November 06, 2024

Previewing Sixers-Clippers with Robert Flom

Learning about Paul George's legacy in Los Angeles, checking in on James Harden and asking for an estimate of the value of the draft picks the Sixers acquired from the Clippers in the James Harden trade.

By Adam Aaronson
PhillyVoice Staff

Gary A. Vasquez/Imagn Images

What sort of legacy did Paul George leave in Los Angeles? What kind of legacy will James Harden leave there?

There will be a whole bunch of reunions taking place in the new Intuit Dome on Wednesday night, as the Sixers and Los Angeles Clippers prepare to face off with several familiar faces on both sides. These teams will be linked to each other for the next few years -- and the Sixers could be keeping close eyes on the Clippers for another half-decade.

Here to break it all down is Robert Flom, the Managing Editor of 213Hoops.com and host of The Lob, The Jam, The Podcast.

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Adam Aaronson: The best player to change teams in free agency over the summer was Paul George, who departed the Clippers and joined the Sixers. What was your reaction to the end of George's five-year Clippers tenure, and what do you think his legacy should be in Los Angeles?

Robert Flom: Honestly, it was time for the “213 Era” to end in Los Angeles. The Clippers were not winning a title with their roster, even if they’d brought back Paul George with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden. Locking themselves into being a second apron team with all of the restrictions regarding team building for a roster that was a second-round group at best just did not make sense. I wish the split between the Clippers and George was a little cleaner, but it seems like PG ideally wanted to stay in LA and the Clippers were just ready to move on, and that created a lot of friction.

Paul George’s short-term legacy in Los Angeles will not be a good one. The last time he was on the court for the Clippers he was pretending to be the invisible man against Dallas in the playoffs and failing to make an impact in half of a six-game series. Combine that disappointing performance with all of the back-and-forth on podcasts and stories over the summer and Clippers fans are not happy with PG right now, even if he clearly made the right decision for himself. While the Clippers will run a lengthy - and deserved - tribute video for George, I imagine he gets more boos than cheers in his return.

Longer-term, while his legacy will still be known as being the centerpiece for one of the most lopsided deals in NBA history, I also think he will be more fondly remembered for his 2021 playoff run, in which he helped the Clippers get to their first ever Conference Finals. I’m not sure whether his five-year run with the team was good enough to warrant a jersey retirement, but once some of the ill feelings have worn off, I do believe the memories of George's effortless scoring will win out over the frustrations of the Bubble and the 2023 and 2024 playoffs. Still, his legacy will always be a complicated one, and I doubt he will ever be many Clippers’ fans favorite player.

AA: Of course, the Sixers also traded James Harden to the Clippers early last season for a package centered around expiring contracts and draft picks. Harden finished out the season in LA before signing a new contract to remain with the Clippers over the summer. How has Harden's time with the team gone thus far, and with George in Philadelphia and Leonard sidelined, how has Harden fared as the team's top offensive option?

RF: I thought Harden played quite well last year in a very unfamiliar role for him as the third scoring option. Once the Clippers benched Russell Westbrook (if only they’d sent him packing entirely), it was Harden’s playmaking and ability to run the offense that sparked the Clippers to go on their 26-5 mid-season run. Harden’s play dropped off towards the end of the season as he got burnt out, but it was an admirable showing and most Clippers’ media figures, bloggers, and diehard fans viewed him, not George, as the second-best player on the team. That take was largely borne out in the playoffs, as PG struggled mightily and Harden mostly (outside of an abysmal Game 5) played quite well.

This season has been more of a mixed bag. Harden’s raw production, for his age, is quite remarkable: 21.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 10.8 assists, and 1.7 steals in 35.5 minutes per game. He is carrying the Clippers’ offense on his back, and his rebounding is massive for a team that plays small and has a ton of awful rebounders in their rotation. On the other hand, his efficiency has been abysmal, as Harden is shooting just 36.1 percent from the floor with 46.2 percent from two and 26.8 percent from three. He’s also turning the ball over 5.5 times per game. It’s been ugly at times, though I think the three-point shooting in particular will correct, as he’s missing a lot of pretty open looks.

I do think Harden will look better when (if, I suppose) Leonard returns. Harden’s usage is the highest it’s been in years, and one of the highest of his entire career. He just can’t handle that at this stage. Leonard's return would mean Harden can return to more of a playmaking role, and will also hopefully result in a bit of a minutes reduction. He’s shown brilliant chemistry with Ivica Zubac and is more comfortable playing off-ball, but he just can’t do that much with this roster.

AA: Stemming from that Harden trade, the Sixers own the Clippers' unprotected 2028 first-round pick and have top-three protected first-round swap rights with them in 2029. Projecting the worth of picks so far away can be difficult, but you are locked in on the day-to-day of the Clippers, so I ask you: how valuable can those assets be for the Sixers in a handful of years?

Probably quite valuable! It’s nearly impossible to forecast NBA team success beyond a few years, but here are a few things we do know: Leonard will likely either be retired or a shell of himself by 2028, Harden is in a similar situation -- and he might not even be on the Clippers at that time if he is still playing -- the Clippers have no up-and-coming young players to pick up the mantle from those guys, and their picks from 2025 to 2027 will be limited as well. The only two players on the roster whose contracts run through 2028 are Zubac and Terance Mann, and while both are helpful, winning players, neither is close to good enough to make them floor-raisers for the Clippers that far in the future. Thus, if you just examine their roster and assets the next few years, you’d assume the Clippers will likely be very bad by 2028.

However, there are a few things working in the Clippers’ favor. They are in Los Angeles, their owner is the wealthiest in the NBA and one of the most likely to spend a lot of money, and they seem to be viewed by players as a fairly favorable organization. That confluence of factors means they should legitimately be a free agent destination, and as their asset pile slowly starts to re-accumulate over the coming years, they could be a team viewed as a landing spot for disgruntled stars. I don’t think it’s likely the Clippers get a star free agent in 2026 or 2027, but it is possible, and four years is such a long time that it’s possible the Clippers are decent again in 2028.

Overall, I do think those picks are going to be viewed as incredibly valuable assets. The question, therefore, is whether the Sixers want to cash in those chips for players to win now with Joel Embiid and PG, or hold onto them to add key pieces around Tyrese Maxey as he enters his prime.