Welcome to Far Fetched Friday where every Friday we give you a bold prediction that we think will come to fruition. This Friday the prediction is that the Los Angeles Clippers will fail to land any marquee free agents.
Before briefly detailing why I believe the Clippers will not land any marquee free agents, it's important we recognize who these "marquee" free agents are. These are the free agents most capable of turning a franchise around.
1. Kevin Durant
2. Kawhi Leonard
3. Kyrie Irving
4. Kemba Walker
5. Klay Thompson
*Kinda strange how all these names begin with a K.
Anyways these are the marquee free agents the Clippers believe they will land. However, they are doomed for failure for three vital reasons.
1. Number two in Los Angeles
No matter how you slice it, the Clippers have been and will always be number two in Los Angeles to the Lakers and quite rightly. The Clippers were established in 1970, 23 years after the Lakers and the current championship count is 16-0 in favor of the Lakers. Simply put the Clippers are an afterthought in their own city and as a result will always lose out in free agency. Just ask the Brooklyn Nets how they've done in free agency despite outperforming the Knicks for the last 25 years.
2. No Options
Nowadays in other to win a championship, it takes at the very minimum two superstars and stars around the league recognize this. The problem the Clippers have is that although they made the playoffs they have zero superstars. Which means in order to land one marquee free agent they need to land two. Landing one is hard enough given their situation, but landing two is impossible. Without the promise of another marquee free agent, no one will sign for the Clippers.
3. Betrayal of Blake Griffin
With Blake Griffin, the Clippers had their first true superstar in over a decade and he remained loyal even after CP3 jumped ship. The Clippers had their superstar, gave him an extension, and then . . . traded him away after promising to build the franchise around him. This betrayal went under the radar but it's the kind of thing NBA stars pay attention to. Take the Anthony Davis case for example, his father came out and declared he did not want his son playing for the Celtics based on their treatment of Isaiah Thomas.
The Clippers aren't the worst free agent destination but they're also not in the position to land any of the stars that matter.
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