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Are windows closing for Lakers, Clippers? Plus, your WNBA postseason update

26 September 2024Last Update :
Are windows closing for Lakers, Clippers? Plus, your WNBA postseason update

The Bounce Newsletter :basketball: | This is The Athletic’s daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.

If this is it for Diana Taurasi, she’s had one of the most impressive basketball careers ever and is one of the coldest competitors of all time. Salute, DT!

L.A. Story

Will Lakers, Clippers matter for right reasons?

In the “John Wick” movie franchise, part of the lore of its titular character is that he got out of the hitman/assassin business by completing an impossible task. It helped set up Viggo Tarasov’s empire, and it allowed Wick to move on to a normal life. Wick’s determination and singular focus on what’s important to him allowed him to accomplish the impossible.

The more I look at the Western Conference landscape going into the 2024-25 season, the more it looks like any team trying to reach the NBA Finals on that side of the bracket must accomplish the impossible. (Could I have instead compared this challenge to any other work of fiction? Yes, but then I wouldn’t have gotten to type a paragraph about John Wick.) It’ll be even tougher than what Dallas managed to do a few months ago by winning the West.

Two examples are the two teams in the second-biggest market: The Lakers and the Clippers have impossible tasks in front of them.

The good for the Lakers: 

  • Won 47 games and the Play-In Tournament for the No. 7 seed.
  • Have LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the roster.
  • Boast high hopes for new head coach JJ Redick.

The bad for the Lakers:

  • Can’t seem to beat the Nuggets, their kryptonite.
  • Do not generate offense easily.
  • Did not upgrade the roster.

I’ve been wondering aloud (or, at least, aloud in this newsletter) what we’d think about the Lakers’ contending chances if the Nuggets didn’t exist as their roadblock. Would we take them more seriously? Or have they actually maximized what is reasonable to expect? And how will their approach change this season?

Redick has already come out and said he’s going to use the starting lineup of LeBron, AD, Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura. The Lakers were 20-10 (when you count Play-In and playoffs) when that lineup started last year. That’s a 54-win pace, which would’ve secured the No. 7 seed.

In recent years, the Lakers have been more of a sideshow than Lake Show, and they need to change that narrative as we potentially get to the end of the LeBron era. I’m not sure how much of that chaos dies down with Bronny James on the squad, adding another element of distraction. Are the Lakers simply relegated to fighting through the Play-In Tournament and hoping they don’t face Denver? Or can they be more than that? Then, there’s the other team in LA …

The good for the Clippers: 

  • Won 51 games and grabbed the No. 4 seed last season.
  • Improved depth.
  • Have the best arena in the world.

The bad for the Clippers: 

  • Kawhi Leonard isn’t healthy right now (more on that below).
  • Lost Paul George and replaced him with role guys.
  • James Harden might not be able to tap back into MVP mode.

It’s fair to wonder if the Clippers can even stay in the Play-In Tournament territory in the West, considering Memphis will be back with a healthy Ja Morant and Houston is ready to kick the door off the hinges. Not having PG around to help carry the franchise while Leonard is trying to get healthy will make this tougher than last season, when Leonard played 68 games.

For years, we just hoped to see this team healthy in the playoffs and maybe the “title contender on paper” status would show up on the court. Now? Can you guarantee it finishes in the top 10 in the West? By the way, the Thunder have a pick swap with the Clippers for the 2025 draft.

The Latest From Shams

Derrick Rose retires; Kawhi Leonard update

Derrick Rose is retiring after 16 NBA seasons and a career that included a Rookie of the Year honor and an MVP award at just 22 years old. Here’s what Rose said about his retirement in a statement to The Athletic:

“The next chapter is about chasing my dreams and sharing my growth. I believe true success comes from becoming who you were created to be, and I want to show the world who I am beyond basketball.

“Whether good or bad, everyone has a ‘What if’ story in their life. Even if I could, I wouldn’t change anything in mine, because it’s what helped me find real joy.”

For his career, Rose, the No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft, averaged 17.4 points and 5.2 assists over 723 regular-season games.

Kawhi Leonard underwent a procedure on his knee in the offseason, league sources tell Law Murray and me. The Clippers said Tuesday that Leonard, who missed four of LA’s six playoff games last season and was withdrawn from Team USA in July, will be limited to strengthening his knee to start training camp, but team officials are optimistic about him.

