This is the online version of our morning newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Charles Curtis is filling in today for Andy Nesbitt.
It might be a tad too early to write this, but given the way the Los Angeles Clippers have played so far against the Utah Jazz in their Western semifinals matchup, it’s worth mentioning.
The Clips are down 2-0 to a REALLY good Jazz team, one that hit 51.3 percent of its threes on Thursday night. There was no stopping Donovan Mitchell (37 points on 15-of-29 shooting) and Rudy Gobert (20 boards, three blocks).
On the other side, Paul George has shot 34 percent from the floor in the series. Kawhi Leonard has been OK, but not his otherworldly self. When Reggie Jackson (29 points) is your leading scorer in Game 2, you know something went wrong.
But let’s focus on the future for a second. If the Clippers continue underwhelming as they did on Thursday, the all-in move to trade for George and sign Leonard could end up with the team struggling for years to come.
Leonard has a player option for 2021-22 that he could decline if he doesn’t think this team can contend. George — who struggled in the playoffs last year too — is tied up until his own player option in 2024. There’s a lot of money invested in Marcus Morris and Luke Kennard.
The other problem? The Clippers’ first-round picks either belong to or can be swapped with the Oklahoma City Thunder from 2022 until 2026.
Welp. Even if the Clippers wanted to tear it all down and rebuild, they’d struggle to do so.
That’s why this series means more than just a trip to the Western Conference Finals, something that hasn’t happened in the franchise’s history.
The future also hangs in the balance.
Quick hits: Burning questions for NFL teams … Grading Jimmie Johnson … and more.
— Here are burning questions for every NFC and AFC team ahead of the 2021 NFL season.
— Our Michelle Martinelli asked Jimmie Johnson’s teammates to grade the NASCAR legend’s IndyCar season so far.
— Is this 12-team college football playoffs proposal a good idea? We debated it.
— NBC’s Rowdy Gaines spoke about the 2008 Olympic swimming relay and why it was such an amazing comeback.
— Nate Diaz’s expletive-ridden take about manners on SportsCenter was too good.