to bringing the Cavaliers their first championship in 2016. But the Clippers traded Leonard to the Raptors over the summer.

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