Jared Dudley of the Los Angeles Lakers has been around and is not shy to share his thoughts. Though he has not gotten much playing time, the 34-year-old remain very observant and will not back down when it comes to sharing his views. His latest one was about his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers.
In an interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic, Dudley gave his take on the Clips. He felt that the Clippers were a pretty toxic team, a bipolar kind of a squad.
“It was the biggest front-running team. You’re up 20, everything’s good, throwing lobs. Down 20, people want to fight, bickering,” said Dudley.
By now, most know that the Clippers are practically a brand new team. From the Chris Paul- Blake Griffin era, head coach Doc Rivers now banks on the tandem of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. So far, the shift has worked wonders for the Clippers – making them one of the favorites this 2019-20 NBA season.
As of this writing, the Clippers are at the third spot of the NBA Western Conference with a 23-11 record. With the talent they have, this hardly comes as a surprise. But the real story is how well will the Clips perform once the NBA playoffs come around?
With Paul and Griffin, the Clips seemed to have the best tandem since the Karl Malone and John Stockton era. Unfortunately, things fell apart. Griffin had his share of injuries while Paul has a falling out with Rivers because the veteran guard wanted Carmelo Anthony to join the Clippers, Complex.com reported. As most know, CP3 eventually transferred to the Houston Rockets in 2017.
Looking ahead, it will be interesting if Leonard or George would make such requests to Rivers. But for now, it appears nothing close to that will happen. But the tide could change after this season – entirely depending on how far the Clippers go in the postseason wars.
Right now, the Clippers are skimming the market for potential trades. The NBA trade deadline happens on Feb. 6. One player reported on the Clips’ radar is Thaddeus Young of the Chicago Bulls. If this prospers, Rivers will need to determine the assets to give up.
The Clippers do have a 2020 and 2021 first-round pick they can offer. If not that, they could dangle Maurice Harkless who is in the final year of his deal. The Clippers should be fine for now. But if they fail to make it to the NBA Finals, at the least, expect another brewing storm to come.