Full Extension

Is it mandatory to extend your star players?

As mentioned above, the Clippers are, once again, dealing with Leonard and his injury concerns. His knee has failed him time and time again, and, while lazy pundits want to use him as the poster child for load management, the truth is Leonard simply hasn’t been healthy since the 2016-17 season. Even in the title run for Toronto in 2019, Leonard was dragging his leg up and down the court on the way to the Larry O’Brien trophy. Despite full knowledge of Leonard’s injury history and lack of availability, the Clippers extended his deal this past January. The 33-year old received a three-year deal for over $150 million.

It might have cost the Clippers Paul George, considering they felt the financial pressure of the looming second-apron tax penalties enough to cite them as reasons for not bringing PG back. They essentially chose Leonard and now are back to hoping he might be healthy for the playoffs.

It’s not the only recent example of an injured star being extended. Joel Embiid just inked a three-year, $192.9 million extension. He played 39 games last season and has never made 70 appearances in a season. But he’s also an MVP and one of the best players in the world. Jamal Murray just got a four-year, $208 million extension from the Nuggets despite never being an All-Star or All-NBA. He also looked terrible in the Olympics, has questions about his health, and hasn’t played in 70 games since 2019 … but he helped them win a title in 2023.

We’re going to see similar max extensions being thrown at Zion Williamson and Ja Morant, though there are questions about their durability and availability. They’re also awesome at their jobs. In a CBA world where teams are scared of the second-apron penalties, though, availability concerns aren’t stopping them from throwing money at injury-prone stars. They treat the salary cap surrounding those extensions like I treat ordering too much sushi. “That’s a problem for future me, but we don’t care about future me right now.”

Even though the Clippers essentially just did it by letting George walk, I can’t imagine seeing teams consistently avoid giving out these deals to injured players. It’s better to hope and pray for health rather than retool a roster while trying not to get fired.

WNBA Playoffs

Four sweeps pave way for semifinals

If you were hoping for some dynamic and dramatic best-of-three series in the first round of the WNBA playoffs, I have bad news for you. It’s over. It’s done. The brooms done been broken out for all four playoff series. All four teams who won on Sunday to open up the postseason closed out on Tuesday or Wednesday nights.

This is where we stand with the WNBA playoffs heading into the semis.

    • The Aces close out the Storm in two games: A’ja Wilson had a light 24 points and 13 rebounds while Kelsey Plum lit up the Storm for 29 points. All of a sudden, a really good Storm squad is sent home, and the Aces continue their march toward the first three-peat since the Comets from 1997-2000.
    • The Liberty send the Dream home: Sabrina Ionescu lit up Atlanta with 36 points on 12-of-23 from the field and 5-of-11 from deep. She also had nine assists and three steals. New York shook off a slow start and shut down the Dream in the second half.

The Liberty and Aces will face off in the semifinals, starting Sunday: A lot of people were hoping for this as a finals matchup, but we’re getting it next round. The Aces beat the Liberty in the finals 3-1 last year. Prediction: Aces in five.

As for the other side of the bracket …

    • The Sun ended Caitlin Clark’s season: I really wanted a third game in this series because it seems like the teams legitimately don’t like each other. Every time Clark got caught up in some physical positioning after a whistle, Marina Mabrey looked ready to throw down. Clark had a much better second game (25 points, nine assists). And the Fever led with a few minutes left in the fourth. But the Sun were too good and sent Indiana home.
    • Nobody can guard Napheesa Collier: The Lynx star and MVP runner-up MVP dropped 38 in Game 1. The Mercury probably learned their lesson on how to defend her better for Game 2, right? Wrong! Phee dropped 42 to send the Mercury to their offseason, and possibly send Diana Taurasi to her retirement.

The Lynx and Sun will face off in the semifinals, starting Sunday: The two best defenses in the league will battle to see who goes to the WNBA Finals. Prediction: Lynx in four.

Bounce Passes

I am fully prepared for all Victor Wembanyama hyperbole in Year 2.

Most-clicked in Monday’s newsletter: The Warriors’ next steps.

(Top photo: Andrew D. Bernstein / Getty Images )

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